(MENAFN- Gulf Times) With a focus on providing innovative developmental opportunities for young students in Qatar, the AlFaisal Without Borders (ALF) Foundation has taken the initiative of conducting skills development workshops in electrical engineering, technology, theatre, project management, photo editing, costume creation and scenery creation.
Assisted by 33 volunteer presenters, a total of 57 workshops were conducted among 900 students from various independent and international schools, including those participating in the 'Destination Imagination' programme. The workshops were hosted by Stenden University and by the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.
"The ALF Foundation is steadfast in actively promoting education and youth enablement,"said Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al-Thani, ALF Foundation's founder and chairman.
"Our goal is to provide additional learning opportunities that will empower the youth to positively contribute towards the betterment of humanity and society."
On December 12, a total of 19 workshops were conducted in English at Stenden University for 240 students. From December 13-15, a total of 38 workshops were conducted at QNCC in Arabic for 660 students.
"Education and skills development are key components in the realisation of a knowledge-based and sustainable economy in Qatar as contained in the country's National Vision 2030 Plan," said Abdullatif al-Yafei, general manager of the ALF Foundation. "Within our mission of developing, employing and managing programmes including the area of education, we aim to offer programmes that can help remedy any skill gaps or deficiencies."
Among the volunteer presenters of the workshops were Ammar Khorshed, Derick Osayormwanbor, Fahed al-Baker, Hossein Heyder, Mohamed al-Jarrah, Abdelrahman Romaihi, Saber Harkati, Don Rikley, Trish Slade, Nickil Ravi, Dr Fuad Abdelaziz, Meriem Boudoukha, Noorul Firdhouse, Sinchai Zonputh, Mohana Rajakumar, Nirmala Shanmugapandian, Lina Lotfi, Maryam Nasser, Leila al-Haj, Ahmed Ali, Mahmoud Elkhishy, Aisha Ghaleb, Rawan Ismail, Noor Qussini, Waleed Hassan and Ahmad Hassan.
"The ALF Foundation brought the DI programme to Qatar in November 2013 because it shares the programme's philosophy of providing a quality platform that encourages inquisitive thinking and creative problem solving skills," said Ali Talal al-Mar'e, ALF Foundation's executive director. "Accordingly, we have conducted these workshops in order to promote independent learning and skills development among students, particularly to those who need them most.
Destination Imagination Qatar focuses on the development of skills and talent among students of all ages and economic status. It aims to inspire students to be actively interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and for them to learn more about their concepts. It also gives students the chance to know and experience the creative process, which is about thinking and doing in no prescribed order.
With their newly acquired skills from the workshops, students who are participating in the Destination Imagination Challenge will then be able to apply, share and teach these skills to their respective teams. Their effectiveness of incorporating such skills will then be assessed during the DI Qatar 2016 Invitational Tournament, which will take place from February 25-28, 2016 at the QNCC.
As trained appraisers meticulously observe tournament participants and teams, they will be assessed on how effective such newly acquired skills have been incorporated into their DI solution. Appraisers establish a welcoming atmosphere as teams first present their eight-minute solution and then discuss the creative process they went through during their 10-week long DI season.
DI Qatar also welcomes anyone interested and willing to be among the appraisers for the tournament. This includes those who wish to support the skills and talent development activities within the Qatar community. They may contact the DI Volunteer Co-ordinator (Ph: 66625826).
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