In 20 years, almost 3,300 students have graduated from the different schools and universities at Qatar Foundation (QF).
This includes 844 graduates from the eight pre-university academic institutes housed by QF, five Qatar Academy schools, Qatar Leadership Academy, Awsaj Academy, and the Academic Bridge Program.
Additionally, more than 2,500 students have graduated from the universities at Education City, including Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and its partner universities.
Many of these students are now working across a variety of public and private sector fields, including oil & gas, engineering, technology, communications, construction, and finance as well as education and science.
For the last two decades, QF has worked diligently to establish a unique educational environment that offers well-developed, comprehensive academic programmes to prepare the next generation of Qataris. By helping to develop well-educated and highly-skilled graduates.
The story of QF started when H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, recognised the need to provide quality education to the youth while preserving the local culture and traditions.
Engineer Saad Al Muhannadi, President of Qatar Foundation, commented on QF’s achievements, saying, “In-line with its mission to unlock human potential and help Qatar in its journey to build a knowledge economy,QF has succeeded in creating a comprehensive campus at Education City that has enabled thousands of young men and women to actively participate in the successful development of Qatar.”
A Comprehensive Educational Cycle
Through the successful creation of a variety of education centres, QF caters for students from as early as six months all the way up to undergraduate, graduate and doctoral candidate level. Currently, there are more than 6,000 students enrolled at QF’s academic institutions, in both pre-university schools and in higher education centres.
HBKU, alongside its partner universities at Education City, has created a unique learning environment. Hand-picked, the international universities enable Qataris to enrol in highly innovative learning courses that offer a variety of different specialties. Together, HBKU and the partner universities promote the objectives underpinning the QNV2030 and cater to the needs of the Qatari job market.
Another highlight of Education City is the cultural diversity. QF universities are open to students in Qatar and the wider communities, and currently over 90 different nationalities are represented. Through dialogue and the exchange of ideas and expertise, QF has enhanced academic life and created a rich society.
Unlike traditional educational systems, the cycle in place at QF not only includes traditional learning, but also facilitates the development of a range of soft skills such as youth empowerment.
Many of QF’s students are Qatari and went through this comprehensive education cycle, starting with Qatar Academy and then progressing to one of the universities at Education City. This process helped to equip young locals with the best possible skills and tools to serve Qatar and help in the country’s growth.
One student who has benefitted from this cycle is Yara Darwish. Yara joined Qatar Academy at the age of six, and then went on to complete a degree in Media Studies at Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q). She remembers her first years at QF, saying: “I participated in a number of extra-curricular activities organised by the Academy; I travelled to different countries, and took music classes at the Qatar Music Academy, a member of QF.”
Alongside the high-quality education she received, Yara considers the care and support she was given as the most important benefit. “I was able to enrol in classes in other universities, which I did,” said Yara. “This was an opportunity unique to QF. I took art classes at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and travelled to Cambodia with Georgetown University in Qatar. It was wonderful.”
Today, Yara is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Education at Cambridge University in the UK. After graduation, she plans to return to Qatar and intends to work at QF.
Another example of a successful and ambitious young Qatari is Nayef al Kaabi, who joined the Academic Bridge Program just after graduating from high school. Nayef praised the institute, saying: “The Academic Bridge Program was very useful in helping me to prepare me for university. The course enabled me to develop the necessary knowledge and skills that would allow me to benefit from higher education.”
After graduating, Nayef joined Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) to pursue an undergraduate degree in Business Administration. “There were two major benefits for studying at CMU-Q,” he said. “I was given the chance to meet people from many different cultures. This developed my communication skills and enriched my contacts, which resulted in building my self-confidence and my ability to communicate with people from different backgrounds.”
After graduation in 2010, Nayef joined Qatar Petroleum as an Employment Supervisor, specialising in employment, talent management and human resources. He said: “Some of my responsibilities involved interviewing job applicants. It is crucial at Qatar Petroleum to put the right man in the right position. Therefore, I had to understand the applicants really well, research their capabilities, and check if they were suited to the position they had applied for. At CMU-Q, I took several courses, which facilitated this procedure.”
Nayef also participated in a number of voluntary activities organised by his university and QF. “QF made me aware of the importance of voluntary work, and after graduation I continued to help out on different humanitarian projects, as well as encourage the youth to do too,” he said.
Today, Nayef gives back to his country by supporting the Qatari youth, including QF graduates, in finding the right job. He said: “The contribution of my job to Qatari society is in the field of Qatarisation, and finding the most suitable jobs for local youth. This includes matching the skills of the Qatari applicants with the positions available at QP.”
The Peninsula
