Qatar University’s Young Scientist Center (QU-YSC) launched “Scouts Scientific Camp” in cooperation with Qatar scouts association on Thursday 14th January.
The camp provided an innovative environment for young participants.it was based on merging between the scientific and research aspects, through the activities offered by the center, and the educational scout aspects presented by the Qatar Scout.
The idea of the camp originated and implemented because of the great collaboration between the two parties to prepare a complete scientific scout program that can improve the leadership skills and the innovative capabilities of the participants. In addition, the camp was set to build their personalities, develop their scientific skills and support their background of scout principles and ethics.
24 students from 8 different preparatory schools for boys attended the camp. The activities continued for three consecutive days, by following all precautionary measures and social distancing among students. The activities varied between scientific, cultural and scout activities, which included camping challenges and interactive scientific ways to solve these challenges depending on the use of problem-solving skills and with engineering design process steps which included identifying problems , planning, construction, testing and evaluation.
The creation of environment of positive competition also helps to enhance the spirit of teamwork and critical thinking skills and supports the goals of the Scout. The modern educational methods used in the center contributed to the release of creative ideas, to be applied and tested outside the laboratories in which the participants adapt to successfully overcome the challenges.
The Camp developed many important scout skills to guarantee the success of students and prepare them to become future leaders, such as self-reliance, cooperation, discipline, leadership and other skills.
Mr. Jassim Al-Hardan, Commissioner General of the Qatar scouts association, said, "The Scout has an important and positive role in preparing the personality of the youth and preparing them for life experiences, and we believe that influential figures should have leadership skills and also scientific skills and that was the reason behind our cooperation with YSC. We are proud of the unique experience our students gained and the ideas that had emerged in the camp, as it is the outcome of our distinguished cooperation and is the start for more innovations.”
Mrs. Aisha Al-Kuwari, subject evaluation consultant at the Scout Association and the supervisor of the Camp, added, "The scientific scout camp was considered platform for the students to present their creativity and fully develop their scientific potentials and intellectual abilities. This camp is just a beginning for several partnerships in the future with YSC to obtain best outcome of Qatar's youth.
Dr. Noora Al-Thani, Director of YSC said, "We always strive to encourage students to love science by creating an interactive educational environment that combines learning with entertainment. Our goal is to build a new generation capable of decision-making and capable to make developments in Qatar. We are pleased to cooperate with the Scouts Association to prepare the young students to be role models and leaders for the future, pioneers in all scientific, cultural and political fields. ”Dr. Nora also valued the efforts of the sponsors, which is Ras Laffan Program for Social Communication, and the partners who are UNESCO Doha Office and Qatar National Committee for Education, Culture and Science.