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Malek Helali
Doha
With the exponential growth in the number of students and new programmes, the Community College Qatar (CCQ) is ready to cater to the needs of the job market in the country, CCQ President Dr Mohamed Ibrahim al Naemi has said.
"The total number of students in the college has risen to 5,000 from 300 in the past eight years. We continuously reassess the needs of the job market in order to expand our programmes and advance the college's capabilities to ensure quality of education," Dr Naemi said in an exclusive interview with Qatar Tribune recently.
When the CCQ was established in 2010 with just 300 students, it offered only a couple of programmes, namely, the Associate of Arts (AA) and Associate of Science (AS), he said.
"As the number of students went up significantly, we have introduced new programmes such as the AA in Business Administration, AA in Early Childhood Education, BA in Public Administration, Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Customs Management, AAS in Logistics and Supply Chain Management, BS in Engineering Technology and BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology," Dr Naemi said.
"Moreover, the CCQ seeks to offer versatile programmes in Information Technology, Cyber and Network Security, and Network and Systems Administration, which are in high demand in ministries. The college also plans to introduce targeted programmes in collaboration with the Customs Authority, the Associate of Applied Arts in Theatre Arts in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and the Associate of Applied Science in Health Information Management programme with Hamad Medical Corporation and the Primary Health Care Corporation," Naemi said.
Before the establishment of CCQ, Dr Naemi said, the higher education sector in Qatar was limited to Qatar University's bachelor's degrees in Arabic and English along with Qatar Foundation's select majors in collaboration with international higher education institutions.
He added:"During that time, there was a category of people in the country with certain circumstances preventing them from joining either of these two educational institutions while they didn't want to study abroad either. This situation generated the urgent demand for an academic institution such as CCQ which accepts all Qatari students and those born to Qatari mothers who have obtained a certificate of higher education or its equivalent. The CCQ does not reject any eligible student and tries its best to align with the job market's needs while ensuring the quality of education."
The CCQ president pointed out that a large number of CCQ students are employed in government bodies such as the armed forces and the Customs Authority. According to him, CCQ's associate diploma programmes give them the basic foundation, enabling them to work in competitive positions that enhance their careers, while contributing to Qatar's human capital development.
Besides, potential programmes that can be offered in the future will focus on being complementary with other academic institutions in the country offering specialisations that are not offered in these institutions, according to the CCQ president.
Naemi said:"In addition to its partnership with local educational establishments, the CCQ has partnered with a number of global universities and educational institutions to accommodate students who prefer to continue their education abroad or in other specialised fields and disciplines, and we have many success stories in that regard."
He further noted that CCQ's vision focuses on being a quality educational institution centred around students and graduating them with a set of skills that benefit them throughout their lives.
