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Abstract
Qatar has rapidly expanded its education system, but outcomes are lower than comparable countries. This article explores factors outside of formal education that influence learning, namely parental educational attainment and household libraries. Evidence shows associations of these traits with positive reading habits, yet limited research is available for Qatar. We analyze data from a case study of a sub-population participating in a home reading program. Findings align with the literature on the positive role of educational attainment on reading habits of adults and children. We also show that effective interventions can reduce this influence, thereby reducing the gap between households with different levels of educational attainment. Home libraries were associated with higher educational attainment (and hence reading habits), but this association was not sustained after the intervention. We recommend scaling initiatives to include broader participant populations and diversifying tertiary educational programs to raise educational attainment over the longer term.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 UNESCO, “UNESCO Warns 117 Million Students Around the World Are Still Out of School”, 16 September 2021.
2 Economist Impact, Getting Personal: The Future of Education Post COVID-19 (2021).
3 Schwab (ed.), The Global Competitiveness Report 2017–2018 (2017).
4 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) Results from PISA 2018” (2018).
5 The World Bank, “Data Bank: Qatar” (2021).
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Al-Ejli, Sheikh Jassim Al-Thani, Founder of Qatar: A Historical Study of a Nineteenth Century Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula (2015); Althani, Jassim the Leader: Founder of Qatar (2012).
9 Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization (2018); Said, Orientalism (1978); Woldeyes, Native Colonialism: Education and the Economy of Violence Against Traditions in Ethiopia (2017).
10 Alkhater, “Qatar’s Borrowed K-12 Education Reform in Context”, in Tok, Alkhater, and Palgrave (eds), Policy Making in a Transformative State: The Case of Qatar (2016).
11 Eggeling, Nation Branding in Practice: The Politics of Promoting Sports, Cities and Universities in Kazakhstan and Qatar (2020); Supreme Education Council, Education for All: Country Report 2000–2015 (2014).
12 Amiri Diwan, “Sheikh Khalifa Ibn Hamad Al-Thani” (2021).
13 Alkhater, “Qatar’s Borrowed K-12 Education Reform in Context”.
14 Ibid.
15 Glawe and Wagner, “Is Schooling the Same as Learning? The Impact of the Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling on Growth in a Dynamic Panel Data Framework”, World Development 151 (March 2022).
16 Govt of Qatar, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Annual Statistics of Education in the State of Qatar 2020–2019 (2020).
17 Ibid.
18 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) Results from PISA 2018”.
19 Ibid. PISA assessments are available in 90 languages, Qatar is listed as administering the assessment in Arabic and English; as far as we are aware, disaggregated language results from Qatar are not available.
22 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) Results from PISA 2018”.
20 Ibid.
21 Alkhater, “Qatar’s Borrowed K-12 Education Reform in Context”.
23 Ibid.
24 Ghriss et al., Arab Reading Index 2016 (2016).
25 Bracken and Fischel, “Family Reading Behaviour and Early Literacy Skills in Preschool Children from Low-Income Backgrounds”, Early Education and Development 19.1 (2008), pp. 45–67.
26 Smith, “Reading Habits and Attitudes of Adults at Different Levels of Education and Occupation”, Literacy Research and Instruction 30.1 (1990), pp. 50–58.
27 Ibid.
28 Gökbulut and Yeniasir, “Analysis of Children’s Interest in Books and Their Reading Levels Depending on the Education Status of Family”, Quality & Quantity 52.S1 (2018), pp. 235–245.
29 Ibid.
30 Chiu, “Qatar Family, School, and Child Effects on Reading”, International Journal of Comparative Education and Development 20.2 (2018), pp. 113–127.
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
33 Cochrane et al., “Fostering a Reading Culture in Qatar: Evidence from Qatar Reads” (2022).
34 Howard, “Teens and Pleasure Reading: A Critical Assessment from Nova Scotia”, Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS / Actes Du congrès Annuel De l’ACSI (2013).
