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[nomad soul]

100 colleges to give vocational training to 300,000 students
By Fatima Muhammad, Saudi Gazette | 12 June 2014
Source: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20140612208265

JEDDAH — The Kingdom is now passing through a “distinguished stage” in which it will be moving toward an “economic knowledge society.” It will ensure Kingdom’s march toward becoming a developed country, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, minister of education, said here on Wednesday. “To achieve this we need to spend money wisely and ensure sustainable development. We have not been making good use of opportunities as some other Asian countries have done,” he added.

Speaking at a workshop on “Alignment of Education Outcomes with the Labor Market Demands to Serve Saudi Youth”, organized by his ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor and Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), Prince Khaled said: “We are fed up with theories and studies that are clustered in our offices. It’s time to move these studies into production stage.” Education, he elaborated, cannot stand on its own. It needs to be intertwined with efforts of other government bodies including the ministry of labor. “Education is a necessary element in each strategic plan,” the prince added.

The minister felt sorry for the Saudi youths who believe that all high school graduates should enroll in universities and later have a government job waiting for them. “Media talk about unemployment among Saudi graduates while we are recruiting foreigners who are being paid higher emoluments,” he noted. The government’s role, he added, is to provide “knowledge and training to students to enable them to discover their interests and capabilities.”

Meanwhile, Adel Fakeih, minister of labor, said during the next 10 years the Kingdom will have 4 million high school graduates. “We want to equip a million of them to be able to get jobs without the need to pursue further education. This can only happen if we provide vocational training to them that fits market needs.”

Muhammad Al-Zugbi, general manager of the curriculum department at the Ministry of Education, told Saudi Gazette that this new approach will help more high school graduates get jobs without the need to pursue higher education. It will help young Saudis to “get jobs that are most in demand and will also get them good salaries.” General education in the Kingdom, he added, is undergoing changes and the ministry has included “more skills and less education material.” The education system now, said Al-Zugbi, is to highlight topics as human rights, sustainable development and entrepreneurs programs. Some other programs are achieved in cooperation with Human Resources Development Fund and district school clubs. While the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities has provided training to 450 students.

On the sidelines of the workshop, Jorge Schubert, a partner at McKinsey & Company which is in charge of establishing colleges of excellence run under the umbrella of TVTC, told Saudi Gazette that they are working to set up 100 colleges in four years to train some 300,000 students. The first phase of the project has been finalized with 10 colleges already operating in different regions with a total capacity of 25,000 students. The second phase will be finalized by 2014 and will welcome 53,000 students. All fees, added Schubert, are being paid by the government and on top of that each student gets a monthly allowance of SR1,000. Students, he said, are trained in market-oriented skills. The different fields include: mechanics, electronics, information technology, human resources and finance. Women, he added, have been accorded more attention in training for these skills. They are also being included in training for administrative works, he said.

(End of article)

[nomad soul]

On a related note...

Jobs elude fresh graduates with poor interview skills
By Nadia Al-Fawaz, Arab News | 12 June 2014
Source: http://www.arabnews.com/news/585491

Experts here say that new graduates often fail to get jobs because they do not have the skills to market themselves, write out good resumes and negotiate properly during interviews.

Ghassan Abdullah, a former marketing manager, said: "At my old job, I interviewed new female graduates for vacancies at our company. Despite the fact that most of them were highly educated and graduates from well-known universities, they were unable to express themselves and had no clue how to negotiate. I think this is one of the most common mistakes graduates tend to make." Nouf Al-Ghamdi, a strategic analyst, said new graduates often give up more of their rights in interviews because they are desperate to prove themselves and find work. In contrast, a person looking for a change would not easily do so.

Habiballah Muhammed Turkistani, a faculty member in the department of business administration at King Abdulaziz University, said young people need to learn how to market themselves. He said he discusses this issue in his book, 'How to Get a Job.' "This lack of self-marketing skills is not because there are no academic courses to cover these weaknesses. There are courses on this subject that have been taught for 10 years, including on work ethics. Graduates do not need indoctrination, only practice. A diploma is not a true reflection of a person's skills."

Lama Ba Ja'aifer, a regional manager at IKEA, said graduates should also take care of how they write out their resumes. This is a reflection of the person's language and writing skills. She said resumes need not be written out in a traditional way, but graduates must have a cover letter and try to present it in two languages. "Preparation for an interview should begin with arming oneself with the necessary information to prevent nervousness. I would also like to point out that English is very important. Finally, there is overall appearance. Men must wear clean and neat clothes. As for ladies, they should avoid wearing too much makeup." She said graduates must also ensure that they have some idea of the salary they want to earn, which they can discuss at the end of the interview with their prospective employer.

