2,500 find jobs in two months
by mahmood on 24/04/06 at 9:43 am · email · print
Nearly 2,500 Bahrainis have found jobs since the government launched the BD30 million National Employment Project (NEP).
During the initial registration period, 13,401 Bahrainis registered as unemployed.
It has since dropped to 10,916, project director and Labour Ministry assistant under-secretary for training Ahmed Al Banna said yesterday.
“This shows that 2,485 people found jobs over the past two months,” he told the GDN.
“A large number of them have found jobs through their own efforts, and many others have been helped by the ministry, after they attended an interview by the NEP team.
“Some have obtained a commercial registration to start their own businesses.”
A total of 7,826 people, or 58 per cent of the total registered, have already been called for the interview, said Mr Al Banna.
“Out of these, 496 have been selected for initial training,” he added.
“They have already started attending training courses at the Bahrain Training Institute, the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF), and the College of Health Sciences.”
Mr Al Banna said he was extremely pleased with the progress of the project.
“Registration for new job-seekers still continue, but there are only 50 to 60 people turning up at our centres for registration every week,” he added.
“A job-orientation programme has been developed to provide job-seekers with more information about the labour market.
“We brief them about the jobs available in the market and the future of these jobs via a half-day trip to a number of companies where they may work in the future.”
These trips give them the opportunity to see and understand real working life, to meet people face to face and hear some personal success stories from Bahraini workers, said Mr Al Banna.
Women make up more than 75 per cent of the successful candidates registered under the NEP.
Introductory sessions to the project were attended by 11,994 people, said Mr Al Banna.
“Five centres are still open for job-seekers to register,” he revealed.
“Registrations started on January 2 in 20 centres spread over the country’s five governorates.
“Assessment of candidates is done in four centres and an average of 240 people attend these sessions daily.”
The NEP programme uses career-related assessment, which is designed to tailor evaluation to individuals and provide accurate information about a person’s capabilities, desires and future career.
“Assessment centres help the applicants better understand their strengths by identifying areas in which they already have skills, abilities and interests,” said Mr Al Banna.
Following the assessment programme, job-seekers attend a work ethics workshop.
After the job-seekers complete all the above steps, they could land a job through direct recruitment, on-the-job training or attend a full training programme, said Mr Al Banna.
He said the NEP team had already identified about 10,000 jobs in the private sector.
“The NEP will be completed in 18 months and during this period all job-seekers who are genuinely unemployed will find a gainful employment,” he said.
“We are targeting companies that employ 50 workers or more.
“We are now in the process of meeting prospective employers, both from the public and private sectors. We are happy with their response. We are confident of offering jobs to all genuine applicants.” Australian firm EFI International has been assigned by the government as a consultant for the project.
GDN :: Soman Baby :: 24 Apr ’06
