SOHAR’s fourth annual Summer Educational Programme, which took on a record 330 local students this summer, has come to close after another hugely successful year.
A closing ceremony was held on Wednesday morning at the International Maritime College of Oman, with HE Sheikh Ali bin Mishari bin Ahmed Al Shamsi, Wali of Sohar, in attendance. A number of students were awarded trophies for their hard work as part of the celebrations and all participants received a certificate to mark their successful completion of the programme.
The Summer Educational Programme is designed to help students in Sohar and the nearby province of Liwa to enhance their English and IT knowledge, arming them with vital skills that will help increase their employment prospects in the future. The Summer Programme provides an exciting new environment to the school classroom and students were given the opportunity to participate in workshops similar to those taught at college.
This year’s Programme was held in partnership with the Ministry of Education and SOHAR’s neighbouring International Maritime College of Oman (IMCO). Classes took place at IMCO, a specialist education and training institute in SOHAR, which offers Diploma and Degree Courses for the Maritime, Shipping, Port, Transport and Petrochemical Process industries.
The Programme has helped over a thousand local school students in the last four years and aims to help young people to learn skills which will help them with finding employment in the future and to provide surrounding communities with the skills and income required to improve their own livelihoods and meet the development priorities outlined in the Oman government’s Economic Vision.
Andre Toet, CEO of SOHAR Port, said: “The Summer Educational Programme is an extremely important event in our annual calendar and something which we look forward to every year. The Programme is a great opportunity for young people to enhance their skills and experience what it would be like to study at college. The feedback we receive at the end of every Programme is always wonderful and we look forward to welcoming another group of ambitious, bright young people onto the Programme next year.”
With global investments worth over $21 billion, more and more opportunities are emerging as the Port and adjacent Freezone continue to expand. Jamal Aziz, CEO of SOHAR Freezone said: “The rapid growth of SOHAR presents vast opportunities for young, local talent. The Summer Educational Programme allows students to learn more about our tenants and operations inside the Port, we hope this will encourage them to consider an exciting career in our Port and Freezone in the future.”
The youngsters were not the only ones in the classroom, local school bus drivers who had transported the students were also invited to take part in a defensive driving course to help promote road safety and educate drivers on the day-to-day risks of driving in Oman, particularly when transporting young people.
