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50 TVTC colleges to use English for training programs
By Abdul Hannan Tago, Arab News | 9 March 2016
Source: http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/892426

RIYADH: The state-owned Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) announced here on Tuesday that English will be the medium of instruction for trainees at all its institutions. TVTC has 50 colleges and training institutes scattered across the Kingdom in partnership with high-caliber global universities, including those of the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.

“This strategy being offered by TVTC is in response to the needs of the labor market in the Kingdom,” said a source from the organization. He said English will be taught as the medium of instruction for all subjects in its 33 Colleges of Excellence (CoE) and 21 institutes in partnership with the private sector.

“TVTC is keen to teach English to the trainees (males and females) in colleges and technical institutes to increase their chances for employment after graduation and enable them to compete for jobs in specialized areas,” said TVTC spokesman Fahd Al-Otaibi. He said qualified instructors with English as their mother tongue will teach English through interactive learning programs involving modern teaching methods.

The strategy is within the framework to prepare competitive graduates for the labor market with communication skills required to work in the private sector as well as learning technical skills in various disciplines based on labor market needs.

According to Al-Otaibi, the private sector alone absorbs more than 50 percent of TVTC graduates and requires skills and proficiency in English. He said about 110,000 trainees are now taking courses at various TVTC institutions. The number is expected to reach 300,000 in 2020, while the corporation is trying to keep pace with the growing demand for technical and vocational training in the future.

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