Qatar University honours Ashghal for its efforts with its students and graduates

The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ was honoured in recognition of its efforts in providing training, academic sponsorship, and employment for the students and graduates of Qatar University during 2015. The recognition ceremony, organised by the Career Services Centre in Qatar University, took place on Wednesday 20^th of January 2016. It aimed to thank a number of institutions and partners of the university, from both the government and private sectors, who made important contributions in enriching the content of the university’s academic programmes, and diversifying the students’ experience through providing promising career opportunities of sponsoring and training.

Representing the Public Works Authority were Mr. Saif Al Kaabi, Human Resources Manager at Ashghal, and Mr. Mohammed Al Qahtani, Head of Training and Development Section at Ashghal. The authority was honoured for its effective contributions in supporting the academic and career journeys of students, and in recognition of its dedication and lasting cooperation with Qatar University as an essential partner of the university’s efforts to build national empowered cadres. The recognition ceremony was attended by Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham, President of Qatar University, vice presidents, and a large number of college deans, university staff, and company representatives.

On this occasion, Dr. Hassan Al Derham expressed the university’s pride and gratitude for this partnership, and said that the practical component of academic programmes is one of the most important elements for good preparation of the graduating students, as the practical experience complements the theoretical side, resulting in a comprehensive system of knowledge and skills. Therefore, the willingness of institutions to receive and sponsor university students is considered a real investment that will benefit everyone.

It is noteworthy that the authority works hand in hand with Qatar University and other higher education institutions in order to prepare distinct generations of young men and women in Qatar. The authority organises briefing days for students of the College of Engineering to brief them about Ashghal, its various departments, the practical specialisations of each department, and it’s current and future core projects. The authority also holds briefing days to introduce its scholarship programme, which is now being implemented in coordination with the Government Scholarship Programme in the Ministry of Administrative Development.

Through holding these events, Ashghal aims at enhancing the national competencies within its workforce by encouraging undergraduate engineering students to benefit from the authority’s sponsorship programmes until their graduation, and preparing them to work within its team. The authority also aims at encouraging students who are expected to graduate soon to work in Ashghal and benefit from the offered future opportunities, advantages and privileges, especially in the context of the huge projects being currently implemented in Qatar in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and in line with its efforts to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030.

It is worth mentioning that the Training and Development Section in Ashghal has recently hired two students who graduated in spring 2015 from the engineering faculty in Qatar University through the scholarship programme. Engineer Abdullah Qassem Abdullah received a Bachelor's degree in civil engineering, and Engineer Jawaher Hamad al Kaabi received a Bachelor's degree in architecture. The graduates have joined Ashghal's Roads Design Department and Buildings Design Department in September 2015. Ashghal is currently sponsoring 30 students in different engineering specialties, namely; civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical. Ten of these students are studying in Qatar University.

The authority’s recruitment strategy includes external training programmes at the headquarters and global centres of the international engineering specialists and consulting companies associated with Ashghal. This provides the benefit of transferring expertise on best techniques, design and implementation practices and sophisticated systems of project management. This is in addition to the general development programmes which aim at developing the knowledge and skills of the national competencies, in order to strengthen their experience and work performance on the individual level.