Emphasizing its commitment towards employing and developing the national workforce, ideas Holding Group, Bahrain, had actively participated in the Tenth Job Expo organized by the Ministry of Labour of the Kingdom of Bahrain, 5-7 February, 2013.

More than 12 specialized job vacancies were offered by ideas for the jobseekers, covering fields and specialties. These include: IT Developers, Marketing Specialists, Sales Executives, Graphics Designers, and Registrars.

Additionally, inma Training and Development Center, a subsidiary of ideas Holding Group presented more than 30 professional certification training programs including PMI International Certification Exam Preparation Workshops, which are fully subsidized by the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) for all eligible Bahrainis, and a range of professional certification programs in business, marketing, supply chain management, human resource management, economic and financial studies, and other fields, that are accredited by Asia eUniversity, Malaysia.

While visiting ideas Holding's stand and the exhibition, The Minister of Labour, H.E. Jameel Humaidan, has acknowledged the remarkable efforts and contribution of the Group in recruiting and developing the national workforce, and praised the several initiative it made towards supporting jobseekers and fresh graduates. "It is not new for ideas to be an active contributor in supporting our national workforce as its cooperation with the Ministry had been obvious throughout the years" The Minister said.

Briefing H.E. The Minister of Labour and H.E. The Governor of the Northern Governorate, Ali Al Asfoor, who was accompanying the Minister, Dr. Nader Al Mallah, Managing Director of ideas Holding Group, has emphasized the fact that ideas Holding is very proud of its many initiatives and Bahranization policy that always gives the priority to Bahrainis to fulfill any job opportunity at any of the Gorup's subsidiaries. "It's not a claim but a fact that ideas Holding is maintaining a 100% Bahranization with a high retention rate of its workforce". Al Mallah said.

On closing of the Expo, ideas Holding has received more than 350 job applications in total covering all job openings it offered. "All received applications will be processed during the coming week and eligible candidates will be call for a job interview during the next week", said Jaleel Al Sharaf, CE & Chairman of ideas Holding. "A quick screening of the received job applications shows very strong potentials to join ideas, and we will certainly be glad to welcome them as members of our ideas family", Al Sharaf added.

* View more pictures from this event at ideas Media Center.

ideas Holding Group, Bahrain, announced on Thursday (25 December 2012) the official opening of its professional adult learning center; inma Training and Development Center (inma TDC), at Reef Mall, Sadad.

The new training center specializes in providing vocational training programs for adults looking to build professional careers in a variety of professions including management, media and marketing, information technology, banking and finance, language skills, and self development.

Over an area of more than 1000 square meters, at the Reef Mall, in the Western Region of Bahrain, inma Training and Development Center offers state of the art lecture rooms, computer labs, and a testing center that has been designed in accordance with the international standards for worldwide testing centers. The total capacity of the new center is over 140 learners at a given time.

Describing the facilities of inma TDC, Dr. Nader Al Mallah, Managing Director of ideas Holding Group, and the inma General Manager, said: "we've carefully designed inma TDC to provide an ideal learning environment for adults. All lecture halls are fitted with the latest classroom accessories and education equipment that utilize the latest learning technologies including interactive smart boards especially designed to suit today's learning requirements, advanced computer labs and network that enable the deliverance of a wide range of advanced ICT courses, syndicate room to fit the purposes of group work and other interactive learning activities, testing and resource center designed to accommodate the standards of worldwide accreditation bodies and testing centers".

Additionally, inma TDC provides a wide foyer and entrance hall (around 250 square meters) that is large enough to enjoy breaks and social gathering during non-study hours, and a vast amount of car parking spaces within the court of Reef Mall. "Adding to the facilities provided by our training center, customers can always enjoy the facilities of Reef Mall, where inma TDC is located, which include male and female prayer rooms, a modern food court with variety of fast food choices, retail shops, a large supermarket, an open kids playground, an indoor gaming center with Billiard zone for adults, and many others." said Dr. Al Mallah.

Learners at inma TDC will enjoy a new experience in lifelong learning using the online, comprehensive training management system that was designed and developed by ideas Holding, the mother company of inma. Citing this experience, Jaleel Sharaf, Chairman & CEO of ideas Holding stated that "the system we've developed for inma transforms all transactions and administrative work to electronic form and involves ZERO use of papers and manual processing, starting from the online registration, both for individuals and organizations, moving through enrollment and course management, to automated certificate generation and quality control management."

