Doha College has been shortlisted in the British International School of the Year category of the 5th Independent School Awards 2014.  

“This is a first for Doha College and a reflection on the quality of British education offered within Qatar,” according to a press release issued yesterday by the British embassy.

The awards showcase and celebrate excellence within the Independent School sector and provide benchmarks for the educational sector as a whole.

To be shortlisted, schools must be an inspirational and independent school based outside of the UK that espouses a British education and has made an outstanding strategic achievement.

Doha College competed against hundreds of schools across the world and has been selected as one of four shortlisted schools to compete within the awards which will be announced at the final on November 13 this year.

Mark Leppard, principal explained, “Doha College is recognised as the leading international school in Qatar based on our academic results, these place us in the top 100 independent schools in the UK.

“We have made some significant strategic changes in the last 12 months and we are delighted to be shortlisted for this prestigious award. The World Cup 2022 programme has increased the demand on educational places and Doha College was the only British school asked by the Supreme Education Council (SEC) to open an additional campus within West Bay, to increase school places.

“Doha College has a 34 year history within Qatar and is recognised by the SEC for its strong tradition, academic excellence and outreach projects. Doha College regularly supports local schools and the wider Qatar community; projects include the Teach for Qatar initiative, Helping Hands a Nepalese orphanage volunteer programme and the successful Evolution Sports Academy.

“Our vision ‘to be recognised as one of the leading international schools in the world’ is ongoing and being shortlisted for this award is one way to illustrate this.”

Doha College operates as a not-for-profit community school with a historically long and close relationship with the British embassy. British ambassador Nicholas Hopton said “I would like to congratulate Doha College on this achievement. The British embassy is proud to support such academic excellence and we wish Doha College the best of luck for the award ceremony.”

Fawziya al-Khater, director of Education Institute from the SEC commented: “We congratulate Doha College for being shortlisted for these awards, our aim is to ensure we offer all students within Qatar an excellent education. We have a long standing history and relationship with Doha College, the opening of the new West Bay campus has helped to ease the demand for primary places within the British curriculum.”

Network for education meeting ends today

 

The Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict programme (PEIC) of Education Above All (EAA) is jointly hosting the 2014 Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Global Consultation Synthesis event in Doha, in association with Reach Out to Asia (Rota).

The conference started yesterday at the HBKU student centre at Education City and will conclude today. About 100 guests are participating in the conference including representatives from the World Bank, Unicef, Unesco, universities of Florence and Amsterdam, World Vision International and Save the Children, among others.

PEIC, a programme of EAA, founded by HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, works for promoting and protecting the right to education in areas affected by crisis, conflict and insecurity. PEIC is a policy, research, advocacy and capacity development programme. It brings together practitioners and specialists in education, international law and child protection.

The INEE network of members, includes practitioners working for NGOs, UN agencies, ministries of education and other government personnel who work to ensure the right to education for all, regardless of crisis or conflict. The two-day event is a key opportunity for INEE members to engage in a network-wide process to develop a vision for education in emergencies from 2015 and determine the next INEE strategic plan.PEIC is also a member of INEE.

Work begins on Al Wakrah bypass project

 

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has started work on the Al Wakrah bypass project, running from Al Mashaf to Mesaieed, local Arabic daily Al Sharq has reported.

The project, which includes a dual carriageway of 11km with five lanes on either side, will cost QR2.18bn. To be completed in 2017, the project will feature intersections controlled by smart signals as well as a variety of other infrastructural works, including sub-stations, lighting and sanitation networks, according to the report.

 

DFI grants for film projects from Qatar and Mena

 

Following the international acclaim of two Doha Film Institute (DFI)-funded films at the recent Venice Film Festival, the institute has announced the recipients of its Spring 2014 grants.

These include 12 projects from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region out of a total of 21 projects from 14 countries.

Highlighting the steady strides made by the Qatari film industry, four projects by filmmakers in Qatar have been selected to receive grants. These include ‘Parijat (Night-flowering jasmine)’, a feature-length narrative by Qatari director Hend Fakhroo; the first-of-its-kind reality web series ‘Dr Hamood Show’ by Qatari production company Innovation Films; ‘Remembering Ada’, another feature film by Qatar-based Jan Xavier Pacle; and the short documentary ‘Concrete Dreams: Some Roads Lead Home’ by Saba Karim Khan.

The other projects from the Mena region spring from Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. Of the total, seven projects are from OECD’s Development Assistance Committee list of countries (DAC) and two are from the rest of the world.

Fatma al-Remaihi, acting CEO of DFI, said: “After the success our grant recipients ‘Theeb’ and ‘Sivas’ met in Venice, we are really excited about this next round of projects, which reflect some compelling new voices in cinema. Our jurors were impressed by the range of stories and the diversity of the backgrounds of filmmakers who submitted work.”

DFI’s Spring 2014 Grants Programme focused on identifying new cinematic talent, particularly first- and second-time filmmakers. Now in its eighth session, the fund received 360 applications. The Mena region accounted for 160 of these, while 108 came from DAC countries and 92 from the rest of the world.

At 158 submissions, the number of feature narrative films in production seeking funding was higher than ever, resulting in a large number of the selected projects – 10 in total – being narrative features in production, a notable increase over past grant sessions. Six feature documentaries and two short films (one narrative and one documentary) are also recipients of the grant. All chosen projects will receive funding for development, production or post-production.

The feature narrative projects from the Mena region that will be supported by this round of funding include ‘Days of Tyranny’ by Katia Jarjoura (Lebanon) and ‘Madmen’s Fort’ by Narimane Mari (Algeria).

The short narrative grantees include ‘Waves ’98’ by Elie Dagher (Lebanon). The feature documentary selections from Mena include ‘Dream Away’ by Marouan Omara and Johanna Domke (Egypt). Also from Egypt is ‘We Have Never Been Kids’ by Mahmood Soliman.

Then there is ‘My Syrian Room’ by Hazem Alhamwi from Syria and ‘Roshmia’ by Salim Abu Jabal and ‘Speed Sisters’ by Amber Fares, from Palestine.

Female filmmakers are strongly represented in this funding round with 10 women selected to receive funding: Fakhroo, Fares, Domke, Natalia Garagiola, Jarjoura, Karim Khan, Mariam Khatchvani, Mari, Gitanjali Rao and Mila Turajlic.

“I am honoured to receive this development grant from Doha Film Institute in support of my first feature-length narrative film,” said Fakhroo.

“We at Innovation Films are happy to have Doha Film Institute support our project, ‘Dr. Hamood Show’ and to see the institute’s recognition of the growing culture and influence of new media,” said Mohamed Alhamadi, Innovation Films board member and executive producer.

Both Fakhroo and Alhamadi have received professional development support from the institute in the past to facilitate their participation in the Cannes Producers Workshop.

Submissions for the current grants session opened on September 25 and close on October 15. While the fund is available to work by filmmakers from around the world, the institute emphasises support for filmmakers from the Mena region, and certain categories of funding are reserved for Mena and Qatari filmmakers.

 

 

 

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