All photos by Faizan Shakir
Hundreds of university students in Qatar celebrated the end of term paper deadlines, all-nighters and other school stresses last night during the Qatar Foundation Convocation for the Class of 2015.
The number of QF graduates has grown steadily since the first 122 students finished school in 2008. At 672, this year’s class once again broke the record in terms of being the largest.
That’s a more than 20 percent increase in the number of grads from last year, when nine universities conferred degrees on 549 university students.
The graduates, who walked through a symbolic door last night as their names were called, hailed from:
- Hamad Bin Khalifa University (Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, College of Science and Engineering and the Translation and Interpreting Institute);
- Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar;
- Texas A&M University at Qatar;
- HEC Paris;
- Northwestern University in Qatar
- Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar
- Georgetown University – School of Foreign Service in Qatar;
- University College London Qatar; and
- Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.
The convocation, which can be viewed here, also marked the 20th anniversary of QF’s inception.
His Highness the Father Amir as he presents a symbolic gift to Her Highness at #QFConvocation. #Qatar #Doha #QF20th pic.twitter.com/xoVGD8bxJJ
— Qatar Foundation (@QF) May 5, 2015
Speaking at the ceremony, Qatar’s former Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, presented his wife Sheikha Moza, chairperson of QF, with a symbolic key, with QNA quoting him as saying:
“Our message has always been the renunciation of intolerance, and securing opportunities for all individuals and groups, so Qatar was and will always remain as a mecca for the oppressed, besides it is today a beacon of education and science…
And on the 20th anniversary of establishing Qatar Foundation, it is incumbent on me to extend my thanks, all thanks to Sheikha Moza who exerted great efforts to make our common dream come true. This dream has today become a reality that we could feel its results and witness its successes to achieve a bright future for our country with steady and confident strides.”
Congratulations, graduates! Thoughts?
Mmm now how can we turn this into negative news, floor is your..
Deleting for trolling (again)
Shabina, why do you continue to use such offensive language? It seems to me that it lowers that standard of the site when the moderators themselves behave in such a way. If a person is not a troll you have chosen to insult them, if they are a troll, you’ve fed them and encouraged them to do it again. No matter what you do, your offensive language and/or attention to them encourages them. Either way, standards fall.
I don’t think it’s offensive to use the word ‘troll’ to call out anonymous inappropriate commenters. If they return and persist, they will be banned. Pretty simple.
You think wrongly. It is clearly an offensive ad hominem attack. The dictionary even lists it as an offensive term. If I call you a ghoul you would take it as an insult, troll is no different. You are being hypocritical in allowing some offensive slang, but not others. I ask that you not speak offensively in such a manner again as it opens the door to all kinds of personal insults.
In this context the person is a troll (to post deliberately inflammatory articles on an internet discussion board). It’s not offensive it’s descriptive.
Then terms like Gulfie should be acceptable on this forum as well as they are descriptive, but they get banned. Equally, b&^%Ch is a descriptive term, but it would get banned. There needs to be consistency.
You digress. If YOU are offended when someone who is clearly trolling is then subsequently called a troll, well then you need to get thicker skin.
I do not. I have, in the past, been been called a troll by the moderator. I have called her out on her inappropriate language, but she feels that it is acceptable to continue. If she sets such a tone, then I expect to be able to use the ‘descriptive’ term of my choice. Perhaps I need thicker skin, but the hypocrisy of this site needs diminishing as well.
This conversation isn’t worth continuing. I will just be vigilant about flagging Shabs when she sets a poor example.
Doha News is heavily censored by a person who thinks she is a Goddess. That’s all. But censorship isn’t really anything new in Qatar.
Shabina IS the Goddess of Doha News
It’s a privately run blog, not Speaker’s Corner. You can abide by the rules set or find yourself a different place to comment.
Your apparent right to say whatever you please is not hindered by privately owned entities refusing to be your mouthpiece.
DN is like QDC. Both can set whatever rules they want because there are no real alternatives.
Bad analogy as the rules are standardized to any well moderated forum, no insults, going off-topic, etc, and the barriers to someone starting their own news blog are very low.
Go look at Qatar Day, Qatar Living or the variety of horribly managed websites that offer a similar product and you’ll see the competitions result of bad moderation.
If anything the repeat offenders should be banned, but I’m not grilling this BBQ.
