Kuwait Finance House – Bahrain, one of the leading Islamic banks in the Kingdom of Bahrain has recently launched the "KFH Youth" Summer Program, a structured program which aims to train middle and high school students and develop their career success skills. The program provides students within the age group from 13 to 18 years with the opportunity to gain more insights and knowledge of the banking and financial sector and the various functions and areas of specialisation within the industry, and equips them with the skills to succeed in their academic and professional lives through a range of educational programs and on the job training opportunities.

The program has been developed in partnership with several educational and training entities in the Kingdom of Bahrain, including the University of Bahrain (in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor), the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance, INJAZ Bahrain, Al Mabarrah Al Khalifia Foundation, the Bahrain FinTech Bay, the Bahrain Bayan School, and the Bahrain Society for Training and Development. The program will be running for two weeks from 20th to 31st August 2023, and will involve 40 middle and high school students including the sons and daughters of the Bank’s employees, and a group of students from Bahrain Bayan School, who were selected and registered in the program in coordination with the school.

 The program will be divided into two weeks, whereby the first week of the program will include workshops and educational sessions that focus on developing personal skills and career success skills such as financial literacy, teamwork, effective communication, planning, leadership, self-efficacy, innovation and other success skills. These training workshops will be delivered by the Bank’s employees and members of the partner training entities. The first week of the program will also include banking knowledge workshops conducted by the Bank's professionals to help students develop knowledge of various banking functions and specialisations, and to understand the different career paths within the banking sector.

During the second week of the program, the students will be given the opportunity to gain first-hand experience through on the job training assignments including job rotation and job shadowing, which will allow the students to understand the requirements of the various job functions through working closely and directly with banking professionals from across the Bank. At the end of the two weeks, participants will deliver their group presentations to the Bank's management team to showcase and demonstrate the skills and knowledge which they have acquired through the program and to additionally present their innovative ideas and recommendations.

On this occassion, Mr. Abdulhakeem Alkhayyat, Managing Director and CEO of KFH-Bahrain, commented: "The program was introduced as part of our ongoing commitment to invest in young talents, our dedication to enhance their access to development opportunities, to equip them with the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to succeed in their academic and professional lives, and to instill in them the values of success, leadership and innovation. Today's youth are the future leaders within the industry, and this program will contribute to build a line of competent young talents that are well qualified to meet the needs of the labor market in general and the needs  of  the financial and banking sector in particular."

 Sara Zainalabedin, Head of Human Resources at KFH-Bahrain, commented: "We are delighted to partner with the various local educational and training entities to organise the 'KFH Youth' program. This program will give the students the opportunity to explore the banking sector more closely through a variety of training opportunities. It will contribute to broadening the students’ understanding of the various banking functions, and will help them identify and acquire the skills needed to succeed in those functions.  It will also help the students identify the areas of specialisation which are closest to their ambitions and preferences and learn about the job functions which are in demand within the industry, thus helping them to more effectively plan for their future studies at this important stage of their lives."