The real unemployment rate among Bahraini youth is slightly more than 10 per cent and most of those jobless are schools dropouts and in need to be trained in order to be integrated into the job market, according to a senior labour official.

Commenting on an earlier report, which "wrongfully" said that 41 per cent of Bahraini youth were unemployed, Osama Al Absi, Director of Employment at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs told Gulf News: "According to 2002 figures, Bahraini youth's (15 to 24 years of age) total population is 82,598, out of which 65 per cent are students at various educational and training institutions, which makes them out of the general working population."

The aggregate number of the jobless within the same age group is 8,590. "Thus the real unemployment figure among the youth is 10.4 per cent, which is acceptable number and indeed accepted as most of those are school dropouts and need further training and orientation in order to integrate them into the productive workforce," he said.

However, Al Absi said, the figure goes down dramatically with regard to the general unemployment rate which had been announced officially last week by the ministry's Undersecretary Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, who declared that the unemployment rate among Bahrainis now stands at a low 4.1 per cent, a significant decline form 5.6 per cent one year ago.

"The ministry has achieved commendable success in finding suitable jobs for the unemployed; during the first five months of this year, we have placed 4,626 citizens in suitable jobs," he noted. This represents a 39 per cent improvement on the ministry's performance of the same period last year.

Furthermore, he said, the two-year old National Employment and Training Programme (NETP) "has seen an accomplishment rate that exceeded the timeframe set to achieve it."

The government's Bahraini dinar 25 million programme was initiated by Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and is credited with boosting the policy of Bahrainisation in the private sector.