Queen Rania Meets with Board Members of the Queen Rania Award for Excellence in Education

(Office of Her Majesty– Press Department- Amman) As chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Queen Rania Al Abdullah Award for Excellence in Education (QRAEE), Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah met today with board members of the Association who briefed her on new elements incorporated into this year's cycle.

The 2013 cycle will allow more teachers the opportunity to be recognized at the level of directorates. In addition to the usual recognition of winning teachers with awards, the Association will also give certificates to other distinguished teachers for their outstanding efforts in raising the standards of education within their schools.

The Association will also provide teachers with feedback on their applications at any level of the award process to guide and enable them to develop their strengths and highlight areas that need improvement.

During the meeting, Her Majesty stressed the importance of transparency and objectivity in selecting winners.

QRAEE Board Chairperson Dr. Izzedine Katkhuda spoke about the Association's most recent developments that aim to more widely spread the culture of excellence in education and to honour as many teachers as possible. He also thanked the Ministry of Education for its support.

H.E. Sattam Awwad, Ministry of Education representative on the board, praised the Association's work and its excellent outcomes in improving the performance of both teachers and students.

Ms. Lubna Touqan, Director of the Award's Association, also gave a presentation about its accomplishments and updates. She explained that one new phase was introduced to assess the educational skills of teachers after they complete their application to the award. This assessment will be carried out for all applicants in the same day in specified centers in the North, South and Middle governorates.

In the period between 2006 and 2012, the award has helped 45 distinguished teachers receive university scholarships to pursue higher education. A total of 71 of the Association's winning teachers moved on to higher positions through the Ministry of Education and 41 others were promoted.

The Association has also built effective partnerships with the Ministry of Education and several public-private sector companies to support its mission. It currently works with 43 education directorates, more than 800 supervisors from the Ministry of Education, 3,500 school principals and 73,000 teachers from across the kingdom.

Launched in 2005 by His Majesty King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah, the Association includes an annual Teacher’s Award and a bi-yearly Principal’s Award. To date, 190 teachers have received the Teacher’s award, and 14 Principal’s have received the principle’s award.