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Around 80% people involved in the hair and beauty industry in Qatar are without any international qualifications or certifications that are necessary to maintain healthy and safety standards, Tajmeel Principal Beverley Crowther told Gulf Times.
“It’s very important that everybody is qualified in the hair and beauty industry. Only about 5% have internationally recognised qualifications, while in the last year, I’ve trained another 15% in the basic health and safety standards. So, about 80% people in the hair and beauty industry are without any international qualifications,” she said.
Tajmeel-Qatar International Beauty Academy was founded by the Social Development Centre (SDC). The SDC is a branch of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
Crowther said that Tajmeel was established to provide training courses of the highest calibre within the beauty industry. The academy offers short courses and workshops aimed at skill development for personal grooming and non vocational training.
An MoU was signed between the SDC and the Ministry of Labour in January 2013, which authorised Tajmeel to work with the ministry in the assessment and rehabilitation of workers in women’s beauty salons in Qatar. The new rule got implemented in March 2013.
The Tajmeel principal said that it would take years before everyone in the industry gets the necessary and international training.
She called on the salon owners to upscale the people that they already have or recruit qualified people from the start. “People, including business owners and salon managers are still not fully aware of what it’s all about,” she added.
Presently, there are no fines or penalties on salon owners for not following the rules. But the ministry was now trying to link the qualification of the worker employed in the industry with their work visa. “There is a monitoring system between us and the ministry of labour. We work with the ministry to check if the salon has everything in place to maintain the high standards. If they don’t follow, it could have an effect on the renewal of work permits of their employees,” she said.
She pointed out that the difficulty in the recruitment process, where the so-called ‘skilled worker’ upon landing in Qatar is found to be lacking knowledge in even the basics of the services, let alone having international qualifications.
She said that imposing penalties or fines would not be in the best interest of salon owners or employees. The need was to create more awareness about the issue and convince salon owners that the investment in workers’ skills would give them long term benefits.
There has been positive response from the industry. “We have some Qatari salon owners who have joined our courses themselves to learn about the health and safety standards. Some have even done the full international course because they themselves want to know what’s best for their business. ” Crowther said.
In the first phase, Tajmeel only provides training to only women workers in the hair and beauty industry. But she said that Tajmeel could provide on-site training at the salon to accommodate the male workers as well.
