The Academic Bridge Programme, a centre of Qatar Foundation, graduated 224 students in its 11th batch at a ceremony on Saturday.ABP director Dr Miles Lovelace described the class of 2012 as the most outstanding class academically in the institution’s history. They come from 22 different nationalities, including 69% females. As many as 83% of this year’s graduates are Qatari. The number one ranking student is a boy from Palestine-Jordan while the number two student academically is a Qatari girl. As a group, more of these students are on the ABP Honour Roll than ever. At one marking period, for example, over 100 students achieved all A and B grades, and over a dozen students had perfect attendance. “Almost 30% of the graduates have been admitted to one or more of the Education City universities, a new record for the ABP,” Dr Lovelace said. He predicted that around 90% of this year’s graduates will be admitted to one or more universities when all of the decisions about university admission in Qatar and in foreign universities are received.
“That, too, is the highest percent in the past eleven years,” he added. In her keynote speech, ictQATAR consumer protection manager Dr Eiman Ali al-Ansari urged the graduates to be bold, chart their own course, don’t always do what is easiest and surround themselves with a network of truly good people.Recalling that she had the privilege of being involved with the ABP from its very inception, the speaker recalled the words of QF chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
“She said ‘tomorrow is rooted here,’ when Qatar Foundation was a concept, and this campus was a desert. But Her Highness knew that even in a desert, one could grow something incredible,” recalled Dr Eiman.She said that when she graduated, Education City didn’t exist, and the opportunities for women to pursue higher education were much more limited. She graduated from Qatar University in Islamic Studies and took up an administrative assistant’s job there itself, though she was offered the job of a public relations manager elsewhere. I knew I wasn’t really ready to be a manager, and I also knew that it was really just a gifted title because I was an educated Qatari. This is not something I wanted at all.“I accepted the administrative assistant position with Qatar University and committed myself to learning everything I could about the real world. “This hard work paid off, and Qatar University agreed to sponsor me to pursue in the UK my Master’s degree in Education, and ultimately my PhD in the Economics and Politics of Education and Labour Markets. Subsequently Qatar Foundation asked for me to be seconded to them from Qatar University.“It’s with Qatar Foundation that I started to work closely with young Qataris as they considered education and career options.” Dr Eiman was on the ABP board, worked with the Supreme Education Council Institute, at RasGas in the Qatar National Development Programme, and with Vodafone as community relations manager before taking up the current job.ABP student association president Ibrahim al-Rajhi and valedictorian Anas Karaki also spoke.