SAKAKA, 1 December 2006 — On the third and last day of the Sixth National Dialogue, where the emphasis has been about the Kingdom’s education system, participants yesterday focused their discussion on the need to promote technical skills through a greater role for the country’s vocational and technical education system.
Answering calls from the forum for a greater role on the part of the General Institute for Technical Education and Vocational Training, Ali Al-Ghafes, head of the institute, said the government is spending SR9 billion to establish 191 technical and vocational centers across the Kingdom. Completion off the projects is expected by 2010.
Sally Al-Turki, founder and director of Al-Dhahran private school, said that society still looks down on people who take the vocational route, saying this vision needs to change because there is a need for Saudis to have technical skills in order to help with the Saudization policy.
“We need to offer grants to encourage students to go for technical jobs,” she said.
Participants, such as Mariam Al-Tamim, a teacher at Dammam Literature College, requested authorities to consider even adding technical subjects to general education curriculums. “Media campaigns should be launched to highlight the benefits of technical professions,” said Mahdi Bukhari, an education supervisor.
Tanwer Al-Hindi, deputy dean of administration and financial affairs educational college, said that one problem is that sometimes when people leave technical training they are unable to find jobs. He cited an example of women who have been trained in jewelry design as part of an effort to get women into the work force, but have been unable to apply these skills on the job.
Al-Hindi suggested that the technical training institute play a greater role in providing women with technical skills and follow through with job placement programs.
Participants drew up recommendations for primary, higher, and vocational and technical education.
For primary education, the recommendations are:
• Review and develop the policy of education under the guidelines of the Supreme Council for Education;
• Continue reviewing the syllabus and curriculums to modernize the system and offer students the proper tools to survive in the modern world;
• Upgrade professional skills and improve the quality of the teachers by subjecting them to better training; and
• Provide well-designed government buildings for educational establishments instead of rented buildings.
For higher education, the recommendations are:
• Give financial and administrative independence to them and more powers to the faculties and university departments;
• Implement an academic-accreditation system that accommodates a broader compliance with universities abroad;
• Expand the enrollment capacities of the universities by providing more material and manpower facilities; and
• Develop and expand research studies with increased partnerships between higher education institutes and the private sector.
For technical education, the recommendations are:
• Develop technical education with the cooperation of the private sector at least in some selected areas, and increase training available for students in both the government and private sectors; and
• Increase technical institutes and start new specializations in coordination with the government and private sectors.
