Collaboration between Labour Ministry, Bahrain Polytechnic and Tamkeen

16-07-2023

H.E. Mr. Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan, Minister of Labour, met with Prof. Ciarán Ó Catháin, CEO of Bahrain Polytechnic, at the ministry. During the meeting, they discussed the emerging programs provided by the college, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, to support efforts to qualify job seekers and provide them with the necessary professional skills required by the labour market and contribute to accelerating their employment in private sector establishments. These national efforts aim to enhance the chances of success of joint national initiatives to upgrade the skills of job seekers and provide them with professional training in order to bridge the skill gap between education outputs and the actual needs of the labour market. It also aims to accelerate the pace of employment of nationals and make them the first choice in the labour market by launching more initiatives that contribute to improving the quality of education outputs and qualifying citizens and integrating them into various economic and commercial sectors. The meeting was attended by H.E. Eng. Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak, Minister of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Bahrain Polytechnic, and Ms. Maha Abdulhameed Mufeez, CEO of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen). During the meeting, they reviewed the latest developments in the implementation of joint national qualification programs, foremost of which are transformational training programs for job seekers graduating from undesirable specialisations in the labour market. These programs include many specialisations required by the market, including renewable energy systems, graphic design, air conditioning and refrigeration, digital transformation in business practices, information analysis, automotive mechanics, digital energy systems, engineering drawing, and information systems. In this context, Humaidan stressed that this cooperation aims to introduce new programs to develop the capabilities and competitiveness of Bahraini citizens in the labour market. He pointed out that these programs target promising sectors that attract job seekers, and raise efficiency standards, especially in the technical sectors, in light of the rapid changes in the patterns of professions and emerging jobs that need qualification to meet actual and future needs. The minister also praised the existing cooperation between the Ministry of Labour, Bahrain Polytechnic and the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) in developing training programs to qualify and employ nationals. For his part, Al Mubarak stressed the importance of strengthening joint cooperation with relevant parties to qualify national human resources in private sector establishments. He stated that Bahrain Polytechnic's strategy is based on responding to the challenges of the labour market by diversifying its initiatives, especially expanding the offer of professional training programs that suit the needs of employers in line with work skills. For her part, Mufeez confirmed the continued support of the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) for various initiatives aimed at providing job seekers with the basic and necessary skills needed by the labour market in various functional disciplines. From this perspective, she avowed Tamkeen's keenness to strengthen cooperation with various educational and training institutions that contribute to the development of national cadres to facilitate their integration into the labour market. The CEO of Bahrain Polytechnic also reviewed the qualitative projects and initiatives implemented by the college to support plans to qualify citizens for the labour market. He stressed that the college continues to design professional programs that contribute to improving the skills and capabilities of job seekers in order to accelerate and facilitate their employment in various productive sectors.