HH Sheikha Moza opens Community College of Qatar

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HH Sheikha Moza opens Community College of Qatar


Doha, Qatar, 17 January 2011

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser inaugurated the new campus of the Community College of Qatar (CCQ) in Doha, as a further move to provide students with collegiate studies and critical job training to meet the educational and labour market needs in Qatar. Our aim was and will always be to build, prepare and form the Qatari individual and allow him to reach his maximum potential and skills by considering him to be the backbone and the objective of sustainable national and human development,” said Her Highness in her message.

The unveiling of the plaque by Her Highness was followed by a video presentation about the CCQ.
The first of its kind in Qatar, CCQ offers courses that lead to the Associate Degree besides short-term certificates, training courses and specialized training programs that meet the needs of a particular sector of the labor market and industry. Many students can study technical or business programs to gain specialised skills before or after entering the workforce. “We will achieve the desired goal which is the preparation of the citizens of the State of Qatar to become part of the economic driving force for development in the state as well as active participants in building the society. In addition to promoting a culture that supports innovation in science, medicine and industry,” said the Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary General of the Supreme Education Council (SEC) H E Saad bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud.

Minister Al Mahmoud and Dr Mary Spangler, Chancellor, Houston Community College (HCC), Houston, Texas, USA, signed a service partnership agreement in May 2010 that stipulated that the HCC develop a custom curriculum and institute a fully operational community college by September 2010.

HCC is providing qualified staff and faculty while the CCQ is in development. The partners developed a curriculum designed specifically for Qatari students. The five-year CCQ-HCC partnership is part of Qatar’s educational reform efforts to continue towards its goal of developing a modern, internationally recognised education system. “Each of our distinguished alumni has an inspiring story to tell. They have accomplished amazing things with their lives, and they all attribute their success to the start they had in a community college. Over the years, you will have similar success stories from CCQ,” said Dr George R Boggs, former President and CEO, American Association of Community Colleges.

Her Highness also took a tour of the college with selected guests amidst traditional Qatari music. She also viewed art work and projects displayed by students. CCQ is currently working closely with many local industries, governmental ministries and other institutions to offer future Associate Degree in Applied Sciences in selected programs that lead to job opportunities in certain fields including, business management, construction engineering, media and communications and information technology.

CCQ launched last year with over 304 full time Qatari students, will achieve Associate in Arts (AA) Associate in Science (AS) and cooperate workforce need and foundation coursework. CCQ expanded from the West Bay Campus to the C-Ring Road Campus this month. The college also announced the start of parallel education to cater to the needs of working individuals. The number of students is expected to grow to over 1500 in the next five years.