Ministry prepares students for global scientific challenges

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE), represented by the Science Department of the Educational Guidance Department, organised a meeting to introduce the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO 2023), and the student scientific training camp, which is an initiative centred on digital knowledge, financial sciences, mathematics, science, technology and engineering (STEMFD).
The meeting was attended by Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs Maha al-Ruwaili, Assistant Undersecretary for Special Education Affairs Omar al-Nama, principals of public, international and private schools, and more than 50 male and female students and their parents, in addition to educational mentors and teachers and the teachers of the science clubs in public schools.
Al-Ruwaili stressed the importance of the ministry’s strategy, which identifies ways to build advanced educational systems that provide citizens with opportunities to develop their skills and provide various areas for preparing them for success, enabling them to enter the global competitiveness and preparing them for the global market.
She said that the ministry had taken executive steps and practical measures to achieve the objectives of its strategy, as the “Training Camps” programme witnesses the launch of its first preliminary steps to implement the “scientific camp for training students.”
She said that this initiative carefully brings together learners and teachers to ensure a balanced education, practical experience, and life skills, as well as an opportunity to build a community of learners who can scientifically solve life problems.
Al-Ruwaili noted that these camps provide an open challenge for learners in tasks that require designing, creating and applying solutions to life problems of concern to the world, by adopting the principles of sustainability, as the six components of STEMFD are integrated, namely: science, technology, engineering, mathematics, financial sciences, and digital sciences.
Head of the Science Department Fatima al-Rashed reviewed the objectives of the IJSO, which will be held next October in Bangkok, Thailand, represented in discovering outstanding students, developing their capabilities, refining their skills and enriching their experiences, and helping them to identify their scientific orientations. It also helps students to define their future goals, and fuel the spirit of competition in science and knowledge in order to achieve the quality of achievement among students and enhance confidence in their abilities.
She stressed the importance of forming the initial nucleus of the Qatari student team in international competitions, to achieve honourable results at the global level in science in the IJSO.
Al-Rashed said that the IJSO is an international competition in science for students aged 15 (less than 16 on Dec 1, 2023). It is held annually in one of the participating countries that are chosen according to certain bases, where students compete with each other for Olympic medals, paving the way for them to have the best options and future opportunities.
During the meeting, al-Ruwaili inaugurated the slogan of the scientific camp for training students, which was designed by the students of Hamzah Preparatory School for Boys, in preparation for the start of work in the camp at the Scientific Club and Kahramaa.
The students explained the components of the slogan, which represents a coherent and harmonious process in an integrated path without dividing boundaries for the student’s learning experience, which included the integration of modern fields of science, the requirements of learning in the 21st century, keeping pace with the rapid and successive changes in life, and meeting the goals, objectives and principles adopted by the Qatar National Vision 2030.
This year, students will be trained on projects that include food preservation, water security, and green energy.