Pacts signed to boost education in PDO concession area

BUSINESS REPORTER

MUSCAT, JULY 3

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) signed on Sunday a pair of agreements with the aim of supporting human capital development and increasing employment opportunities specifically in the area of education.

A Memorandum of Collaboration (MOC) was signed with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation to support 150 students under the Company’s Community Scholarship Programme (CSP) for 2022/2023.

The MOC was signed by Prof Dr Rahma bint Ibrahim al Mahrouqiyah, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and PDO Managing Director Steve Phimister.

The programme will give students from PDO’s concession area the freedom to choose any undergraduate programme that suits their interests and provides a monthly allowance to support them for five years up to the Bachelor’s degree level. More than 1,700 students have benefited from this programme so far.

The second MOC was signed with the Ministry of Education and the University of Technology and Applied Sciences to sponsor the education of 20 students to become teachers so they can return to work in schools in their local towns and villages.

The agreement was signed by Majid bin Said al Bahri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Education for Administrative and Financial Affairs, Dr Saeed bin Hamed al Rubaie, President of the University of Technology and Applied Sciences and PDO Managing Director Steve Phimister.

The initiative provides a four-year teacher scholarship, and the total number of Tawteen students sponsored by PDO now stands at 285 since the programme’s start in 2016, from a total of 500 students.