RIYADH, 14 April — Dr. Ali ibn Nasser Al-Ghafis, governor of the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT), signed here yesterday contracts worth around SR39 million with four national companies for the construction of buildings for housing commercial institutes in Tabuk, Buraidah, Al-Raas and Dammam.
Two more contracts for constructing similar projects in Al-Ahsa and Khamis Mushayt, currently under negotiation, will be signed in the near future. With these, the total value of the projects will reach SR60 million. The duration of the contracts is for two years.
This was announced at a press conference held at GOTEVOT headquarters by the governor. The signatories to the contracts were Ibrahim Al-Rajehi of Arabian Contractor Co. (Tabuk), Muhammed ibn Abdullah Al-Mazurei from Al-Raas (Qassim), Abdul Kareem Al-Fahad of Arkal Est. for Contracting (Dammam), Al-Fardiniya Co. for Trading and Contracting, Al-Tarsheed Est. for Technical Contracting.
GOTEVOT is also planning to set up in the near future nine technical training centers in Riyadh, Buraidah, Al-Ahsa, Turba, Arar, Al-Dawadmi, Sabia (Jizan), Qunfuda and Sarat Obaidah, at a total cost of SR88 million.
And plans are under way for establishing seven technical colleges in Riyadh, Hail, Tabuk, Madinah, Al-Baha, Jizan and Najran at a cost of SR500 million.
The dispersal of technical training schools and colleges in different parts of the Kingdom is part of the government’s strategy to check the exodus of people from the villages to urban areas. An indication of this trend is the fact that Riyadh’s annual population growth is over 8 percent as against the national average of 3.5 percent.
The government is trying to address this problem by setting up technical institutes and colleges as well as industrial estates in the areas around Riyadh.
Dr. Al-Ghafis said with the completion of the contracts all commercial and technical schools currently operating out of rented buildings will have moved to their own premises. The schools will also increase their capacity to 800 students each.
GOTEVOT is aiming to prepare Saudi graduates for the needs of the labor market. The subjects offered by its institutes include accounting, computer operation, secretarial service, public relations, sales and marketing, inventory control and other job-oriented courses.
The objective is to progressively replace expatriates holding those jobs with new graduates as part of the process of Saudization.
Other measures to promote Saudization of technical jobs include the Career Day to be held by each college annually. Members of the public and private sectors will participate in the event by evaluating the students who approach them and offering job opportunities to the right candidates.
