May 22, 2017 – College of the North Atlantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) graduated one of the largest classes in its 15-year history, with 426 students crossing the stage Monday night at Qatar National Convention Centre.
The ceremony was held Under the Patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior for the State of Qatar.
In attendance were: H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Wahed Ali Al Hammadi, Minister of Education and Higher Education; H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and Chair of the CNA-Q Board of Trustees; H.E. Dr. Issa bin Saad Al-Jafali Al-Nuami, Minister of Minister for Administrative Development and Labour and Social Affairs; Dr. Mohammed Yousef Al Mulla, CEO of Qatar Petrochemical Company and member of CNA-Q’s Board of Trustees; Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi, President of Community College of Qatar and member of CNA-Q’s Board of Trustees
Graduates were welcomed to the workforce and congratulated on their academic accomplishments by special guest speaker, H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada:
“Your graduation is a great achievement and I am pleased to join you this evening to celebrate a significant and very important milestone in your lives. To CNA-Q’s 2017 Graduating Class, I am proud to say that your hard work, determination, and commitment to your studies have paid off. Congratulations to you! Your success serves as an inspiration to your classmates, your colleagues, your family, and to your community. You can be proud, deservedly so, of your achievement. This evening represents one stop in the remarkable journey of your life. You are our leaders of tomorrow. Your time at CNA-Q has prepared you to move confidently from the classroom to your chosen industry.”
Students graduated from over 32 programs, which are each tailored to the needs of Qatar’s economy. The number of graduates in each discipline include: 147 from Business Studies, 134 from Engineering Technology, 82 from Health Sciences and 63 from Information Technology programs.
The ceremony was also a time to hear from CNA-Q’s Class of 2017 co-valedictorians, Mr. Mohammed Al-Nuami, a Business Management – Accounting graduate, and Ms. Rida Ambareen, a Pharmacy Technician graduate, who were selected as shining examples of Qatar’s future leaders.
“We are so pleased to see strong, capable graduates enter the Qatari workforce year after year,” said College of the North Atlantic – Qatar, President, Dr. Ken MacLeod. “These graduates are the reason we are here. As the future leaders of Qatar, you are the motivation to continue offering high-quality technical, hands-on education. With the credentials they receive tonight, these students will become the leaders that Qatar has envisioned in the National Vision 2030.
Facts about CNA-Q:
· College of the North Atlantic - Qatar is a partnership between College of the North Atlantic, in Canada, and the State of Qatar.
· CNA-Q was established as a branch campus in 2002, after a world-wide search to bring the best technical education to Qatar in support of the energy and industry sector.
· CNA-Q offers over 39 certificate, and two- and three-year diploma programs in four areas: Business Studies, Engineering Technology, Health Sciences and Information Technology. Each of our programs are tailored to the economy of Qatar, and aligned with the Qatar National Vision 2030: to transform the State into a knowledge-based economy and support the State’s strategic direction to educate and retain young Qataris.
· Under the School of Engineering Technology, CNA-Q offers a customized industrial trades certificate, the Technical Certificate Program (TCP), that prepares students to work at the technician level in Qatar’s energy and industry sector.
· Sixty-Five per cent of our Qatari students are sponsored by local companies that will hire our graduates once they have completed their studies.
· With the addition of the Class of 2017, the total number of highly-skilled, technically-educated graduates CNA-Q has produced reaches more than 5500.
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Media contact:
Meaghan Philpott
Public Information Officer
Marketing and Public Relations
+974 4495 2035
meaghan.philpott@cna-qatar.edu.qa
or
Tanya Alexander
PR Specialist
Qatar Project Office
College of the North Atlantic
709 758 7243
Tanya.Alexander@cna.nl.ca