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– Hundreds of high school students were given the chance to hear about the broad and diverse range of innovative programs on offer across Education City on Wednesday, February 17th, at the first Schools Day event to be organized by Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation. Educational leaders and current students took to the stage to explain how studying at Education City’s university campuses offers a unique opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to become one of Qatar’s future leaders.
More than 500 female students from independent schools from across the country visited the HBKU Student Center to take part in the new initiative. A key purpose of the event was to show that the universities across Education City greatly encourage talented young Qataris to apply to their programs.
Maryam Hamad Al Mannai, Vice President of Student Affairs at HBKU and the person who devised School Day commented: “At Hamad Bin Khalifa University we are committed to helping students reach their potential through higher education – whether they are current or prospective students. It is vital that high school students are fully informed about the benefits of quality university study, so it is important that we hold events such as the HBKU Schools Day.
“In particular, we want to show Qatari’s studying at independent schools that if they work hard and achieve good grades then there is definitely a place for them to continue their studies with us here at Education City. If fact, we already have many examples here of talented students who previously studied at one of Qatar’s independent schools.
“The programs offered at HBKU and across Education City are fully aligned with meeting the future needs of the country, so our students are well positioned to shape a bright future for Qatar. I hope that many of the young people who joined us for this event will join our thriving student community in the years to come.”
Following a welcome by Al Mannai and by Dr. Khaled Ben Letaief, Provost of HBKU, special guest speaker Fawzia Abdulaziz Al-Khater, Director of the Education Institute of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, addressed the students. Al Khater used her speech to emphasize that students do not need to leave Qatar to enjoy a world-class university education. She explained: “I strongly and sincerely encourage you to consider enrolling in serious scientific programs that support the building of a knowledge-based economy, in disciplines such as information technology and computer science and engineering, given their modern-day applications in all aspects of our daily lives.”
The audience then heard about specific study options from Dr. Mounir Hamdi, Dean of HBKU’s College of Science and Engineering, which currently offers a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering, and senior academic leaders from a number of HBKU’s partner universities: Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, and Northwestern University in Qatar.
To complete the event, Education City students currently enrolled on a variety of undergraduate programs spoke about their studies and shed light on their personal experience of being a student at Education City. They explained what motivates them to continue on their chosen academic path and outlined what they believed to be some of the important factors to consider when determining which subject to study at university.