Thier excellencies, Ministers, several diplomats and dignitaries during the graduation ceremony yesterday at QNCC. Pic: Abdul Basit/The Peninsula
College of the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) , the country’s premier technical college yesterday celebrated academic achievements of its largest class during the annual graduation ceremony held at National Convention Centre (QNCC).
The ceremony which held Under the Patronage of Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani honoured 559 graduating students from four colleges of CNA-Q’s students.
The 15th graduation ceremony of CNA-Q was graced by Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Dr. Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali Al Hammadi, and H E Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Chair of the CNA-Q Board of Trustees, Dr. Khalifa bin Nasser bin Khalifa, President, CNA-Q, several diplomats, dignitaries and several others.
Students graduated from over 30 programmes, which are each tailored to the needs of Qatar’s economy in areas of Business Studies, Engineering Technology, Health Sciences and from Information Technology program.
“College of the North Atlantic-Qatar was founded under the Amiri decree issued by H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Amir and H H Sheihka Moza bint Nasser’s support and supervision, in order to bring the best technical and vocational education and training model required for Qatar, contributing to the country’s renaissance, prosperity and progress. We are very grateful for their past and present contributions to the education sector in Qatar, “ said Dr Al Sada, Chair of the CNA-Q Board of Trustees.
This year was the first graduation since the institution was turned into a national Qatari college under Canadian supervision.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony Al Sada said “The recently signed, updated agreement with College of the North Atlantic will replace the previous agreement, whereby the management of the college will be transferred to Qatar, while the academic aspect will remain within CNA in Canada. It is important to emphasize that the cooperation we have experienced in the past will continue for many years,”.
“During the past six months, the college has been conducting a restructuring process. In addition to that, academic and administrative policies needed for the next stage have been developed in accordance with Qatari laws and regulations, “ he added.
He also said that CNA-Q has also signed many agreements to provide vocational academic services for military sectors including the Qatari Emiri Navy and the National Service Committee Office.
The college has also cooperated with industry, energy and transportation sectors in designing and presenting specialized vocational programs and providing vocational diplomas.
CNA-Q started with a team of 50 instructors, in 2002. It has now grown to approximately 500. The number of graduates, has increased from 71, in the first group in 2005, to 559 graduates in 2019.
Since opening in 2002, over 6000 graduates have entered the labour market contributing to a knowledge-based economy and making the achievement of the Qatar National Vision 2030 a reality.
