Ministry, CNA renew Qatar campus accord

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education and College of the North Atlantic (CNA) in Canada have signed a new three-year service agreement which enables the College of the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) to continue its role as Qatar's premier technical and vocational college, it was announced on Sunday.

The agreement was finalised at a formal signing ceremony at the CNA-Q campus in Doha, attended by HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi; Bernard Davis, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour, from the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, and a number of senior officials from the Ministry and CAN in Canada and Qatar.

Under the agreement, CNA will continue to provide academic and vocational programmes and services for CNA-Q for three years (2019-2022) in accordance with best technical and vocational practices as well as providing support services for information systems for the benefit of CNA-Q, according to a statement issued by CNA-Q.

At a press conference, HE Dr al-Hammadi appreciated the pioneering role that the college has played in Qatar since 2002. Today CNA-Q offers more than 30 academic technical and vocational programmes to 2,600 full-time students.

“CNA-Q has contributed to building the national capabilities of Qatar in the technical and vocational fields, especially in the field of engineering technology, business studies, information technology and health sciences. It has also contributed to bridging the vocational skills gap in the labour market and offered many academic opportunities for students to continue their university and postgraduate studies,” the Minister said.

He praised CNA-Q for providing the labour market with quality graduates who are now contributing to building a knowledge-based economy and making Qatar's national vision a reality.

“A committee is being considered to enhance the integration between all technical and vocational education institutions and its programmes, and plans to facilitate the bridging process to meet the requirements and needs of the labour market.”

Commenting on the renewal of the agreement, HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada, chair of CNA-Q's Board of Trustees said: "CNA-Q has become one of the leading colleges in Qatar that offers scientific and practical expertise in a number of technical learning, applied and professional programmes, making it an attractive choice for many students wishing to complete their higher education in order to enter Qatar’s expanding labour market.”

CNA-Q president Dr Khalifa al-Khalifa said: "In our 17th academic year, we take great pride in the achievements of the college thus far. With the signing of this agreement, we start the next chapter, launching into new programmes, building more educational capacity, and evolving with the changing needs of our students and industry stakeholders.”

Dr Khalifa added that the service agreement signed between the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and CNA will assist the college continue its work in Qatar.

“The college, since its establishment in 2002, has developed and increased its 30 diploma and certificate programmes in the applied, technical and vocational fields," he said.

Davis, who spoke behalf of CNA at the ceremony, said: “Our relationship has fostered a deeper cultural understanding of two peoples on an international stage, as we worked diligently together to create highly-trained, industry-ready, globally-conscious graduates. They are the future leaders, who are ready for the challenges of the new economy, who will build real world solutions, and who have been supported by a modern education system with state-of-the-art classrooms, labs and facilities. Above all, we greatly anticipate our evolving role in this collaboration, as CNA-Q builds autonomy to support an innovative education strategy that focuses on the strengths of the Qatari people.”