The Ministry of Education and Higher Education, represented by the Educational Affairs Sector, celebrated today the conclusion of the National Olympiad for Creativity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM HUB), which brought together 600 male and female students and 150 teachers from 60 schools across different educational stages. The ceremony was attended by His Excellency Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, assistant undersecretaries, school principals, winning students and their parents, in addition to Mr Rashid Majid Al Sulaity, Deputy General Manager of Shell Qatar. The event was held at the ministry’s theatre at its permanent headquarters in Al Qutaifiya.
During the ceremony, His Excellency Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh Al Nuaimi, Ms Maha Zayed Al Qa’qaa Al Ruwaili, Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs, and Mr Rashid Majid Al Sulaity honoured 24 winning student teams comprising 84 students from different educational stages. The recognition was awarded for the quality of their projects, the effectiveness of their ideas, and their contribution towards achieving sustainable development goals and supporting the ministry’s vision.
The recognition of the winning teams and schools reflects the Ministry of Education and Higher Education’s commitment to implementing its vision of preparing entrepreneurial learners for sustainable development. The STEM HUB initiative was introduced as an umbrella platform for all ministry activities aimed at promoting creativity and innovation through the application of the STEM approach in education, under the supervision of the Educational Guidance Department.
The ceremony also included the recognition of the programme’s founding partners, who played a key role in its success, including the Ministry of Sports and Youth represented by the Qatar Scientific Club, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Shell Qatar, and Hamad Medical Corporation represented by Qatar Rehabilitation Institute.
In her speech during the ceremony, Ms Maha Zayed Al Qa’qaa Al Ruwaili stated that STEM HUB serves as a unifying platform for educational initiatives aimed at strengthening the STEM approach within the educational field. These initiatives include the Innovation Incubators Project, implemented in eight secondary schools equipped with Fab Lab laboratories that contain digital manufacturing equipment integrated into the educational process, as well as the STEMATHON National Olympiad for Creativity, which utilises these innovation incubators in the eight schools. The programme also includes eight preparatory schools and eight primary schools within the same geographical areas, creating eight scientific production lines consisting of three interconnected projects, with one project assigned to each educational stage, reflecting knowledge progression and vertical integration across the three educational levels.
Al Ruwaili further explained that one of the STEM HUB initiatives is the Scientific Camp project, an annual activity conducted outside regular school hours to enhance students’ awareness using the STEM-FD methodology, which combines science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and financial and digital literacy. The theme of the fifth edition of the camp was “Designing, Building, and Programming a Sustainable Prosthetic Limb.” She also highlighted the N Explores competition, organised by Shell Qatar in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, which focuses on developing projects that address local challenges related to energy, environmental protection, and sustainability, while ensuring alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Al Ruwaili added that these initiatives help develop students’ life experiences and connect the knowledge and skills they acquire in classrooms with real-world applications linked to the labour market, while also building their 21st-century skills and supporting the ministry’s vision of creating entrepreneurial learners for sustainable development.
For his part, Mr Rashid Majid Al Sulaity, Deputy General Manager of Shell Qatar, praised the achievements of the participating students, saying: “I congratulate all students who completed the N Explores programme. Their ideas, enthusiasm, and problem-solving abilities reflected an exceptional standard and demonstrated what can be achieved when young people are empowered to think innovatively. We also congratulate the students of Hind Bint Utbah Preparatory School for Girls for winning first place for their project ‘Green Loop’, which presents an innovative model for an integrated eco-friendly environmental system.”
Mr Rashid Majid Al Sulaity added: “As this season concludes, we at Shell Qatar reaffirm our ongoing commitment to supporting and developing young talents and promoting a culture of innovation and sustainability. Since its launch, the programme has contributed to developing the skills of more than 3,200 students and 220 teachers across 77 schools.”
The student teams interviewed during the event expressed their happiness with the recognition and the success of their projects. Among them were the “Harvesting Water from the Atmosphere” project team from Al Kaaban Joint School for Boys, incubated by Al Shamal Secondary School; the “Interactive Pen for Correcting Hand Position While Writing” project team prepared by students of Maimouna Primary School in cooperation with Zainab Preparatory School and incubated by Umm Hakim Secondary School for Girls; and the “Sustainable Vertical Farming System” project team developed by students of the Preparatory and Secondary Religious Institute in collaboration with engineers from Shell Qatar.
