SR 4 bn set for technical training colleges

The Saudi government has signed a massive SR 4 billion contract with leading colleges in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Spain to provide technical training for Saudis in line with market needs.
The operational contracts were signed yesterday between the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) and the education providers from these countries to set up the Colleges of Excellence (CoE) in eight cities across the Kingdom.
The TVTC governor and the CoE board’s vice chairman, Dr. Ali bin Nasser Al-Ghafis, signed the agreement with the providers. Training will be provided in a wide array of areas including business administration and information technology, and the automotive, aerospace and chemical sectors.
A number of Saudi officials and diplomats attended the event including Spain's ambassador, Joaquin Perez-Villanueva.
Under the contract, beginning in September, 10 colleges will be operating in eight major cities in the Kingdom including Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah and Al-Kharj.
The system will accommodate 110,000 students and will be expanded to 450,000 by 2020. The aim is to attract Saudis to the courses offered by the TVTC.
Saleh A. Alamr, CoE’s CEO, told journalists that the training will be offered free of charge.
In his keynote speech, Al-Ghafis said: “The CoE will help create a stronger, more skilled Saudi Arabia not only through a highly skilled national workforce, but also by catalyzing the development of new national industries in the automotive, aerospace and chemical sectors, among others.”
“The CoE graduates will not be the technical college graduates of 30 years ago. They will be highly paid specialists, whose passion for the latest technology will help place them at the vanguard of the country’s continued globalization,” he added.
Ghafis said the CoE would play an important role in increasing the value of human resources in Saudi Arabia by giving young Saudis a dual emphasis on the acquisition of vocational and technical skills valued by employers.
Alamr said the CoE has “recruited some of the most highly respected vocational training providers from across the world, taking on board their expertise and best-practice approach to higher education and training.”
Alamr said students would be able to choose from a variety of specialties including business administration and information technology. They will have the opportunity to enroll in two admission periods: The first period started yesterday and runs until July 17 and the second from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31.
Adel Fakeih, minister of labor and chairman of the CoE’s board of directors, said: “Education has a tremendous impact on both nations and the lives of individuals. Behind every great nation is a great system of education. In collaboration with our international partners, Colleges of Excellence will raise the bar in setting new standards for technical training in Saudi Arabia.”
Among the highly respected leaders in education that CoE has partnered with are Laureate from the US, Nescot from the UK, TQ from the UK and Mondragon from Spain.
Sunaina Mann, principal and CEO of Nescot College, said at the press conference: “Our courses will be adapted to meet local needs and structured employer engagement will be included in every program to ensure that students receive appropriate work-based training and experience which support them to find employment.”
"The courses will also focus on laying a firm foundation that will encourage CoE students towards a lifelong commitment to learning, teaching them the value of progressing, retraining and developing their career paths throughout their working lives," Mann said.
Dr. Abdulkareem Hamad Al-Nijaidi, deputy director general of the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), said: "Giving our people the right skills today will ensure that as a country we are best placed to create strong and productive industries that can serve customers worldwide, in turn benefiting from tomorrow’s growth industries.”