93 Qataris Graduate From Ras Laffan Community Outreach Programme

Doha, February 17 (QNA) - Ninety three Qatari students have graduated from the pilot phase of the Ras Laffan Industrial City Community Outreach Programme (RLIC-COP), RasGas Company said Sunday. The RLIC-COP had launched the Northern Community Skills Development Project (NCSDP) for English Language Training in Al Khor in November 2012, the energy company said. The RLIC-COP was established by the seven leading energy companies operating in Ras Laffan Industrial City (Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas, RasGas, Qatar Shell, Dolphin Energy Limited, Oryx GTL, and Al Khaleej Gas) with the objective of creating respectful and trustworthy partnerships between the energy industry and the community by offering long-term sustainable initiatives in the fields of education, culture, heritage and environment. The NCSDP aims to meet the educational, professional and developmental needs of the North communities by offering free courses to nationals. The English Language Training course delivered by International House Doha, started in November and offered Beginner English classes (English Development Programme) for both male and female groups. The three month course was attended by 62 female students and 31 male students. RasGas Employee Development and Welfare Group Manager Erhama Al Kaabi said, "The NCSDP supports the Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-16, which aims to build the knowledge and skills of the local populations so as to foster social development." The project, he said, is also aligned to the Qatar National Vision 2030, which recognises education as the key component of Qatar's path to sustainability and in particular its human development pillar as the "development of all people to enable them to sustain a prosperous society". RasGas Learning and Development Manager Abdul Rahman Al Mannai and RasGas Human Resources and Employee Relations Head Manal Al Mohannadi presented the graduation certificates to male and female students respectively. The second phase of the programme, which will be organised during the first half of this year, aims to further develop the English programme by offering classes for Beginner to Intermediate levels, as well as IELTS and TOEFL test preparation courses. The final phase will see full implementation of the Skills Development Programme with a broad range of courses, RasGas added. (QNA)