JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal urged businessmen and women to support private education, which he said is an important tool for producing a generation capable of shouldering responsibility and contributing to national development.
Prince Khaled, who is chairman of Alfaisal University, was speaking at a meeting of businessmen and women from western Saudi Arabia in which he briefed them on the university. Alfaisal University was established by the King Faisal Foundation to boost education and meet the demands of the private sector and civil society institutions.
Saleh Al-Turki, chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), underlined the importance of the business community supporting civil society, saying that the chamber had pioneered in setting up a social responsibility council in the region.
“The government of Saudi Arabia has given utmost attention to the development of human resources and allotted sufficient funds for this. As a result, education at all levels has been made available to all citizens,” he said.
Al-Turki, however, noted that the intake capacity of colleges and universities was not enough to absorb the large number of students wishing to pursue higher education. “This has made it necessary to open new universities to provide higher education for the growing number of male and female secondary school graduates,” he said.
He added that although the Kingdom was late in introducing facilities for private education, it was now on the right track. “We started paying attention to private education with the advent of the third millennium; this is now running side by side with public education to make the Kingdom’s educational path a success,” he said.
Al-Turki urged the private sector to extend support to private education institutions, especially those at the university level, adding that this would boost the scientific research that the Kingdom direly needs.
He said private companies and establishments in many countries earmark portions of their profits for research and scientific chairs in universities, and that the JCCI had held a number of meetings with businessmen to explain to them the significance of contributing to scientific research.
Al-Turki expressed happiness that the new university would grant certificates in higher studies and academic specialties, something that would benefit the Kingdom. “This will fulfill the dream of the late King Faisal of an international educational institution,” he added.
Mahir Al-Oudan, the university’s vice chairman for scientific research and higher studies, made a detailed presentation on the idea of the university, the objective behind its establishment and the progress it has made in partnering with local and international academic institutions.
He said the idea to establish the university first came when the King Faisal Foundation announced in 2002 its intention to establish a higher academic institution to provide higher studies in many specialties, including, among others, science, engineering, medicine and public administration.
Al-Oudan said the academic programs of the university would be tailored to cater to the needs of the labor market.
