Queen Rania Meets with QRAEE Winners

(Office of Her Majesty, Press Department- Amman) – Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah met with a group of thirty past winners of the Queen Rania Teachers Award for Excellence in Education (QRAEE). The meeting, held at the Queen Rania Teachers Academy (QRTA) focused on the role of QRAEE in honoring educators, uplifting their morale and motivating educators to excel in their field.

The teachers shared with Her Majesty their success stories and the effect the award has had on their professional and educational development. One teacher explained that receiving the award did not only have an effect on her professional career, it had an expanding impact on her students, fellow teachers and the school community as a whole.

Another winner talked about her ongoing motivation and passion for education, stemming from the nurturing environment the award offers, adding that she felt adopted and cared for by the award that continued to follow up with her and on the progress she’s achieving.

Queen Rania praised the teachers for their devotion, stressing the important and pivotal role teachers play in the educational process, calling them a pillar of a successful educational system. The Queen heard from the teachers about the challenges they faced to get to this point, and thanked them for their determination towards self improvement despite all the obstacles they faced.

Her Majesty noted that “appreciation and respect are earned and cannot be forced, and education is a partnership that is built on the teacher’s ability to earn his pupils’ respect and trust”.
She also heard from the teachers about the different techniques and skills that they adopt in their classroom that set them apart and made them candidates for the award in the first place.

The teachers thanked Her Majesty for Her devotion to improving the level of education in the Kingdom with initiatives such as QRAEE, QRTA and Madrasati. They said they admired Her Majesty for Her commitment and passion, and endless work towards that goal.

The QRAEE ceremony is held on an annual basis under the patronage of Her Majesty. To date, 145 teachers and seven principals have received the award. It aims to motivate teachers through workshops, training courses and conferences; academic development through providing BA and masters scholarships in coordination with Jordan University, Yarmouk University, Mo’tah University and Al Hashymieh University. Winners also receive incentives from the Ministry of Education which enable the employees to move up in ranking and salary scales.

Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah also dropped in on the “Integrated Approaches for Sustainable Development” course at the Institute for Sustainable Development Practice at Columbia Global Centers/ Middle East. The course was attended by 43 development practitioners.

The Queen was briefed about the course and witnessed a presentation, by the participants, addressing the policy recommendations needed to achieve sustainable development in Jordan.

Her Majesty emphasized the importance of a participatory approach in identifying needs of each area independently, adding that local community members are the most knowledgeable about their needs, competitive edge and challenges. The Queen stressed the need to create a mechanism that efficiently translates these needs into policy; one that involves active participation of all relevant sectors in implementation.

Queen Rania also spoke about the crucial need for an impact assessment and evaluation of all interventions in development scheme.

Several participants also spoke to Her Majesty about how they benefitted from this workshop and how they will implement what they learnt at their workplaces.

The Institute for Sustainable Development Practice (ISDP) was established at the Columbia University Middle East Research Center (CUMERC) under the Patronage of Her Majesty in December, 2010.

ISDP aims to address crucial sustainable development issues such as employment, agriculture, education and the environment. This course is one of ISDP’s programs aiming at building the capacity of practitioners in the development practice.