Hassan Tamraz, 26-year-old civil engineering graduate from an Arab university, said that he was unable to find a job for a year because of his poor English, which is a major requirement at most companies. Tamraz said that it is essential for job seekers to exude confidence and not give up their rights.

Haya Al-Souri, 25 who graduated three years ago from King Abdulaziz University, has been unable to find a steady job. She said a company she worked for previously did not pay her because they were in dire financial straits. She said graduates must be confident during interviews and not say things like: "I will take whatever job you have, or the salary is fine." Farah Qahwaji, 20, believes that her sister Sara has not been able to find a job for two years because of her unwillingness to improve her personal skills. Sara graduated from the foreign languages department at her university.

(End of article)

[Rostom]

[Rostom]

[rollingk]

[nomad soul]

Colleges of Excellence boast 12,052 student enrollment
By Abdul Hannan Tago, Arab News | 13 November 2014
Source: http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/659336

RIYADH--Some 12,052 students have enrolled in 37 Colleges of Excellence (CoE) across the Kingdom as of Wednesday, with 149,342 applications currently being processed. There are also plans under way to construct another 100 colleges to accommodate 450,000 students by 2020, according to CoE online updates.

The CoE were established in 2013 to provide technical and vocational training to Saudi male and female students with the cooperation of the best international training organizations. According to the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), there are 36 technical and 18 general colleges for boys; 68 secondary industrial institutes for girls, in addition to 28 institutes for strategic partnerships with the private sector. There are also 37 CoEs located in various cities and provinces of the Kingdom.

The TVTC has embarked on an ambitious program that will empower Saudi young men and women with world-class technical and vocational training suitable for the local job market. “The ambitious plan seeks to facilitate the dramatic transition to a global village coupled with the internationalization of business sectors. This has prompted Saudi Arabia to boost its competitiveness by building manpower skills required for various professions,” said TVTC Gov. Ali Al-Ghafees at the inauguration of 27 new colleges earlier this year.

CoEs offer certificates and diplomas in specializations to high school graduates with Saudi mothers. During the preparatory year, the focus is on developing foundation skills including English language and communication skills. The colleges provide vocational training across a range of skills in health care, business, IT and finance, hair and beauty, fashion design and agriculture. The subjects were carefully selected to create employment opportunities specific to the needs of the job market in the various provinces.

The quality vocational training programs through public and private partnerships with top level training providers in the Kingdom will be focused on employer needs. They will also enable students to turn their passions into careers.

Saudi Arabia has expanded the capacity of technical and vocational training on par with advanced countries including Germany, Japan and the United States and is seeking highly committed graduates and young professionals to achieve its aspirations.

(End of article)

[CANDLES]

The Vocational colleges are there for a purpose I believe and that being that some women and men do actually want to do something purposeful rather than sit at home, or 'pretend' to study at various universities dotted around KSA churning out 'supposed' academic students.

Good luck to them and the colleges and the teachers taking them on and I hope they are successful.

[plumpy nut]

[Yasuke]

[/quote]. The students constantly put the teachers in jeopardy with their devious actions ...We had easy going great teachers dealing with students openly getting signatures in the classroom to get rid of the easy going honest teachers. There was the usual bribing, teacher we're going to buy you some coffee at wherever obviously to insure good grades. No matter what edicts about improving education and training are blurted out by the government, the universities as well as the companies being used to get ESL teachers will always behave duplicitously. Avoid these kind of programs with your life.[/quote]

Great info. I assume their duplicitous actions are used to retain funding. And, I imagine school administrators know about the problem. Are there no enforced rules about this students behavior? Also, are the institutions just bringing in ESL instructors on a conveyer belt system. Maybe bring them for a year, or less with this new scheme of 3-6 month contracts, and find new teachers the following year?

[scot47]

Yasuke - go on. Make the plunge ! Jump in and see !

[CANDLES]

Most vocational colleges' teachers have a 2 year contract and if they want to leave after 1 year, they have to give 3 months notice.

[Mushkilla]

[CANDLES]

It's a mystery

[nomad soul]

[abdi181]

Seems like almost everyone is focused on the students mentioned in the article. When I read it I said "great we will have jobs until 2020 because saudiazation won't be able to keep up with so many new institutes".