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The Canadian Minister of International Development, Harjit Sajjan, visited the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) on Sunday to learn more about its Teacher Professional Development for Quality Education Project, which is supported by the Canadian government in cooperation with Jordan’s Ministry of Education.

During the visit, QRTA CEO, Dr. Osama Obeidat presented a summary of the project’s most notable achievements, including a subject-specific pedagogy program, the Innovation in Education Program, as well as the Advanced Instructional Leadership Professional Diploma, and the Teacher Education Professional Diploma. Dr. Obeidat also showcased the results of the academy’s School Networks Research Study, which was conducted in collaboration with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and the National Center for Human Resource Development (NCHRD).

The delegation was also briefed on QRTA’s transition to online and hybrid learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. To this end, an e-learning model was developed to ensure that students continue to receive quality instruction by teachers trained to teach online.

The minister later met with a number of public school leaders in Jordan who had enrolled in the program’s Advanced Instructional Leadership Professional Diploma, and learned more about its impact on their schools. The leaders discussed the skills they have developed by gathering, analyzing, and interpreting multiple forms of data, and identified significant teaching and learning challenges at their schools. They also learned how to evaluate their school's culture and climate and deepened their understanding of the relationship between curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

For his part, Minister Sajjan stated, “Enhancing the professional development of public school teachers is essential to ensure children have access to quality education. Canada is proud of our eight-year partnership with QRTA and its accomplishment of training over 34,700 in-service educators since 2014. I commend QRTA’s successful transition to distance learning and the blended approach to teacher training during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Dr. Obeidat also expressed his appreciation for QRTA’s partnership with the Canadian government which enabled the academy to offer thousands of professional learning opportunities to public school teachers and public school leaders in Jordan covering the 42 directorics.

During his visit to QRTA, the minister was accompanied by the Canadian Ambassador to Jordan, Her Excellency Donica Pottie, as well as Regional Director of Global Affairs Canada Middle East Program, Sean Boyd.

Established in 2009, the Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) is a non-profit organization committed to the vision of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of supporting and empowering educators with the skills to become creative and diligent professionals who are well-equipped to nurture and lead future generations.

QRTA offers innovative and evidence-based professional development programs informed by international best practices and the latest research in the field. The academy has been providing valuable professional learning opportunities to teachers and school leaders since its inception, with an outreach of over 90,000 professional development opportunities in its various programs.