A student team from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, advanced to the semi-final round at the second Asian Arabic Debating Championship. The team finished the five qualifying rounds, as well as the quarter-final round, undefeated. There were 42 teams from around Asia competing at the tournament that was held in Muscat, Oman.

This was the first time Asmahan Al-Kuwari, Ahmed El Fekih Zguir, Moamin Ibrahim and Diram Tabaa competed in an international debate competition. Al-Kuwari is a first-year biological sciences student, and El Fekih Zguir, Ibrahim, and Tabaa are all juniors in computer science. The team was coached by CMU-Q graduate Abdullah Shaar, who was part of the 2022 national championship Arabic debate team and was awarded best speaker in Qatar last year.

“Being a science student is very helpful in debate,” said Ibrahim, who was recognized as a top-five speaker at the tournament. “Speaking is simply a means of giving information, and our courses have taught us how to formulate clear, logical arguments.” 

Education City has become a hub for Arabic university debate following CMU-Q’s third-place showing at the first Asian Arabic Debating Championship in Malaysia in 2019. Three of the four semi-final teams in Oman were Qatar Foundation partner universities.