MLSD and MoE launch a new program in bid to improve skills of students and meet labor market needs

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) and the Ministry of Education have joined forces to launch a community service program ‘Ahuloha’, which is in a bid to enhance the skills of students, instill positive values in them as well as help them to develop independent personality. The program also seeks to equip them with knowledge and skills that meet future labor market needs and motivate them to take part in volunteering activities that serve the community. Meanwhile, the ‘Ahuloha’ program focuses on a number of skills and characteristics needed to bring about in a competitive work environment, aiming to improve the skills of its participants, such as problem solving, cooperation, communication and time management. Additionally, it enhances specific personal attributes of the students like self-discipline and perseverance, allowing them to be aware of community issues, understand the importance of volunteerism in community advancement, as well as learning how to spend their free time to lead initiatives that provide solutions to social problems. In its first phase, the program has targeted third-grade students in the middle schools across the Kingdom as 2,000 extra-curricular activities supervisors have been trained through attending 100 intensive workshops for a period of 8 weeks with covering 46 education administrations. The program plans to reach 4,000 schools, train 10,000 extra-curricular activities supervisors (to be trainers) and target more than 100,000 male and female students by 2020. ‏‎