Palestinian Minister of Education Dr. Lamis Al-Alami, European Union's Head of Operation's Mr. Sergio Piccolo and the Representative of UNESCO Office in Ramallah Mr. Derek Elias opened on Wednesday the first Palestinian Conference entitled 'Quality Teachers for Quality Education'.

The conference took place at the Red Crescent Building in Ramallah and at Al-Mathaf Hotel in Gaza. The conference is the outcome of a four-year partnership between the PA Ministry of Education (MoE), UNESCO and the European Union to support the implementation of the National Teacher Education Strategy (TES) and improve teachers' qualifications and quality of teaching in Palestinian schools.

The conference is an interdisciplinary meeting dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in teacher education with the overall objective of enhancing the quality of education through the professionalization of teachers. It's an opportunity to celebrate the progress of the Quality Systems for Quality Teachers (QSQT) Project funded by the European Union with nearly €4 million. Its focus is on highlighting future challenges based on the national and international experience and promoting collaborative excellence academics and professionals with cross-disciplinary interests related to teacher education.

The project supported the Ministry in initiating, driving, managing and monitoring a coherent teacher development system. It also helped strengthen the technical capacity of organisations, institutions and individuals to design, implement, monitor and evaluate relevant and high quality courses for teachers and other educators.

"We at the ministry are convinced of the importance of treating our teachers with fairness and equality and will not abandon our historic responsibility towards them, despite the many challenges that hinder the ministry and government from implementing its aspirations. These challenges require that the community itself rise to the level of the event, along with various parties that are requested to initiate a response to save the academic year. It is an equation that must be present despite the difficulty of reconciling all sides, a task that may be difficult but not impossible." said the Palestinian Minister of Education Dr. Lamis Al-Alamin

"Palestinians are among the most educated people in the region and teachers at Palestinian schools have helped nurture this culture of education. Through our support the EU's aim was to bring teachers at the centre of education and give them the attention and recognition they deserve. The EU in partnership with UNESCO has worked effectively with the Ministry to realize a comprehensive teacher education system which will be to the lasting benefit of Palestinian pupils. I would like to thank all Palestinian teachers for the critical role they play and stress that the success of our programme depends on their lasting commitment" said the EU Head of Operations Sergio Piccolo at the opening.

""Without teachers, a school is just a building" and "Without trained teachers, schooling is not education"; "Without trained teachers for all, education for all will never be a reality." These will be among the messages disseminated through the Education For All Global Action Week in April. It is critical to establish inclusive and child-friendly learning environments and prepare teachers to be able to respond to the diverse needs of children. This is why the overall umbrella of this conference, "the professionalization of teachers", is a key and urgent challenge to achieve EFA..." said the Representative of UNESCO Ramallah Office Mr. Derek Elias at the opening.

Furthermore, the QSQT project contributed to the establishment of the Commission for Developing the Teaching Profession (CDTP) and the development of different Professional Standards for teachers - as well as the licensing scheme and Code of Conduct – which will have a direct impact on the quality of teachers and education.

Other outcomes of the programme:

1. Through the work of the CDTP, the teachers' work became more visible and awareness was raised on the importance of the teaching profession and the professionalization of teachers.

2. The capacity development programmes and training workshops supported the High Education Institutions (HEIs) and the MoE to better manage the new teacher education system.

3. 23 PhD students in the field of teaching received scholarships from the project; so far 17 scholars have already defended their PhD thesis and five of them presented them in dissemination workshops.

4. The QSQT project also focused on creating linkages with other Ministry and UN initiatives which also aim to improve the quality of teaching. Namely, working on the development of innovative teaching and learning programmes focusing on early childhood development, inclusive and child friendly education and special needs education. 32 schools in the West Bank and 14 schools in Gaza have already introduced these new teaching methods on a pilot basis.