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Courtesy of Ras Gas
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Courtesy of Ras
Gas
HH Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, QF
Chairperson |
In the future, Qataris may not face the need to
gain qualifications, as the country is quickly becoming
one of the richest in the world. Despite this, Qatari
officials are determined to create a knowledge-based
economy that will support the hydrocarbon sector
and allow for employment diversification.
The Emir, HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani,
is often quoted as saying knowledge and education
are the foundations for Qatar’s future. In
1995, His Highness founded the Qatar Foundation
for Education, Science and Community Development
(QF), with the guiding principle that a nation’s
most valuable resources are its citizens. The imagery
is clear as QF’s symbol is the sidra tree,
whose deep, solid roots reflect QF’s regard
for Qatari culture and whose fruit carries the seeds
of hope for a better tomorrow.
The Emir’s Consort, HH Sheikha Mozah Bint
Nasser Al-Missned serves as chairperson of the QF
and guides the nonprofit organization’s programs
and philosophies. Among those philosophies is a
commitment to making Qatar a world-renowned center
for higher learning.
To that end, the QF’s most visionary undertaking,
Education City, was founded in 1997. The 2,500-acre
complex on the outskirts of the capital city of
Doha, boasts state-of-the-art facilities and a bold,
forward-thinking agenda that has enticed some of
the world’s top universities to open branch
campuses.
By 2003, Texas A&M University joined Virginia
Commonwealth University School for the Arts and
Weill Cornell Medical College in offering undergraduate
degree programs at Education City. In 2004, Carnegie
Mellon University came aboard and last year Georgetown
University opened a branch in Qatar.
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Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign
Affairs
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| The sprawling campus of Education
City. |
The QF is also striving to bring other activities
into their portfolio that will both benefit from
and add to the community at Education City. The
Rand Corporation has set up the Rand Qatar Policy
Initiative, which studies and analyzes a variety
of topics including education, health care, labor
markets and human resource development. Rand’s
analysis of Qatar’s public education system
garnered plenty of attention due to its bold and
direct recommendations. For example, Rand suggested
Qatari students ought to have reduced the number
of hours per week spent studying the Koran and spend
more time studying core subjects like math, science
and English.
Another activity which enriches the Education City
community is the Doha Debates. Sponsored by the
QF and televised by the BBC, the Doha Debates follow
the format of the famous Oxford debates and tackle
some of the most intriguing current events. Recently,
the motion for debate was whether Arab women should
have full equality with men. To put the significance
of this into perspective, you must remember the
fact that the peninsula of Qatar shares its only
border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Soon to be operational is QF’s Science &
Technology Park, an expansive, state-of-the-art
research complex that will provide opportunities
for research partnerships between business, government
and academic institutions. In some cases, the QF
will provide the facilities and the seed money via
venture capital to encourage the creativity of aspiring
Qatari men and women. Multinational firms such as
Rolls Royce and Total have signed on to open research
operations at the Science & Technology Park.
Other, non-American institutions will eventually
arrive to set-up an outpost at Education City, balancing
out American influence. Discussions are known to
have taken place with leading French and British
institutions. There are also plans for instituting
a graduate business school at some point in the
future.
As for the future, the overall mission of Education
City continues to be to prepare world-class graduates
capable of assuming professional leadership positions
in Qatar, throughout the Gulf region and around
the world, and to make Qatar a world leader in higher
education and cutting-edge research. Thanks to the
steadfast leadership of Sheikh Hamad and Sheikha
Mozah, the QF’s commitment to education and
community service is steadily moving forward.
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