26-05-2021

The Director of the Department of Vocational Institutes Affairs at the Ministry of Labour and Social Development, Mr. Ahmed Jaafar Miftah, stated that, within the framework of the Ministry’s commitment to monitoring and enhancing the quality of private training institutes and centres, and advancing their performance, a survey was conducted covering all licensed training institutions under the Ministry’s supervision. The objective was to assess the extent of their impact resulting from the exceptional circumstances currently facing both the Kingdom of Bahrain and the wider world due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as to evaluate their initiatives and efforts to sustain training operations and human resources development. Mr. Miftah noted that the study covered 95 training institutions, with the objective of reviewing the digital learning procedures adopted during the past period, assessing the extent to which training environments have adapted to this mode of learning and its suitability to the nature of the training provided. It also aimed to identify the challenges faced by institutions and the means to overcome them, and to determine the extent to which the financial support packages provided by the esteemed Government to private sector establishments have contributed to reducing the adverse effects of the pandemic on the Kingdom’s training sector. The study indicated that 82% of participants benefited from the Government support provided to training centres and institutes, which played a significant role in mitigating the impact. It further revealed that 82% of training institutions transitioned to virtual training following the suspension of in-person training, utilising a variety of electronic training platforms and tools. Administrative programmes accounted for 37% of those offered remotely, followed by information technology programmes at 23%, and language at 20%, with the remaining percentage distributed among other fields, including engineering, occupational health and safety, travel and tourism, and medical training programmes. A majority of training institutions, constituting 55% of participants, specified a set number of trainees per remote training programme, while only 7% of institutions enrolled more than 15 trainees per programme. The percentage of training institutions adhering to virtual training standards reached 87%. Additionally, 64% of participating centres and institutes confirmed that their trainees did not encounter obstacles or require prior training to use virtual platforms and applications. Meanwhile, 57% of institutions reported that their trainers and instructors required intensive training on how to utilise these platforms effectively to deliver training content. As for the preferred training system in the coming phase, 49% of participants anticipated adopting a blended approach, combining classroom and virtual training in equal measure to fulfil the objectives of the training process. In comparison, 18% of institutions expressed the need to further enhance virtual training during the next phase.