JEDDAH, 8 May 2008 — The career day at the Jeddah Community College (JCC) on Tuesday was successful with 35 leading Saudi companies attending the event and offering 400 jobs to graduates.
“The number of jobs offered was more than the number of graduates,” said Dr. Abdul Ilah Saaty, JCC vice dean. He added that the JCC plans to introduce new academic programs in e-commerce, construction engineering and graphic designing in the next academic year.
“The success of the career day reflects the success of our job-oriented programs,” he said.
Dr. Osama Tayib, president of the King Abdulaziz University (KAU), opened the event and said KAU wanted to establish closer cooperation with the private sector to develop national manpower and find suitable employment for graduates.
Participants included Abdul Latif Jameel Group, Riyad Bank, Hidada, insurance companies such as Bupa and Gulf Union, and officials from the Labor Ministry, Manpower Development Fund and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “I am proud of the JCC and glad to see its graduates being offered more job opportunities,” Tayib said.
The JCC’s courses, which are conducted in English, are designed to meet labor market requirements. The college has nearly 800 students on roll. This year 250 students graduated from the college, an affiliate of KAU. Their number will reach 450 next year.
“Career days held at the JCC during the past six years were very successful as a large number of private companies came to recruit our graduates,” said Dr. Ibrahim Kutbi, JCC’s dean.
“By holding these events, we not only help our students to get jobs but also the private sector to employ well-qualified national cadre,” Kutbi said.
Speaking about the JCC’s new courses, he said, “We are the first to introduce e-commerce and graphic designing in the Kingdom.”
He added that the college would introduce a variety of new courses to train Saudis to meet job market needs and reduce the Kingdom’s dependence on foreign workers.
Kutbi spoke about the landmark agreement his college signed in March this year with the Louisiana Community & Technical College System (LCTCS).
Saaty said the accord, which is expected to improve overall performance of the college, covered academic assessment, accreditation, joint degree programs, faculty development through workshops and distance learning. “We’ll benefit from the expertise and capabilities of 10 US community colleges in Louisiana,” he said.
Saaty will travel to Louisiana at the end of next month to visit community colleges there and meet officials to follow up on the agreement. “I will also attend a workshop and meet with faculty members and consultants to prepare new academic programs for the college,” Saaty said. LCTCS will help JCC get US accreditation, he added.
The JCC will organize a forum on the role of community colleges in the development of human resources on May 27. George Boggs, president of American Association of Community Colleges, Ian Smith from Britain, and Dr. Muhammad Al-Ouhaly, deputy minister of higher education, will speak about their countries’ experiences in the field, while Saaty will present a paper on the contributions of community colleges in the Kingdom.