Sorry, I don’t see Qatar Living et al. as an alternative to DN. in fact, if I were Shabina I would have deleted your post for trolling 🙂
This is a common term in forums on the internet to describe someone who is trying to purposely provoke anger or offend someone on a forum by their comment. It is a seperate meaning from the original troll definition referring to a ghoul or monster like creature.
So the word itself (the internet definiton) has evolved not to be offensive by the masses unless you are offended that you are wrongly accused of being a troll then perhaps you are more offended by the accusation. Similar to if one is called a liar, it is a term for someone to describe a certain behavior but can be offensive if one is wrongly accused as a liar.
Local news without a breakdown by nationality? Very unusual. Otherwise congrats to all graduates.
Because most are not Qatari and better to hide that fact.
Perhaps Shabina would like to comment on that…
Here’s the latest demographic data available (incoming freshman class, 2013-2014), courtesy of the Daily Q at NU-Q:
http://thedailyq.org/2013/11/04/education-city-student-demographics-2013-14/
Qatari -38%, so approx. 255 graduates. That’s not a lot, so it is interesting to find out now many graduate from universities overseas.
Nice graphs in the article, anyone have a breakdown on actual graduates?
Why is that very unusual? We know it is a multinational graduating class. Why do they need to break down the nationalities, for once let’s just not judge by nationality. The university I went to did not do this and it was far more diverse. As far as I know university tend to give breakdowns when students enter into college or when describing the current student population not the graduates.
It is unusual for Doha. The first thing people ask you here is “Where are you from?” News and articles talk about Nationals vs expats all the time. Every newspaper picture features Qataris right smack in the middle of the front row. I am not saying that it is right or wrong, after all it is their country, just stating the obvious. I don’t know which university you went to. The university I went to publishes such data; in fact one of the factors that contributed to its ranking was “diversity”
Yes it is unusual, therefore I found it quite refreshing that it wasn’t mentioned in this article.
I didn’t go to university here so I don’t know if there is an expat vs local mentality in the student body but this didn’t exist in the international school I went to when I was in highschool here many years ago. Diversity is a great thing, unfortunately here it is seen as an “us vs them” attitude.
I can only speak for my knowledge of American Universities and as far as I know the diversity they rank is ethnic diversity. Statistics are more focused on incoming freshman and admissions that outgoing students.
Expats are seen by most nationals as a necessary evil rather than a valued partner.
This is one of Qatar’s great success stories, congrats to all the students that made it.
This is the best investment Qatar ever made. Mabrook Batch of 2015!
Congratulations to all the graduates!!! And also to sheikha Moza for her input into Qatar Foundation 😀
Waiting for MIMH to start hammering this.
You sound so negative. Did you dog die?
Deleting for trolling.
These guys will have a tough time fixing what their parents and grand parents did (Kafala system, reliance on foreign labour, laxism is applying laws, nepotism and wasta, etc.)
I am in favor of the Kafala system.
Of course you are.
Can you name one of its advantages that makes you so keen on keeping it?
Well all the graduates everywhere in the world are really going to be having a tough time fixing what our parents and grand parents have done (capitalism, free trade, exploitation of natural and human resource, wealth inequality, mismanagement of rights etc.)
Who says it needs fixing?
You are right, it needs more mulling 🙂
Fixing what their parents and grandparents did? Wow, I thought that President Bush and the Americans were responsible for all these problems 🙂
still think its a waste of money
and land as well
This is an excellent use of resources. You can tell a lot about a country by how much it invests in the education of it’s people. It’s an investment in the prosperous future of the country and is far more beneficial to long term growth than an investment in another shopping mall or office building. If you want good examples of economic prosperity due to long term strategic investments in education and the development of a research culture read about Singapore, Japan and South Korea.
its a waste, less than 300 qatari student from 9 UNIVERSITIES, only an insane person would called that a success story.
A few better ways of using the money come to mind: buy paintings of guys playing cards and drinking, buy department stores and hotels in Europe, build new roads, start digging three months later, destroy them and then rebuild them. Huge teddy bears are cute, but not expensive enough to be included.
thats a different thing . its called better planning
How old are you ? I’m gona have a guess i think you’re 12
I think that is a disappointing conclusion but I respect your opinion. Personally I think it is a great way for Qatar to spend its money, it will take time but hopfeully they can develop and sustain some world class institutions.
