JEDDAH, 5 March 2006 — Qantara, which means “archway” in Arabic, is a comprehensive training program that attempts to bridge the gap between what is taught and what is needed in terms of job skills. Qantara is a non-profit initiative by the Sharaka Company to help create a generation of local youths who are not only successful in their future specialized fields but also more articulate, cultured and capable of seeking knowledge on their own. Qantara’s unique program offers a life-transforming experience with an opportunity for building skills and character as well as guaranteeing employment.
The idea began in 1995 when Hassan Othman, chairman of Sharaka and founder of Qantara, saw that the education output was far removed from the needs of the private and public sectors. After initial studies, research and postponements, Qantara was launched in 2004 with a pilot program in Malaysia. By the process of elimination, Othman decided on Malaysia because it has similar cultural aspects and it went through a successful industrial transition. Plus, a member of the Young Presidents Organization, of which Othman is a member, is also the president of one of the leading private universities in Malaysia, INTI College, which made it easy for Othman to contact him and to use his campus as a platform for the Qantara pilot project in 2004.
“In order to test the program, I decided to sponsor 16 students and send them to Malaysia to follow the first version of Qantara, which was at that time for only eight months,” said Othman.
The students were high school graduates from the natural science sector, and the supervisors of Qantara chose this level of graduates as a priority because according to a paper presented at the Riyadh Economic Forum, unemployment rate among high school graduates is 25 percent.
“Our assumption for a long period of time was that if our kids speak English and are reasonably literate in computers, we would resolve our problems, and it was proven with experience that this is not accurate,” said Othman.
Qantara focuses on three groups of skills. The first group involves technical skills, such as English-language proficiency, computer and Internet and numerical skills whereupon the students gain a level of confidence dealing with numbers, whether they are sales representatives, administrative assistants or data-entry clerks.
The second group of skills is work ethics and environment, such as learning discipline, positive attitude and dealing with others, which is a major challenge that the new generation is increasingly facing.
The third group of skills relates to how to learn, which is the real challenge among the three because, Othman said, “you can teach technical skills and you can discipline people but how can you teach knowledge? And we believed that the only way to face this challenge is to take the students away from their environment and interact with other culture.”
In addition to teaching these skills, exposing students to cultural shock challenges their traditional way of thinking until it becomes part of their personality. By the time they return to Saudi Arabia they should have changed and become agents of change for people around them.
The next challenge is convincing the business community here which still believes that the only skills needed are English and how to use a computer. “They raised doubts about the feasibility of investing in sending people not on their priority list, so it takes people with guts,” said Othman.
Luckily, there were some who were very supportive: Muhammad Hafiz, managing director of Sawani Group, Musa Al-Omran, managing director of Western Bakeries, and Rami Al-Turki, managing director of Khaled Al-Turki Group of Companies. They are offering to sponsor students of Qantara and to contribute to the cost of their scholarship. They are also committed to hiring them as entry-level employees, such as sales reps and administrative assistants.
In order not to burden the companies that have extended their support, Othman approached the Human Resources Development Fund to shoulder part of the costs. The INTI College and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry agreed to offer the legal umbrella and issue the Qantara diplomas jointly.
After reviewing the results of the Malaysia pilot group, the program was made into a 12-month training program instead of eight. It starts with two months in Saudi Arabia — the orientation phase — to enhance the students’ language and computer ability and they are prepared culturally to travel out of the country.
“During the filtering process, whoever does not show signs of commitment, seriousness and discipline does not go to the next phase. Those who make it are sent to an additional training phase of 12 months in Malaysia. It consists of various modules,” said Othman.
One module is the academic curriculum, which focuses on the three skills of English language, computer and Internet capabilities and numerical skills. Another module involves extracurricular activities, which are physical and mental. The third module is community service, where the the trainees are obligated to participate in community service for one entire month.
Another module tests their limits and teaches them to be effective members of any team; they are taken for a month to an outbound school. And finally, in the last two months of the program, the students are enrolled in on-the-job training in Malaysia.
Othman said Qantara is a feasible investment for companies and students. First of all, he pointed out, the companies pay only half of the cost, which comes to SR2,500 a month per person. There are also different kinds of scholarships that require the graduates to work for a minimum of one year on a half-scholarship or two years on a full scholarship. During that time, the Human Resources Development Fund will pay up to SR2,000 of the salary, so the company gets back in the following year of the program the bulk of what they paid.
As for the risk of the student returning before completing the program, one important aspect of Qantara is that it requires a financial deposit from the student. “It is a big deposit because we want serious people. We require a $10,000 deposit,” said Othman. “The immediate reaction is that this is much, but we see poor families raising funds to buy a car. We have to change the way people look at education. They should see it as a priority. Secondly, we have psychologically relied on the government to provide us with everything, so automatically when it comes to education it has been historically the responsibility of the government, so when we say you have to pay a deposit which is 100 percent refundable, people don’t take it positively, people have to change their view of education; it is their responsibility.”
For those who prove they cannot afford to pay, Qantara signed an agreement with the National Charity Fund to pay up to the full deposit on behalf of the applicant. “Also, for those who cannot support their claim that they are needy, we arranged for student loans from the National Commercial Bank, interest-free student loans, and this is the first time in Saudi Arabia that there is such a thing as student loan. People again would take loans with interest to buy a car and appliances but when it comes to education it is not important and banks until now did not offer student loans.”
Othman said that for every set of challenges, there are different sets of solutions. “In the past, the gap between the graduates of the education system and the requirements of the workplace are much less than now, but the gap has been widening on both ends. Qantara is trying to say that it is not enough that someone speaks English and is computer literate, it is a whole lot of other things required such as how to increase someone’s confidence and change their approach to life,” he said.
“The set of solutions that have been offered locally for Saudization, in my opinion, were satisfactory in a certain period of time, but since then things have changed and we are still sticking to the same training institutions saying that these are going to be the solutions for different challenges,” said Othman.
Qantara is also an attractive package for the students, says Othman. They will be sent on a scholarship, they are guaranteed a job before they engage in the program, they sign an employment agreement, and they know their salaries in advance; a minimum of SR3,500.
“We have received so many applications but it is sad that the graduates of high school from the natural sciences section, out of 650 applications only 55 met the minimum conditions and those 55 will be further screened by so many tests during the filtration phase,” said Othman. “This does not indicate how strict we are, it indicates how bad the graduates are from our education system, and this is a serious problem and our biggest challenge.”
Regarding the high turnover in Saudi employees, which many companies claim is the reason they do not prefer to hire Saudis, Othman said that it takes two to make the relationship continue. “I think it is a shared responsibility,” said Othman. “A lot of companies do not offer healthy work environment for Saudis to continue.”
Qantara plans to expand in other job categories. It also encourages women to take up these jobs. So far the applicants have been men but it is open for women too if a sponsoring company has a list of jobs for women.
