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An agreement was signed by Tamkeen's Chief Executive Mr. Abdulelah Al Qassimi and the Chairman of the Bahrain International Retail Development Centre W.L.L., Mr. Jawad Al Hawaj to put the programme in place.
The BD1,947,500.00 three-year project will be conducted by Bahrain International Retail Development (BIRD) which was selected through a public tendering process that put the emphasis on quality delivery.
This will be the second retail industry-focused training programme that Tamkeen is supporting and Mr. Al Qassimi said it reflected the importance that Tamkeen placed on the sector's jobs potential and growth.
"Bahrain's retail sector is booming and our recent Skills Gaps survey preliminary results confirmed the growing need for trained Bahrainis for the Kingdom's booming retail, tourism and hospitality industry"Mr. Al Qassimi observed.
"We want to harness the natural affinity of Bahraini young people entering the jobs market to the retail industry and the shopping experience which is what the retail industry in Bahrain is largely about. With the right training in the different aspects of retail industry work as well as attitudinal counseling, we believe that this programme will help many Bahrainis to find exciting career openings in one of the fastest-growing service industries in the Kingdom."
The 3-year project will be divided into 12-week courses which will run for 360 hours and approximately 500 candidates will be trained by BIRD annually.
These City & Guilds (U.K.)-approved courses will be conducted at the BIRD premises in Juffair as well as heavy emphasis on on-the-job training with their prospective employers.
"BIRD brings to the project a unique local expertise as well as recognised parameters of excellence," said the training provider's General Manager, Mr. Adel Redha.
Mr. Redha said the changing landscape of the Bahraini workplace also meant that Bahrainis were increasingly willing to work in modern malls and retail outlets and this Tamkeen programme would harness this acceptance of a new career opportunity.
The project targets entry-level positions as Cashiers, Sales assistants, Promoters, Beauty consultants and Merchandisers.
Merchandiser training will target 250 Bahrainis in the 18+ age group with Secondary certificates.
Since the project aims to create new job-openings as well as career progress opportunities, the Merchandisers' training course will target 100 existing retail
industry employees with at least 2 years job experience and 150 new
entrants.
The project will mainly train 1250 entry-level retail professionals for jobs as cashiers, sales and beauty consultants.
This training opportunity will be available to Bahrainis of 16 years and above who have a minimum Secondary qualification.
Trainees will have to pass English-language, numeracy and aptitude and personality assessment tests to qualify for the programme.
Tamkeen's earliest efforts to add muscle to the retail industry's Bahrainisation efforts was a BD950,000 training programme managed by the Bahrain Institute for Hospitality and Management (BIHR), under which 650 Bahrainis are undergoing training and 300 were guaranteed jobs by the Al Rashid Group under an MoU signed between Tamkeen and the group.
Tamkeen also pushed the retail sector to the forefront with a Career Progression Programme training scheme managed by BDO Jawad Habib.
Posted by Ehab Al-Abbadi
