In recent years, Qatar has placed great emphasis on education. Citizens are required to attend government-provided education from kindergarten through high school. Qatar University was founded in 1973. More recently, with the support of the Qatar Foundation, a number of leading US universities have opened branch campuses in the Education City. These include
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Cornell University’s Weill Cornell Medical College
• Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
• Houston Community College System
• Northwestern University
• Texas A&M University
• Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts
In 2008, Qatar established the Qatar Science & Technology Park at Education City to link those universities with industry. Education City is also home to a fully accredited International Baccalaureate school, Qatar Academy. Two Canadian institutions, the College of the North Atlantic and the University of Calgary, also operate campuses in Doha. Other for-profit universities have also established campuses in the city.
In 2009, Qatar Foundation launched a non-profit radio station, QF Radio 93.7 FM [5], which offers a streaming online service providing regular programs about education, science, community development, and the arts in Qatar to a global online audience. It also broadcasts to Doha, Qatar, on 93.7 FM. The program is produced as 70% in Arabic and 30% in English.
In 2009, the Qatar Foundation launched the World Innovation Summit for Education – WISE – a global forum that brought together education stakeholders, opinion leaders, and decision makers from all over the world to discuss educational issues. The first edition was held in Doha from 16 to 18 November 2009, the second from 7 to 9 December 2010. The third edition
