A description that best fits our government universities is that they are no different from secondary schools. That is the real reason behind the unemployment problem our graduates are facing and the universities should also be blamed for the failure of the Saudization drive.
We find that students who graduate from private colleges, like Prince Sultan College and Effat College, face no problem when it comes to finding jobs. Employers offer them jobs that earn a good salary of SR8,000 a month.
To improve the standard of higher education in the Kingdom and make it more job-oriented, we need to have more private and foreign colleges.
Dr. Amr Al-Dabbagh, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), has rightly recommended that investors should set up private colleges to produce Saudi graduates capable of meeting the job market requirements.
There are plans for reforming and upgrading primary education. This means foreign investment would not be confined to higher educational institutions but would also cover education at early stages.
Such a drive would allow the Kingdom to have new generations of creative young Saudis who could serve as an additional asset that could gradually substitute oil as the Kingdom’s main wealth. Spending money on human resources, especially improving youth employment possibilities, is the best investment in both the short and long-term.
However, expanding the base of private education means there have to be students who can afford the financial cost of this kind of education.
Banks could join the process by providing loans to students who will pay back the money when they enter practical life after graduation. This is a secure investment since the students who graduate from elite colleges and institutions would face no difficulty in finding jobs.
The good news is that the Human Resource Development Fund, in cooperation with the ministries of higher education and finance, are conducting a study on providing loans to needy students, especially those hailing from the countryside and remote areas, to enable them pursue higher education.
If the project goes ahead, the Kingdom would within a few years be able to have qualified young Saudis who can get jobs. This is a wealth that if properly nurtured, could compensate for any shortage in natural resources.
