Emirati found fun, but it shut doors to good jobs

Abu Dhabi: He had fun and discontinued his education abroad at the age of 26, but realised his mistake while doing various odd jobs over the next 10 years.

But the bitter experiences did not dishearten Yaser Al Hameri; he felt it was not too late to study again at the age of 36. He joined an evening diploma course and established his own business with the help of the Shaikh Khalifa Fund.

"At a young age, I was more interested in fun than studies, but later I found that mistake shut a lot of doors in front of me; lack of qualifications was a hurdle everywhere to find a good job', Al Hameri, 38, an Abu Dhabi resident, told Gulf News.

He spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of VETI Expo, an exhibition at the Vocational Education and Training Institute (VETI) in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The VETI Expo is an annual open-day event to celebrate student achievements and facilitate communication between prospective students, current students and industry professionals.

As a brilliant student, Al Hameri was given a chance to address the gathering at the opening ceremony of the event. He received praise from many teachers and students for his speech.

He completed Grade 12 in 1992 and his father sent him to Jordan the following year for a pharmacy course. "But I came back empty handed in 1997, after four years without completing the course," Al Hameri said. He did many jobs in the marketing sector, but he was dissatisfied. His attempts for a better job ended up with frustrating experiences.

"But, I realised it was my mistake and it was never [too] late to correct it," said Al Hameri who is living in Abu Dhabi with his wife and three children.

Opportunity

Eying the better opportunities of Abu Dhabi's growing tourism sector, he joined an evening course of diploma in Travel and Tourism Management at VETI in 2007.

"It was quite inspiring to see that many Emirati officials in Army, Police and other prestigious government departments were doing diploma courses of their interests to upgrade their professional qualifications," he said.

"Most of them are in [their] late thirties or early forties and having good positions, still they don't sit idle; that inspired me".

He in turn inspired his brother Mohammad Al Hameri, 40, who is a police officer in Al Ain, to join an evening diploma course. "The father of two children [the brother] is enjoying his Event Management diploma at VETI Al Ain centre now," Al Hameri said.

Al Hameri feels his decision to join the course was at the right time, because the admission procedure became tougher later. "Now there is a long queue of applicants who have to go through an entrance test and interview."

He is in stage three (of five stages) of the course which runs for about two-and-a-half years. "But I didn't want to wait until the completion of the course, so I approached the Shaikh Khalifa Fund with a proposal to start a cruise boat service for tourists."

His dream came true and now his two cruise boats take tourists to various islands in Abu Dhabi emirate for diving, fishing and other activities.

"I didn't want a job with a specific working time; but own business. My studies at a later age made it possible", Al Hameri said.

Al Hameri is a role model for others who want to gain professional qualification at a later age, Garry Pollock, the Institute's director, told Gulf News.

"He can be our good advocate to promote the potential of our institute," he added.

Students find second chance at institute

The first batch of 90 students will graduate in January 2010 from VETI, a government run institution, established in 2007, Gary Pollock, Institute Director told Gulf News.

The institute has 1,100 students and 60 per cent of them are on day shift and others on evening shift, he said. "Among the day time students, 60 per cent of them are girls". The students are more interested in the courses related to Project Management, Human Resources, IT etc. Grade 12 is the minimum qualification.

— B. A. K.

retraining