‘Darb Programme’ prepares students for life after college

AMMAN — Students from Jordanian universities are having an opportunity to experience life after college.

“Darb Programme”, a national initiative by “LOYAC Jordan”— a non-profit organisation — targets university students across the Kingdom through workshops and internships in public and private companies, Hamza Tal, the communications and media specialist at LOYAC, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Wednesday.

Established in 2008, “LOYAC Jordan” projects seek to develop skills of youth in Jordan. The “Darb Programme” was launched in 2011, Tal said.

Held in cooperation with the King Abdullah Fund for Development (KAFD), the programme aims at strengthening the students’ employment opportunities, he said.

Around 1,100 students took part in Darb skills training, and 750 of those were introduced to internship opportunities, he added.

“We are related to almost 211 companies from both the public and private sectors,” Tal said.

Marah Seba’i, a 20-year-old banking and finance student at Al al Bayt University, said that she heard about the programme through friends, who were also participants in the programme, and that the registration process was “very simple”.

“We had a two-day workshop, and it was during off days, and after that we had a volunteering initiative during Ramadan, providing food supplies to families in need in Irbid,” she told The Jordan Times over the phone.

“Darb programme gave me a great opportunity to intern at a local bank for about a month and a half, with free transportation provided by Darb and the bank,” she said.

She added that the internship “greatly benefited” her, as there is a difference between theoretical courses and gaining practical knowledge outside classrooms.

Bashayer Tayeh, who is also a banking and finance student at Al Yarmouk University, said that she came to know about the programme through Facebook.

“Before my experience with Darb, I used to study but didn’t understand some subjects. After completing my internship, I’m studying with full understanding of the subjects,” she said.

“I’ve learnt to deal with various types of people, respect the value of time, and how does it feel to go on a full-time job like other employees,” she added.

“I suggest to my fellow students to be part of this programme as they will greatly benefit from it,” she noted.

“We are now in the ‘Darb 1’ phase, we have ‘Darb 2’ and ‘Darb 3’ coming next, and the last one is for preparing us for employment after graduating,” both Seba’i and Tayeh stated.

Tal said that the graduation for the latest batch of students is scheduled to be held on November 25.

“LOYAC Jordan has multiple initiatives and programmes which are all focused on training university students and preparing them for the future,” Tal stated.