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The Alqabas Program: A University Experience
Hayat El Samad, Assistant Director for Student Affairs, Foundation Program
From April 7th to April
11th, 2019, the Founda-
tion Program welcomed
43 high school female
Qatari students from
seven Qatari schools to
the Alqabas Program.
The Alqabas Program is
a student outreach initi-
ative which is the first of
its kind at Qatar Univer-
sity. It was undertaken
in collaboration with the
Ministry of Education
and Higher Education.
The goal of the program
was to prepare grades
ten and eleven high
school students for uni-
versity life. Around 25
faculty members and
staff from FP Student
Affairs, the Department
of English, and the De-
partment of Math partic-
ipated in organizing,
preparing, and deliver-
ing the sessions.
During their visit, the
high school students
participated in numer-
ous learning experienc-
es. This included activi-
ties which were de-
signed to develop their
math and English skills,
as well as workshops
which were designed to
improve their study skills
and test-taking strate-
gies. The Alqabas also
organized visits to the
Colleges of Medicine,
Pharmacy, Engineering,
and Education; also, the
high school students
attended math and Eng-
lish classes along with
regular university stu-
dents. The visiting stu-
dents were also intro-
duced to the different
student support services
offered at Qatar Univer-
sity, such as the Qatar
University Library, the
Sports Center, and the
Career Development
Center. On the final day
of the Alqabas, a show-
case of student posters
was held. This provided
the students with an
opportunity to present
posters and share their
experiences in the
Alqabas with faculty and
special needs students.
A student survey indi-
cated a high satisfaction
rate among the at-
tendees. Students wrote
that the Alqabas was
fun, interesting and ben-
eficial. One student
commented that she
already felt like a Qatar
University student. Fu-
ture plans for the
Alqabas include extend-
ing the program to more
than one week, targeting
more Qatari schools,
and offering a similar
program to male stu-
dents. By encouraging
students to apply to
STEM and medicine
majors as well as better
preparing them for uni-
versity life, the Founda-
tion Program will make a
positive contribution
towards the realization
of the Qatar National
Vision 2030.
FP staff and faculty who participated in Alqabas: Photograph courtesy of Hayat El Samad