Speaking here at the finals of the SOP, which sees students aged five to 18 compete throughout the school year, Sheikh Saoud said the scheme fitted into the vision of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. 

The SOP has been categorised by a different theme in each of its eight editions, with this year's, sport and peace, following on from sport and health, sport and the environment, and sport and education, among others.

In keeping with the sport and peace theme, the QOC has partnered with Reach Out To Asia, a Non-Governmental Organisation which aims to help achieve quality education for schoolchildren throughout Asia and the Middle East, and the Qatar Olympic Academy (QOA) in order to educate schoolchildren, teachers and parents about the importance of sport in developing and uniting society.

"This shows how you can make the Olympic value within the sport competition," Sheikh Saoud told insidethegames.

"And I think we see it is growing and people recognise the Olympic Movement, Olympic values, more and more and I think for us as an Olympic Committee, we see it as one of our objectives that has already been accomplished here in Qatar."

Nearly 30,000 children in Qatar have taken part in this year's Schools Olympic Programme ©QOC

The QOC is keen for the programme to spread further and wider and the QOA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International School Sport Federation (ISF) at the inaugural ISF Convention earlier this week.

Participants at the ISF Convention, including representatives from Sport and Development and Sport and Citizenship, were able to attend the SOP finals and see the benefits of the programme in action.

The MoU will see the success of the programme shared and best practice developed for the future of sport globally.

Four members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain - as well as Egypt, have already initiated their own versions of the programme.   

The SOP was launched as a legacy of the 2006 Asian Games, which took place in Doha, and has grown from 7,099 participants from 300 schools in its inaugural year, to 25,454 students from over 461 schools in 2014.

The number of sports on the programme has also risen this year to a total of 14, including Olympic and Paralympic sports.

This year's programme has seen further growth and success with 29,319 schoolchildren from 542 schools participating across the school year.

The Schools Olympic Programme was launched in Doha as a legacy project following the 2006 Asian Games in the Qatari capital ©Twitter

"It has been a pleasure to see the enjoyment, competitive spirit and sportsmanship of so many Schools Olympic Programme finalists over the last two days," said Sheikh Saoud.

"We launched the Schools Olympic Programme in order to educate our schoolchildren through sport.

"Sport is not just a vital part of education, sport is education.

"The Olympic values are life's values and the Schools Olympic Programme aims to spread the Olympic values, develop healthy and responsible members of society and ensure that sport becomes an integral part of everyday life."

The heads of all Qatar's National Federations were present at the SOP finals, as well as representatives of the QOC's many Committees, including the Women's Sport Committee and the Sport for All Committee.

World high jump champion, Mutaz Barshim, is a noticeable graduate of the SOP, along with 16-year-old gymnast Rahma al-Dulaimi, who represented Qatar at last year's Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, and Mariam Farid, a promising young hurdler who won silver at the GCC Women's Games last week.

"The Schools Olympic Programme also works closely with our National Federations to identify sporting talent and we are highly impressed with the level of competition that we have witnessed in these finals and throughout the school year," added Sheikh Saoud.

"These are the athletes that will represent Qatar at a world-class level in the future and their talent will be nurtured and developed through our sport development systems in order to produce the next Mutaz Barshim."

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