To ensure adding a unique value to its programs and provide learners with the opportunity for future development and academic enhancement, inma TDC has become an Authorized and Accredited Training Center of Asia eUniversity that is well recognized and accredited in more than 30 countries in Asia, in addition to the United States and Europe, and the National Federation of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NFNLP), USA, to deliver the full scale of internationally recognized NLP Programs.

"It's always been our vision to have a comprehensive professional training facility that reflects the dynamics of who we are and what we do." said Sharaf. "We will continue to provide our customers with the state of the art training offerings and programs in order to ensure the highest value and return" Sharaf added.

With this announcement, individuals and organizations can now create their FREE Account at inma TDC by completing the registration form in the official website www.inma.bh.
 

According to a convention (No. SPC/01/2011) signed on the January 23rd, 2011, The General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), whose Headquarter is in Manama, and ideas Holding Group, a Bahraini Holding Group providing total business solutions, has entered a long term strategic partnership.

Within the last two decades, the Islamic Finance Industry has witnessed a lot of quantitative and qualitative developments, which necessitated the emergence of supportive institutions for the industry so as to highlight the cultural aspects of Muslims in the field of economics. CIBAFI was established then to support the industry through awareness creation and training, holding conferences, seminars and forums and providing the necessary information, as well as to protect the industry so as to avoid, as much as possible, the obstacles and deviations in the course of the Islamic finance industry.

Due to the essential differences between the Islamic and Conventional finance industry, CIBAFI works towards achieving the objectives of Islamic economics and introducing the economic concepts and meanings in Islamic financial transactions which are contrary to the conventional financial thought that claims neutrality in the perceptions and economic applications in terms of religion and ethics.

While the industry grows, IT solutions that fulfill the industry needs found to be slow moving, leading to pull back of the growth and an increase in operational cost.

To rectify this situation and provide the necessary tools for the industry to keep its growth and spread, CIBAFI decided to enter in a long-term strategic partnership with a reliable information technology partner who's capable of providing innovative solutions that utilizes the latest technology platforms and capabilities to foster this emerging industry. After a thorough study of the regional market, ideas Holding Group has been selected for this mission, and a 10 years convention has been signed between both parties on the 23rd of January 2011.

As per this convention, both CIBAFI and ideas Holding work together to develop a range of technology based services and products targeted to the emerging Islamic Financial sector and institutions. These solutions shall help in creating a proper awareness of Islamic Finance concepts, introduce the various Islamic concepts and products to the world of finance, provide up to date information and guidance to the Islamic Financial institutions, provide high-tech solutions that suit the nature of Islamic financial transactions, and provide the necessary IT and Business Support to the Council and member organizations.

According to ideas Holding's CEO, Jaleel Sharaf, the first project to start with is the development of an innovative, comprehensive, and highly dynamic specialized web portal for the Council that shall enable it to provide all of its services, information and products under a single roof. "The portal will include a centralized electronic library that can be quickly and easily accessed by all subscribers using their computers and mobile devices including mobile phones, tablets, and other sort of devices." said Sharaf. "This is in addition to the Islamic financial information center, online membership management system, utility apps, and other products that will be developed gradually according to the agreed plan", he added.

Commenting on this strategic step, CIBAFI's Secretary General, Dr. Ezzedine Khoja, said: "The industry of Islamic finance is rapidly growing and has proved its ability to stand economic crises as we all witnessed during the recent economical rescission that severely affected the financial sector around the globe. This makes us, being the only organization that contains all Islamic financial institutions and banks all around the world, to focus more on investing in technology and encourage Islamic financial institutions to adopt today's technology in order to solidify this industry's base and foster its growth". For this to happen, according to Dr. Khoja, CIBAFI needs a technology partner whom it can work with and rely on in building the bridge on which the industry can pass to the other end. "We are certain that ideas Holding Group, with its market experience and professional expertise, both in technology and business, is a partner that we can rely on." Dr. Khoja added.

