Girls' school wins core skills competition

Al Bayan Independent School for Girls was crowned winner of the Taqaddam competition, British Council Qatar and HSBC Bank Middle East announced at the final held at La Cigale Hotel yesterday.
A total of 240 students from 12 Qatari schools competed with their innovative ideas aimed at tackling global and social challenges they identified within their communities.
Launched last year, Taqaddam (Move Forward) is a targeted core skills initiative developed by HSBC and the British Council using content created by Spark&Mettle, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE). This year the programme supported 15 teachers and 240 students to develop skills, confidence and lifelong learning enabling them to be prepared for the world of work.
“Taqaddam is designed to encourage young people to play an active role in their own journey of personal development and I must say that I am delighted with the skills and confidence that students in Qatar have gained in such a short space of time. The idea is to enable them to identify and improve key character strengths, such as resolve, confidence and purpose, and this provides a valuable foundation for a flourishing and happy life. I’d like to thank and congratulate our partners in this project — HSBC and the MEHE — and I hope that our partnership will continue to grow in the future," said Dr Frank Fitzpatrick, Director British Council Qatar.
Richard Keery, Country Head of Commercial Banking of HSBC in Qatar, said: “HSBC is proud to be partnering with the British Council in this excellent programme. Together, we are better preparing the youth of Qatar for the future and supporting their development in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.”
Noor Al Madeed, Expert at MEHE, said: “We at MEHE appreciate the partnership and cooperation with the British Council for its active role in launching programmes that stimulate student skills to serve the aspirations and vision of Qatar 2030. In this context, a programme for the second consecutive year of a group of high school students was co-sponsored. The programme was characterised by the effective integration of students into life skill activities where students benefited by arming them with skills such as self-confidence, determination, decision-making, and the ability to maintain safety and health. These skills are essential to helping young people succeed in today's world by providing them with learning, life and work skills”
With the success and improvement of participants, the programme has introduced new updates including “Taqaddam Tasters” which opens the Taqaddam experience to 900 young people.