JEDDAH, 31 August 2006 — The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry has suddenly, without notice, decided to stop sponsoring an MBA program.
The decision has left students unsure of the future of their studies. They learned of the decision two weeks ago from a newspaper when JCCI Chairman Saleh Al-Turki announced that the chamber did not wish to continue in an “erroneous situation” of providing a degree that is not approved by the Ministry of Higher Education.
The program has been in operation for the past 11 years and it was in cooperation with the respected and approved Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport based in Alexandria, Egypt.
Hundreds of Saudis, including a number of the chamber’s employees, have graduated from the program. The school itself is on the list of ministry-approved educational institutions and its degree is accredited as long as the student is studying at its campus and not through some kind of distance learning.
“We were not informed of this decision. We were surprised to read about it in the newspaper,” said Iman Al-Ameer, one of the 180 students enrolled in the program. She had completed the first semester and was looking forward to starting the second in two weeks. Now she does not know whether the program will continue, what will happen about the degree or the money that has been paid.
“We have already paid the fees of SR10,000 for the upcoming semester. This is separate from the SR500 we paid to the chamber for registration,” she said.
Iman pointed out that students knew the degree is not accredited because it is a form of distance learning but when applying for work in the private sector, that did not matter as long as the institution was approved by the ministry. “We trusted the chamber,” she said.
In the agreement between the chamber and the academy, the chamber provides a place for the classes — in the Ministry of Commerce next to the chamber — and acts as coordinator for the students and facilitator for the books and other material needed for the courses. The academy provided the curriculum taught by staff from the academy and from King Abdul Aziz University. The degree was then stamped by the chamber.
“All of our dealings were with the chamber; we had no contact with the academy,” said Iman. However, she admitted that students had not signed any contract with the chamber and the only proof of the arrangement was the checks they paid the chamber and to the academy through the chamber. “The problem is with those who have only one semester to go or are working on their thesis,” she said.
Another student pointed to the advantages of enrolling in the program despite its not being accredited. “This program was convenient. Not everyone can travel abroad to study and not everyone is able to enroll in a university with the limited places they offer,” said Amal Al-Rifai.
She said they had tried phoning the chamber, but they could not get through to the JCCI chairman. The Manpower Development Center, which supervised the students, told them it was working on finding an alternative institution to sponsor the program.
“They have not called us or met with us and, honestly, any training institution or local academy that might sponsor the program is not as prestigious or as credible as the chamber,” said Amal.
Saleh Al-Turki said that the chamber had received two letters from the Ministry of Commerce in addition to several letters received in the past three years from the Ministry of Higher Education demanding that the chamber stop the masters program because the degree offered was not accredited.
“We are not an educational institution and we are not qualified to provide this service. There are public and private colleges and universities that can, and we are in negotiations with the academy to find a specialized institution to continue the program,” he said.
Al-Turki explained that times have changed. “Now there are private educational institutions, government scholarships and international universities interested in opening branches here. We don’t want to compete with them and it is not part of our services to offer graduate level degrees. We will continue with our training and manpower development programs that serve the private sector,” he said.
