LNG producer Qatargas has announced that it will fund the construction of six new classrooms at the Qatar Independent Technical School (QITS).Qatargas chief operating officer of administration Ghanim al-Kuwari made the announcement during a ceremony at the school where he laid the foundation stone for the new facilities with school principal Abdullah Shams.Al-Kuwari said: “Our support to build the new classrooms at QITS is an extension of the ongoing co-operation between Qatargas and QITS.“We believe that Qatargas’ partnership with QITS will benefit both parties as most of the young nationals who are on our Technical Preparatory Programme are trained at QITS.”“Helping to build the national workforce is an important element of Qatargas’ corporate social responsibility – our collaboration with QITS supports our Qatarisation objectives and contributes towards the Human Development pillar of Qatar’s National Vision 2030,” he added.Shams noted: “We greatly value the ongoing co-operation between QITS and Qatargas, and appreciate Qatargas’ support towards expanding our facilities. “This will help us in meeting the growing needs of Qatar’s industry, especially the oil and gas sector.”“QITS is committed to continuously improving the students’ theoretical and practical learning in classrooms as well as workshops and labs, to acquire the knowledge and skills required for the workplace and further education,” said the school’s principal.Qatargas public relations manager Mansour Rashid al-Naimi commented: “Supporting the education sector is a core element of our corporate social responsibility strategy at Qatargas ... and enables Qatargas to contribute towards achieving the goals of the National Development Strategy 2011-2016, by increasing the prominence of technical education and vocational training programmes to prepare young Qataris to acquire the skills required for the industrial sector.”As part of Qatargas’ high school internship programmes, QITS students are provided opportunities for placements to work at Ras Laffan over the summer holidays.Qatargas head of Qatarisation and national development division Adnan Hassan al-Shaibi is also vice-chairman of the board of trustees at QITS, which offers programmes in mechanical, electrical, process plant operations, instrumentation, welding and information technology.