I agree, it is a bit of a disappointing comment. But they have the right to their opinion. Education is very important. I also like that QF provides a diverse environment and classes that are not taught in many schools/higher education facilities in the GCC-giving the students the chance to think outside the box and discuss ideas freely. I’m very proud of Qatar Foundation and all the individuals who have studied there.
for the ppl of Qatar its worth it, spending billions & the outcome is 200 something student from 9 universities????????? , wouldn’t be cheaper & more efficient sending them to study abroad ??
its a waste. 9 Universities with 500 +something student , with less then half of them Qataris. in which way this is a good development. QU alone have twice the number of students. with less insane budgets/facilities/buildings…
Look at the quality not the quantity, the Qataris attending Texas A&M are pretty good in my opinion whereas Qataris who attend QU are pretty much unemployable outside of the government. It’s a start, you don’t develop a world class university system over night and it may become a revenue stream in the future attracting students from around the region who are willing to pay.
sorry that’s not true , both are equally employed in Qatar,especially with the qatarization program ,and quality matter when there are enough in the market , not when there are a shortage of skilled ppl. because of the graduate numbers it means we will have at most 20 skilled engineer while the market needs at least 20X that. and ppl in other countries will go to the actual T A&M home campus instead of Qatar. where its nothing compare to the one in DOHA
In terms of employment that is true, but that is due to companies having to meet Qatarisation targets especially in O&G and the Finance sectors. However does not mean the quality of graduates is good across the board it means Qataris have become commodities for companies to be traded. As you say, the supply is low so the cost goes up and you have to have them, otherwise your company gets penalised. I fully support Qatarisation, as Qataris themselves need to benefit from the growth and development in the country but I do not think QU provides a good platform for them to be ready for the market. QU is influenced by politics too much as well. Just my opinion.
There was indeed a lot of money wasted on this (and Sidra), but first, this is unfortunately the norm here for most projects, and second, this does not mean the project itself is bad. Having world-class universities in Qatar is, without any doubt, a big achievement. Wasting billions to have them here is obviously questionable, as one would argue that the same objective could have been achieved for far less.
yeah, like to study abroad . qatari students would had a better experience for billions less
I have read the story again and again. What caught my eye was H.H. The Emir Father’s statement that Qatar was and will always remain as a mecca for the oppressed. I wish I could ask H.H. who is included in his definition of oppressed. Shabina, I have a suggestion for you. How about running a “what would you ask H.H. if you had the opportunity” article, summarizing the questions and requesting interviews with Their Highnesses the Emir and the Emir Father?
I’ve never commented on DN before, but the sheer dumbness of some of the comments listed here is forcing me to write this. I don’t wish to get into an argument with those I am addressing because I know you are wrong, but I am writing this anyway in the hopes that at least 1-2 people see the light.
Firstly, ‘troll’ is now internet terminology, it’s not offensive; in fact, it calls out an offensive person. For another example of animal names taken over by the internet, see ‘mouse’.
Second, those saying that this is one of Qatar’s worst investment or even a bad investment at all are missing the point. It is true that QU provides more professionals to the job market, but the value of QF’s graduates cannot be assessed in just its number of graduates.
A growing nation needs professionals of all kinds- from Islamic scholars to journalists, from designers to film directors, from computing professionals to art conservationists. Combine this versatility of offering at QF with world-class facilities and globally renowned curricula and you have the ingredients needs for a new generation of residents who work hand in hand with graduates from other universities to push the boundaries of where Qatar stands today.
There is no doubt that QF has been good for Qatar. Many cities in the world have striven to develop education campuses as robust as QF- almost all have failed. Please do take a hop and skip over to Dubai and compare their U. of Wollongong type of schools to Qatar’s NU-Q’s and WCMC-Q. It is a stark difference firmly in favor of Qatar.
Education above all is the solution to all of a nation’s problems. With education comes a respect for oneself, for one’s condition, and for one’s peers. Those same people who are leaving dumb comments about QF here are also the ones who will shout loudest about the faults within Qatari society. Little do they know that while they scream themselves hoarse, Qatari society and Qatar in general is inching towards betterment each day because of QF, QU, CNA-Q and whatever else is educating our people.
I am not Qatari, but my view is that if we have the wealth and the will, then why not aim for the stars? At least we are spending our money on the betterment of society, at least we do not leave our people to languish, at least we care for their well-being, at least we are giving them a fighting chance- and what a chance at that.
Having said all of that, it is true that QF has made mistakes too- no doubt. But who doesn’t? From my count, the number and severity of the mistakes after 20 years in operation pales in comparison to the number of success stories.