CIBAFI:
CIBAFI was founded in 1999, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In 2001, an agreement between CIBAFI and the Government of Bahrain has been made where the Kingdom hosts the Council's Head Quarter and provides all the necessary support to enable its activities and contributions; Royal Decree No. 23 of 2001.

ideas Holding Group:
A market leader Bahraini Holding Company, established in 2003, to provide the local and regional markets with total business solutions through its specialized subsidiaries: ideas Information Technology, itcan Consultancy and PR, injaz Construction & Design, iLaw Legal Services, inma Training and Education, and ihsan Community Support.

 

A total of 57 participants from 26 educational and training institutions, both private and public, completed their training in under the Training and Education Performance Support (TEPS) Programme launched by Tamkeen early September 2010.

The six workshops completed so far covered various topics that included Leadership for Middle Management, securing Value for Money; making the most of the resources available to school, developing Action Research skills to improve teaching & learning, running a super learning day; making the teaching of English exciting and engaging to students, the magic of making training fun, and Quality Mark standards for KGs.

As for job levels of those participants, 44% belongs to Management, 44% instructors and 12% admin and support, with the majority (81%) coming from the private sector, compared to 19% from public and semi-government institutions.

Senior Manager, Human Capital Development, Amal Ishaq Al Kooheji, stated that the TEPS Programme aims to train a total of 400 Bahrainis working in the education and training sector including schools, training institutes, colleges & universities, nurseries and kindergartens. TEPS meant to support training and education service providers (TESPs) working in Bahrain at 3 levels; management, trainers and instructors, and administration & support. It focuses on upgrading the capability and ability of TESPs to professionally respond to new and emerging requirements of education and human resource development and acquire the skills necessary to help them match the growing demands of organisations and individuals, and to continuously improve their training and education offerings and service. “The 28 workshops offered by TEPS cover 11 learning areas which are: managing training and education institutions, instructional & teacher effectiveness, assessment and evaluation of learners, training needs analysis, quality management systems, creativity and innovation, coaching for trainers, marketing of training and education services, training and curriculum design, special education and inclusion, and training ROI”, she added.

Calling on individuals and institutions working in the training and education field to benefit from TEPS, Dr. Nader Al Mallah, MD itcan Consultancy - the assigned Programme Manager- stressed the fact that seats are limited for each workshop under this programme, and thus acceptance is made on first-come first-serve basis after confirming eligibility according to the criteria and standards stipulated by the programme. Al Mallah stated that 61% of all seats had already been booked while registration for the remaining seats will continue till all are reserved. “We have received so far 354 applications for the 400 seats, 284 were accepted, 42 declined, while the remaining 28 are being processed.” says Al Mallah. “It is a real achievement to receive such a high number of applications (88% of the programme’s total seats) in less than 2 months, since registration started.” He added.

According to Tamkeen, candidates welling to join this programme can submit their applications either online through the TEPS Programme official website (www.tamkeen.bh/teps), or by contacting the Programme Manager; itcan Consultancy and Public Relations, who will take all necessary steps to get eligible candidates registered on time.
 

A unique workshop on quality systems and standards for kindergartens was recently completed under TEPS Programme. A total of 11 participants from different KGs in the private sector participated in this 3 days workshop which was a practical training led by Alexa Kowalski, who is an experienced education consultant and trainer at Tribal, UK. Alexa is also a member of the national Quality Mark Programme team, and holds the responsibility of monitoring and supporting QM within a number of regions in England as well as working directly with local authorities, schools and early years providers to support improvement.

Successful implementation of the key principles and core processes covered during the workshop could be recognized if desired, by applying for a Tribal external assessment to validate the improving educational practice and provision, leading to achievement of a ‘Quality Mark’ award.

The workshop focused on enabling participants to understand the ‘Quality Mark’ as a framework of quality standards and indicators covering provision and practice in developing the skills of young children, particularly in communication, language and mathematical development; apply Quality Mark standards to structure use of effective self evaluation as a tool to support continuous improvement and to validate good practice; demonstrate use of the framework in practice, including how to: audit current provision and practice assess young children’s abilities and achievements and plan ‘next steps’ in their learning develop action planning monitor progress evaluate impact, and have an understanding of how future accreditation with a ‘Quality Mark’ award can be achieved, if desired and the next steps required.