The first cohort of students might have graduated from Doha College’s Al Wajba campus, but their faces are set to remain a familiar presence in the Qatari capital for a little while yet.
With Covid-related restrictions requiring pupils to spend rather less time on school grounds than they might have hoped, the British international school has put together a collage of graduation headshots for display on the Secondary Library frontage. The graduates’ wall will remain in situ until their younger peers reach the same milestone next year.
“We are exceedingly proud of our graduates of 2021,” said Dr Steffen Sommer, principal of Doha College.
“They’ve had a very difficult sixth form with AS and A-levels cancelled – they were in and out of lessons because of Covid-19 measures, and they adapted to blended learning and remote learning.
They really have every reason to be very proud of what they have achieved for themselves and for the school – Dr Steffen Sommer, Doha College
“During this very difficult time, Doha College did as well as it always has done, and our sixth form excelled in it; they were role models like we have seen no others. They really have every reason to be very proud of what they have achieved for themselves and for the school.
“We could not have settled in our new campus as well as we have, had our graduates not set the tone as fervently and with as much zest as they did during these exceptional times. They will forever be remembered for the impact they’ve had on our first few steps here in the Al Wajba campus. We wish them all the very best for the future. They will go far, we know.”
The pandemic left Sommer himself enduring his “most challenging” year in almost two decades of headship, he told us in July 2020. “I found myself having to make decisions that went far beyond my remit, but I had to in order to keep this community running,” he said.
