Qatar University President, Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham
Qatar University President Dr Hassan Rashid Al Derham has said that Qatar turned the unjust blockade into a victory by achieving economic miracle and amazing growth in multiple dimensions.
“The unjust blockade is an act which is rejected by all laws and has an impact on all aspects of life and not only limited to the psychological side,” said Qatar University President Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham in an exclusive interview with The Peninsula.
“But Qatar dealt with this blockade very well and converted it into a victory, achieving an economic miracle and its growth has amazed both friends and enemies,” he said.
“Hamad International Port was established as the largest port in the region and more than the country’s need was achieved in the field of food security in various agricultural and animal fields. As well the field of medicines and other vital areas which were given priority by the State achieved impressive results that made it exceed the needs of the country and heading to exports. Also, the Qatari presence at the international and regional levels increased more than it was before the siege,” Dr. Al Derham said.
He said that Qatar University has had a prominent role in facing the blockade from the very first day. Dr. Al Derham added that to solve the crisis of students affected by the blockade, Qatar University had prepared a mechanism to accommodate the Qatari students affected by the blockading countries in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the State of Qatar, and had also developed a preliminary plan for accepting students.
“Qatar University’s steps in the area of combating the blockade continued through preparing curricula that discuss the topic of the blockade and the mechanisms to combat it.”
To a question if people had really left the topic of the blockade behind them and no one was interested in it anymore, he emphasized that the government and the people in Qatar have been able to adapt to the blockade and remove its economic impact on the growth process in the country or influence the role and status of Qatar regionally and internationally.
“As for the interest in it, it still exists and will remain as long as this unjust siege remains because a person naturally rejects injustice from the enemies. So how (it can be tolerated) if this injustice is from relatives and brothers,” he noted.
About the lessons that can be learnt from this experience in light of what has been achieved on the ground in all fields, Dr. Al Derham said: “Qatar has benefited from this blockade a lot at all levels. From the economic perspective, Qatar went to industrialisation and achieved self-sufficiency in various fields, which achieved further growth for the national economy and strong dynamism that the economies of the blockading countries did not achieve.”
On the other hand, he said, Qatar succeeded in creating strong bilateral relations with regional countries as is the case of Qatar-Turkey relations. “In the scientific field, Qatari educational institutions increased their capacity and conducted scientific research on issues that matter the most to the country for establishing a true knowledge economy in Qatar. In the social field, the bond between the citizens and the residents strengthened and everyone has realized that they are one body. Thus, we realize that through the efforts of sincere Qatari cadres, and residents, the State was able to overcome the siege and achieved many accomplishments,” he said.
Responding to a question about his evaluation of the efforts of Qatar University to tackle the siege measures, and how it ensured the continuity of education for students who were excluded from the siege countries, Dr. Al Derham said: “A committee was formed to consider the applications for admission of Qatari students who were studying in the blockading countries, and the university announced that the applications were open to them until July 4, 2017.
Qatar University adopted and solved the problem of the students studying in the blockading countries facilitated them to expedite the exams so that they could take the test before the 14-day deadline for leaving Qatar.”
Moreover, he said, Qatar University confirmed that Gulf students from the blockading countries are welcome to Qatar University just as the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Arab, Islamic and friendly countries.
Giving more details, Dr. Al Derham said that the office of the President of Qatar University sent an email to all university employees on how to deal with what was being circulated on social media on the crisis in the context of Qatar University’s commitment to the directives of H H the Amir.
“The College of Law at Qatar University announced that it had introduced a special course in the fall semester on the topic “the legal dimensions of the blockade of Qatar from the perspective of international law”, and this course aimed to involve a number of college students registered in the course in scientific discussions and exchanged legal opinions supported by the principles and provisions of international law on the topic the siege,” he said.
In a very important educational and academic move, Dr. Al Derham said that the Department of Arabic Language at the College of Arts and Sciences at Qatar University targeted the Qatar University students studying general requirements to connect them with the authentic social and human values in the Qatari society, and which were expressed by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in his two important speeches; the speech of steadfastness delivered by His Highness on Friday, July 21, 2017, and the speech of pride and dignity that was delivered at the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly at its seventy-second session on Tuesday, September 19, 2017, where the section included the speech steadfastness in the Arabic language course 1 and the speech of pride and dignity in the Arabic language course 2.
Regarding a question about important achievements made by the university during the past years, he said that over the past three years, Qatar University had maintained its advanced pace in international rankings, hosted more than one international conference on education, and raised its annual evaluation in many indicators.
“Qatar University has maintained its position as the first institution in Qatar in terms of the number of graduates and the number of programs it offers to society, therefore the university was able for years to adapt its programs.
It was ranked 276 according to the rankings of the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) for the world universities for 2020. It ranked 36th according to the ratings of Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) for modern world universities in 2019.
“The University was ranked 408 according to the rankings of The Times Higher Education Institute for International Universities for 2019,” he said.
