The Importance of Professional Certificates for University Students to Prepare them for the Labor Market

The President of the University of Bahrain (UOB), Prof. Riyad Yousif Hamzah, stressed the importance of professional certificates offered by the University to students to prepare them for the labor market and increase their employment opportunities, referring to the programs that shall refine students’ skills and encourage entrepreneurship, as it is one of the most important tributaries of business now and in the future.

ويستعرض المؤتمر – الذي يناقش 42 ورقة بحثية – أثر جائحة كوفيد-19 على قطاع التعليم العالي والتوظيف، وتعزيز أهداف التعليم العالي ضمن الرؤية الاقتصادية للعام 2030.

وينعقد المؤتمر في نسخته الثالثة موسوماً بعنوان: “توسيع نطاق التعلم في التعليم العالي خارج الفصل الدراسي: دمج مهارات الحياة والتوظيف”ØŒ ويرعاه رئيس جامعة البحرين الأستاذ الدكتور رياض يوسف حمزة.

This came during the opening session of the International Conference on Foundation Programs organized by the English Language Center at the UOB through visual communication technology on Tuesday (10 November 2020) and for a period of three days.

The opening session was moderated by Mr. Cameron Mirza and was attended by the President of UOB, along with: Managing Director and CEO of Kuwait Finance House Abdul Hakeem Al-Khayyat, Director of Education and Training Development at the Economic Development Board Jeff Hancock, Director of Business Development and the Middle East Program for Educational Services Simon Peters, Director of Human Resources at Zain Bahrain Dana Bukhamas, and Head of Corporate Communications at National Bank of Bahrain Hisham Abu Alfateh.

The conference discussed 42 research papers and reviewed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the higher education and employment sector and the promotion of higher education goals within the 2030 Economic Vision.

The conference was held for the third time with the title of: “Expanding the Scope of Learning in Higher Education Outside Class: Integrating Life and Employability Skills” and was sponsored by the President of UOB, Prof. Riyad Yousif Hamzah.

Prof. Riyad Hamzah discussed the recent scientific and specialized trends, graduate and undergraduate programs related to artificial intelligence, big data, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, cloud computing, network security, and more. Also, he pointed out that UOB is in the final stage of moving its entire infrastructure and applications into Amazon’s cloud, which will help in accelerating the digital transformation process.

Furthermore, the President of the University praised the conference and its topics that support sustainable development goals of the United Nations Development Program in terms of quality of education, with a focus on providing technical and professional skills for employment and entrepreneurship, noting the importance of “working to refine students’ skills and enabling them to adapt to independent learning methods to ensure their career success in the future. “

The International Conference on Foundation Programs is organized by the University’s English Language Center and it examines the most vital issues affecting the future of higher education in the period from 10 to 12 of this November.

The conference was held for the third time with the title of: “Expanding the Scope of Learning in Higher Education Outside Class: Integrating Life and Employability Skills” (ILES) and was sponsored by the President of UOB, Prof. Riyad Yousif Hamzah.

The participants in the opening session unanimously agreed on the centrality of job skills and the need to include them in academic programs, noting, in this context, the need to strengthen teaching methods in crises in line with the sustainable development goals.

Also, they stressed the need to adapt legislation and review it to create inventive methods of higher education, and to launch initiatives to support university students, develop their skills, and teach them modern technology, which is now running many processes in various sectors.

Moreover, Dr. Ghada Ahmed Jassim, Director of the English Language Center at UOB stated: “Due to the distinguished response from participants in submitting research papers and presentations to this innovative electronic conference, it has been decided to extend the session from two days to three days, as one of the highlights of the conference will be its launch with four main speakers, in addition to the opening session accompanied by an interactive panel debate.”

Also, she pointed out that “the electronic conference aims to review the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the higher education and employment sector, and to promote higher education goals within Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030,” noting that the event “supports the sustainable development goals of the United Nations Development Program (Goal 4) on quality education, with a focus on providing technical and professional skills for employment and entrepreneurship, and contributing to refine students’ skills and enabling them to adapt to independent learning methods to ensure their career success in the future, as the conference seeks to strengthen teaching methods in crises in line with the sustainable development goals.

Furthermore, the CEO Kuwait Finance House Abdul Hakeem Al-Khayyat recommended enhancing communication to bridge the gap between higher education and the labor market, noting the importance of developing a strategy to integrate organizational behavior and leadership skills in academic programs to enhance future job opportunities in line with Bahrain’s 2030 Vision.

For her part, Dana Bukhamas emphasized the importance and necessity of investing in building the capabilities and energies of the youth, along with developing academic programs.

The Director of Language Research and Education at Cambridge University Press, Ben Knight, was the first speaker and he gave a presentation entitled “How can English language programs improve students’ employment skills?” followed by five scholarly papers on the originality of texts in the English learning classes and linking it to employability skills.

Also, Dr. Paul Robertson and Dr. Ramon Medriano gave a speech on behalf of the Asian EFL Journal Editorial, which will publish the research papers presented at the Conference. The conference concluded on its first day with a speech by Dr. Keith Fulse, who is an English Language Professor for non-English speakers at the University of Central Florida.