DOHA: More than 2,200 people have taken part in the first Destination Imagination (DI) Qatar Invitational Tournament at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).
A total of 315 teams from Qatar and 13 from seven countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Morocco, Poland and the US, participated in the tournament hosted by AlFaisal Without Borders (ALF), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and supported by Social Media Solutions, Qatar Volunteers, Amlak and QNCC.
DI is an educational competition where teams compete with each other to solve challenges they are given.
Each of the eight challenges (technical, scientific, structural, fine arts, improvisational, service learning, early learning and instant challenge) is different from the other, but they aim to spur creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork spirit among the students.
Stressing on the importance of the event, Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman, Board of Trustees, ALF, said: “The ALF Foundation had the opportunity to bring very talented and creative students to our country.
“They are able to learn more about our culture and this provided us with an opportunity to reinforce the time and energy these young people have invested in a mind-challenging competition that will better prepare them for high school and college.
“We as the private sector, together with private institutions, charities and foundations, are doing our best to come up with ideas that serve and improve our country.
“We are proud of the achievements of Qatari youth and the educational system of our country.”
Abdullatif Al Yafei, General Manager, ALF, said: “In adopting this programme, we are working hard to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030, which aims to build an education system that keeps pace with the modern world.
“This system encourages students to have fun, take risks, focus and frame challenges while incorporating science, technology, engineering, mathematics, the arts and service learning.
“It is through this programme that ALF hopes to shed light on the importance of providing an opportunity for students to experience and develop imaginative and original ideas.”
International visitors participated in an extreme challenge where they had 24 hours to understand and solve a challenge being faced.
Teams this year had to dream, design and build a creativity centre inspired by Doha Architecture. They were required to create a blueprint and participate in a mock bartering souq to obtain required materials for building.
During the presentation, their metres-tall structures had to withstand a simulated Doha sandstorm.