35 Ibid.
36 Kirby and Hogan, “Family Literacy Environment and Early Literacy Development”, Exceptionality Education International 18.3 (2008), pp. 112–130.
37 Yarosz and Barnett, “Who Reads to Young Children? Identifying Predictors of Family Reading Activities”, Reading Psychology 22.1 (2001), pp. 67–81.
38 Yusof, “Influence of Family Factors on Reading Habits and Interest Among Level 2 Pupils in National Primary Schools in Malaysia”, Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences 5 (2010), pp. 1160–1165.
39 Gavora, “Czech Mothers Read Books to Their Young Children: Association with Mothers’ Education”, Journal of Language and Cultural Education 8.1 (2020), pp. 1–14.
40 Kirby and Hogan, “Family Literacy Environment and Early Literacy Development”.
41 van Bergen et al., “Why Are Home Literacy Environment and Children’s Reading Skills Associated? What Parental Skills Reveal”, Reading Research Quarterly 52.2 (2016), pp. 147–160.
42 Ibid.
43 Faltisco, A Study of the Intelligence, Achievement, Reading Habits, and Parental Occupations of Twenty Children in Orchard Park in Relation to the Home Library, PhD diss. (1952).
44 O’Brien, Chin Ng, and Arshad, “The Structure of Home Literacy Environment and Its Relation to Emergent English Literacy Skills in the Multilingual Context of Singapore”, Early Childhood Research Quarterly 53 (2020), pp. 441–452.
45 Chiu, “Qatar Family, School, and Child Effects on Reading”.
46 Morsy, The Reading Interests of EFL High School Students in Qatar, MA thesis (2016).
47 For additional information on that program, see Cochrane et al., “Fostering a Reading Culture in Qatar: Evidence from Qatar Reads”.
48 The World Bank, “Data Bank: Qatar”.
49 For example, as found in: Fernandez-Blanco, Prieto-Rodriguez, and Suarez-Pandiello, “A Quantitative Analysis of Reading Habits in Spain”, International Journal of Arts Management 19.3 (2017) pp. 19–32; Miller, Purcell, and Rainie, “Reading Habits in Different Communities”, Pew Research Center (2012); Smith, A Study of Middle Grades Students’ Reading Interests, Habits, and Achievement, PhD diss. (2010).
50 Cochrane et al., “Fostering a Reading Culture in Qatar: Evidence from Qatar Reads”.
51 Ihmeideh and Al-Maadadi, “The Effect of Family Literacy Programs on the Development of Children’s Early Literacy in Kindergarten Settings”, Children and Youth Services Review (2020), p. 118.
52 Cheema, “Prevalence of Online Reading Among High School Students in Qatar: Evidence from the Programme for International Student Assessment 2009”, International Journal of Education and Development Using Information and Communication Technology 10.1 (2014), pp. 41–54.
53 Cochrane et al., “Fostering a Reading Culture in Qatar: Evidence from Qatar Reads”.
54 Cochrane et al., “Fostering a Reading Culture in Qatar: Evidence from Qatar Reads”.
55 Ibid.
56 Ibid.
57 Govt of Qatar, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, “Scholarships” (2021).
58 Glawe and Wagner, “Is Schooling the Same as Learning? The Impact of the Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling on Growth in a Dynamic Panel Data Framework”.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Logan Cochrane
Logan Cochrane (corresponding author) is Associate Professor, College of Public Policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Education City, Doha, Qatar, [email protected];
Ozcan Ozturk
Ozcan Ozturk is Assistant Professor, College of Public Policy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar;
Reem Al-Hababi
Reem Al-Hababi is a PhD student in the Gulf Studies Program, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar;
Hanieh Khataee
Hanieh Khataee is Director of Strategy and Impact at Qatar Foundation;
Fatema Al-Malki
Fatema Al-Malki is Project Manager at Qatar National Library;
Hisham Nourin
Hisham Nourin is Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at Qatar Foundation, Education City, Doha, Qatar.