JEDDAH, 8 April — Jobs are going abegging for Saudis in the private sector. “In the travel industry alone as many as 26,000 jobs await Saudis,” Ghassan O. Attar, managing director of International Development Program Education Australia, told reporters yesterday.
Speaking at a roadshow by 20 of Australia’s internationally renowned universities and educational institutions at Jeddah Marriott Hotel, Attar said he is considering the setting up of a training center for young Saudis to fill vacancies especially in the travel industry.
“The idea is to run short-term diploma courses in collaboration with Australian universities approved by the Ministry of Education so that their certificates get recognition in the industry,” said Attar, who is also the managing director of Attar Travel’s Business Travel International.
The Australian institutions participating in the roadshow, all recognized by the MOE, showcased their tertiary study programs to international students and highlighted how they could add value to the corporate training strategies of major public and private sector organizations. “Their aim is to attract Saudi students, who tended to go to the US, Britain and other Western countries before Sept. 11, to Australia which has the best education infrastructure and teaching standards,” Attar said. Students from this part of the world were mostly interested in medicine, business administration and engineering, which all have dedicated faculties in various Australian universities, he said, adding that tuition fee for all these and other courses was 55 to 60 percent lesser in Australia than in the United States.
Replying to a question, Attar said an estimated 3,000 students from the Kingdom went abroad for studies before Sept. 11. “My target is to enroll at least 1,000 students in Australian universities from here,” Attar said.
Mohammed Sayeeduddin Hyder, Jeddah-based operation manager of the Education Australia program, said international English language testing system (IELTS) would also be conducted locally for Saudi students.
Sanjeev Verma, Dubai-based director of Education Australia, said 32 representatives from 37 Australian universities would finally join the roadshow as it heads from one country to another. The roadshow, which moves next to Riyadh, will visit Kuwait, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Oman.
