A/HRC/44/39/Add.3 III. Efforts of the State of Qatar in addressing the challenges related to the right to education mentioned in the report: A. 1. Availability Available school seats and waiting lists: 21. Referring to what was stated in paragraph (38), the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the State of Qatar opens the door for receiving application to submit an exception request to register a student in government schools for the groups that don’t meet the admission requirements, and approximately 1500 students are accepted annually through requests for exceptions. Schools have also been opened for non-Qatari students from lowincome families who cannot pay the fees for private schools and do not meet the requirements for admission to government schools in schools known as “Assalam Schols”. Two schools were opened, and work is underway to expand the number of schools in the near future. It is worth noting that these schools offer two periods of education to be able to increase the number of students to benefit from free education in line with the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations No. (110) and (111). 22. Referring to what was stated in paragraphs (39), (44), (45), (47), (49) and (50) regarding the outcomes and goals of the 2017-2020 strategic plan of education and higher education, emphasis was placed on ensuring that all students are enrolled at the compulsory school age regardless of gender, nationality, and individual capacities, in addition to providing equitable, diversified, and quality education for learners. These outcomes included providing the necessary school infrastructure that address the requirements of the State at all levels of education (from kindergarten to high school) and encouraging the active participation of the private sector in meeting the State's needs for private schools and higher education institutions. 23. As the Special Rapporteur noted, the State faces some challenges resulting from the diversity of nationalities, cultures and languages in the State. 24. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education opened 63 new schools in the academic year 2017-2018, including 23 British schools, 13 American schools, 12 Indian schools, 8 national schools, and also continued opening a number of schools during the year 2019-2020, including 5 government schools, 28 kindergartens and a private school, bringing the total number of schools in the State of Qatar to about 905 public and private schools. 25. The State of Qatar will continue to open schools in the framework of its national strategy and encourage investment in education through providing many benefits and advantages, for example Law No. (1) for the year 2019 regulating the investment of nonQatari capital in economic activity allows non-Qatari entities and individuals to own up to 100% in any economic activity. The law offers many investment incentives including allocation of land to non-Qatari investors at preferential rates to establish schools in addition to important tax and customs exemptions, while enjoying various types of financial and consulting support when establishing investment projects as well as providing free water and electricity. Some classroom space requirements have also been modified for low-cost schools to accommodate larger numbers of students, and allowing a number of community schools to apply the system of (morning and evening) shifts during the academic year 2020, including the Indian and Pakistani curriculum schools, and Tunisian, Egyptian and Filipino communities’ schools, to relieve the pressure on those schools due to the large numbers of students. The two-shift system will continue to be applied according to some conditions, the most important of which is that the tuition fees for the evening shift are equal to or less than the fees for the morning shift. Moreover, five contiguous buildings could be used to create a single school building in line with the Special Rapporteur’s recommendation No. (108) and (109). 5