By Azmat Haroon
Doha: The number of students at the Qatar University (QU) has gone up by an impressive 51 percent over the past five years.
However, females continue to dominate heavily the admissions, according to latest data released by the university.
QU currently has some 72.5 percent female students compared to 27.5 percent male students.
The number of total students has gone up from 8,131 in 2008 to 12,309 this year, with 8,922 females and 3,387 males currently studying in different ranks of the university.
“Our policy is to take any Qatari student who clears the QU entrance exam. We don’t have a cap like some other universities,” Prof Sheikha Abdulla Al Misnad, QU President, told reporters during a media briefing yesterday.
QU admitted some 4,000 new students this year, out of which 2,400 are Qataris.
“The ratio of Qatari to expatriate students is 60 to 40,” she said.
Prof Al Misnad spoke about the changes, developments and progress plans at QU for the coming academic years during the session.
The university has also introduced 12 new undergraduate programmes, a total of 24 Masters and 3 PhD programmes, and an increased faculty body.
Meanwhile, the number of students who need to go through the Foundation Programme every year is also decreasing, Prof Al Misnad said.
“I was just informed by the Dean of the Engineering Department that there are some 300 students who came to the College of Engineering without the Foundation Programme. Every year the number of students who need to take the Foundation Programme is decreasing,” the president said.
While Arabic is the language of instruction in Business, Law, Media, and International Affairs, QU has ensured that sufficient English courses are integrated into curricula to ensure that the graduates are competent in both languages in a way that responds to labour market needs, Prof Al Misnad added.
The university is expanding its infrastructure and facilities with a series of construction projects which includes a new building for the College of Pharmacy and College of Engineering, to be completed by 2016, a Research Complex by 2013 and setting up on-campus student accommodation by 2014.
Additionally, new parking facilities have been created and provision of the intra-campus shuttle bus has been expanded to accommodate the male campus.
On the issue of Qatarisation, Prof Al Misnad highlighted that Qatari faculty now make up 40 percent of the academic faculty, a figure up by 21 percent from last year.
Through the National Capacity Building Programme, QU supports professional development initiatives for Qatari academics to bolster their existing skills and competencies, she said.
The Peninsula
