JEDDAH, 22 July 2003 — A showcase of the Kingdom’s plans on education, with their greater stress on training, has been timed to coincide with the new academic session. The showcase — the Middle East Education and Training Exhibition and Symposium 2003 (MEETES) — is scheduled at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s International Exhibition and Convention Center on Madinah Road from Sept. 14-19.
Highlights include distance learning, universities and polytechnics, private schools, language schools and centers, audiovisual and computer, software and training, vocational education and training in equipment and supplies, textbooks and curricula, and furniture and systems.
MEETES is held alongside the CommTel, at the same venue, which will showcase computers and mobile telephony.
“MEETES comprehensively showcases all aspects of education,” said a senior management executive at Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions, which is organizing the event with the support of the Ministry of Education and King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU).
The exhibition has assumed importance against the background of the ongoing intensive campaign for Saudization and creation of new jobs.
“Budgetary provision for education is in excess of $14 billion, with the building of 369 schools and colleges and an increased budget for the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT),” he said.
The Kingdom has eight universities, more than 100 colleges and over 26,000 schools, with an estimated five million students enrolled in the educational system.
A number of leading official and unofficial agencies will be working together to present a series of seminars alongside the show. Organizing participants include King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Saudi Arabian Airiness, the Institute of Public Administration and GOTEVOT, aside from the JCCI.
Others supporting the event include British Trade International, the British Council, the British Educational Suppliers Association, as well as the US Educational Group, the Canadian Education Network and International Federation of Training and development Organizations.
