The Qatar e-Nature Schools Contest 2016 concluded yesterday with a final live round that saw Abu Hanifa Model Independent School for Boys winning the first place.
The contest was held under the patronage of HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi.
The international integrated chemicals and energy company, Sasol, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and Friends of the Environment Centre (FEC) were the organisers.
The team of three students from the winning school each received a voucher worth QR4,000 and a gold medal in recognition of their excellence.
Al Khansaa Primary Independent School for Girls was second runner-up and each member of the team received a voucher worth QR3,000 and a certificate of achievement.
Newton International School–Lagoon was the third runner-up and Birla Public School, the fourth. The members of the third and fourth place teams each received vouchers worth QR2,000 and QR1,000, respectively. All the four winning schools were also presented with a Qatar e-Nature award.
The questions posed to the students during the competition were based on the Qatar e-Nature application – a first of its kind smartphone application that highlights the rich diversity of Qatar’s environment.
Nearly 200 students representing 60 private and independent schools from across Qatar participated in the third edition of the schools contest.
This year’s attraction was the new element of a real-time quiz contest in front of a live audience, in which teams answered questions in order to gain points.
At the final live round and awards HE Dr al-Hammadi was represented by Fawzia Abdulaziz al-Khater, director of the Education Institute at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
A documentary about the Qatar e-Nature initiative and contest was presented during the awards ceremony. The video highlighted the most memorable moments throughout the competition in its current and previous years and also included testimonials from some of the participating schools.
The award ceremony was also marked by performances by students from Abu Hanifa Model Independent School for Boys and Maymouna Primary Independent School for Girls.
Phinda Vilakazi, president of GTL Ventures at Sasol, said, the Qatar e-Nature schools competition aims to contribute to the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The contest allows students to actively learn about the Qatar’s diverse wildlife. Over the past three years, the Qatar e-Nature Schools Contest has engaged over 350 schools and 250,000 students across Qatar.
Launched in December 2013, the Qatar e-Nature application and website highlights flora, birds, insects, mammals, reptiles and nature reserves, with marine life in the country soon to be added.
Sasol created the app as part of its corporate social responsibility programme in partnership with FEC. The app, which recently underwent a complete redesign, features content in Arabic and English.
The user-friendly Qatar e-Nature app is available for download free of charge on Apple App Store, Google Play Store for Android, Windows Phone Store and on the website (www.enature.qa) which is also available for desktop access. Active Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels allow users to keep tabs on the latest developments. The application and website is updated regularly, having added nature reserves earlier this year to further benefit users of the application.