Manama: Qatar’s former Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani has paid tribute to his wife Shaikha Mouza Bint Nasser, Co-Founder and Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, for her efforts during the last 20 years in promoting learning.
Attending Qatar Foundation’s Convocation 2015, Shaikh Hamad presented a symbolic gift, the ‘Key to Unlocking Human Potential”, to Shaikha Mouza.
On the key was written: “In gratitude and appreciation for the inspired vision and wise leadership, rich with promising aspirations, steady direction and unrelenting dedication that instilled in us the will to rise through unlocking human potential and to make our beloved Qatar soar to great heights.”
“I extend my thanks to Her Highness Shaikha Mouza who exerted great efforts to make our common dream come true,” Shaikh Hamad said. “This dream has today become a reality that we could see its results and witness its successes to achieve a bright future for our country with steady and confident strides.”
Addressing the graduates, Shaikh Hamad said he was “pleased to celebrate this year’s batch of graduates of the Education City universities, whom we consider the result of a huge national project launched in 2003, when Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development entered into a strategic educational and scientific research partnership with prestigious universities.”
“We are today reaping more fruits of this partnership in the form of young educated youth who are proud of their identity, cultural heritage, and who will set out from the Education City to pass through ‘The Door to the Future’, and to step forward confidently to contribute to the advancement and development of their country,” he said.
“We believed, and still believe, that education is the real wealth of any nation. It is the basis of all progress and that its absence is the cause of all backwardness… Qatar has attached the highest importance to education and allocated a lot of resources to it even during the times of crises and difficult economic conditions that we passed through, because of our firm belief that education is the main tributary to knowledge, that elevates and develops nations, and through which we could overcome all social challenges facing Arab societies.”
The former emir added that poverty, ignorance, and fanaticism turned societies from active humanitarian communities to scattered secluded groups.
The ceremony was held in honour of the 672 graduates from the different universities at Education City. The 122 students from Hamad bin Khalifa University represented the largest number among graduates of all universities at this year’s Convocation.
The convocation also celebrated the achievements of graduates from the eight partner universities of Qatar Foundation, including 68 graduates from Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and 43 doctors from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.
Texas A&M University at Qatar had 101 graduates Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar had with 106 students.
Georgetown University in Qatar celebrated the graduation of 57 students and Northwestern University in Qatar had 38 students.
HEC Paris in Qatar, which offers programmes to executive managers and directors in Qatar, celebrated the graduation of 94 students.
The number of graduates from University College London in Qatar was 43 students in the fields of Museum studies and Archaeology.
This number represented the largest ever group to graduate from QF since its establishment in 1995. It also marked an increase of more than 22 per cent in the number of graduates compared with 2014.
Qatar Foundation celebrated the first joint convocation of its partner universities in 2008.
