Our whole community is deeply saddened to hear of the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.

Through his commitment to young people, HRH Prince Philip developed The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, which has had a profound and positive impact on thousands of Doha College students who participated in the programme over the years. We are eternally grateful for his vision and pioneering approach to the development of young people. In the sixty-five years since the programme’s inception, it has been delivered in more than 130 countries and territories, equipping and empowering millions of young people to build the skills, confidence and resilience they need to support their communities and be ready for the world.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) is an integral part of Doha College, with 180 students taking part in either the bronze, silver or gold award, each year. The award takes the students out of their comfort zones while building up their confidence and resilience. The community projects give students the opportunity to help others who are less fortunate than themselves which builds on the student's empathy skills.

Nadeem Faisal, Doha College’s coordinator of the The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, highlighted the extraordinary impact of the programme on our students:

Prince Philip is quoted as saying: ‘If you can get young people to succeed in any area of activity, that sensation of success will spread over into a lot of others.’ This has been seen time and time again in our award participants at Doha College. Each student’s award journey has been different, but there is no denying the sense of achievement that all of them share. The award will carry on in his name and will continue to provide our students with the opportunity to challenge themselves physically, mentally and emotionally in a range of activities designed to promote teamwork, resourcefulness and a respect for nature. We are proud to continue our support of the Prince’s vision and hope that his legacy will continue to inspire our community for generations to come.

Nadeem Faisal, Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Coordinator

John May, Secretary General of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, shared this message: ‘The International Award family mourns the loss of our inspirational Founder. Prince Philip’s belief in the infinite potential of young people, coupled with his championing of non-formal education and learning, positioned him as a leader and thinker of truly global stature. As young people face exceptional challenge and change in the wake of the current pandemic, this “do-it-yourself growing-up kit”, as he described it, is even more relevant today than ever. From its founding, The Duke has been committed to ensuring the Award is accessible to young people of all backgrounds. Around the world, the Award has provided opportunities to at risk and marginalised young individuals, including post-conflict communities (Cote d`Ivoire; Uganda); disability groups (Indonesia); indigenous peoples (Belize, Australia) and young offenders (Ghana, South Africa). Every year, more than a million young people participate in the Award worldwide, supported by around 200,000 volunteers. As we mark the extraordinary life of The Duke of Edinburgh, we are resolutely committed to ensuring His Royal Highness’s vision for the Award continues to grow and reach even more young people worldwide in the years to come, under the Chairmanship of HRH The Earl of Wessex.’

Scroll for a very small collection of images, selected randomly from thousands of photos depicting our students and staff during various stages of the bronze, silver and gold awards through the years. We would be grateful you could share your own (or a family member’s) experience of the International Award in the comments section.