Supporting the National Agenda: Education & Capability Building for the Youth of Today

Building a competent National Operator and Technician workforce to support the Oil and Gas sector is an increasing priority for resource rich countries globally. School leavers in many parts of the world today find the Petroleum Industry less attractive than other Industries and their need for structural development that builds a solid foundation that is portable across their chosen employer is a critical part of the employee value proposition. Certifications against a clear competence driven program are vehicles that have great appeal. This paper will describe the partnership between the Qatar Petroleum Corporate Training Department, CNA-Q, (State College), QiTS (technical school) and Royal Dutch Shell in delivering a new generation of competent national technician and operations staff. The purpose of the TPP program is to build the foundation skills necessary for working at the technician and operations (certificate) level in the Energy and Industry Sector in Qatar. The competence based training program leads to the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) certification. Harnessing the principles of blended learning, its building block approach has a particular emphasis in practical workplace learning. The combination of a state run college program, based on international industry standards and direct workplace application enables the progression from knowledge to skill in a thorough manner. In addition to Line Supervision, the paper will describe the TPP Support Team whose role is to coach and monitor to ensure competence levels are attained and customized to the needs of the asset team when needed. Aligning theoretical content with plant specific (Pearl GTL) needs ensures a seamless start at the workplace for the individual. Following graduation, the next phase of development is outlined via a clear Work Area Learning Program (WALP). These highly tailored WALPs are the primary tools for an operator trainee to acquire deeper proficiency in the work place whilst building on the basis. This increases their time to proficiency and builds a solid foundation for their future progression.