A TOTAL of 215 students – 42 per cent of whom were female – have received hands-on training since the beginning of the year from Alba, one of the world’s largest aluminium smelters.

Dedicated to providing Bahrain’s youth with critical skills, Alba plans to expand its On the Job Training (OJT) programme, which aims to teach participants about all the company’s functions from operations to administration.

Alba chief executive Ali Al Baqali highlighted this at a meeting with OJT participants yesterday at the company’s Oasis Hall.

The company has also witnessed an 86 per cent increase this summer (June to August) in OJT participants, with 149 students compared to the previous year’s 80, thanks to strong partnerships with local universities, offering students invaluable industrial exposure and preparing them to become key contributors to Bahrain’s economy.