The Education Ministry plans to fund innovation projects run by students to boost the country’s manufacturing prowess, create jobs and increase economic growth, a top official said on Monday.

Professor Abdulkader A. Al-Fantookh, deputy minister for planning and information, was speaking at the inauguration of the 6th Annual Students’ Conference organized by the ministry. More than 30,000 students are participating from various colleges and universities. The conference will run until Thursday.

“We have many incentives for the students,” he told Arab News at King Abdul Aziz University’s King Faisal Convention Center. “Some of these incentives are driven by the universities themselves, some are by the ministry.”

He said there are financial incentives and also visits arranged for students to well-known industrial centers in the East and West to promote their entrepreneurial spirit. Some of the world-class projects at the conference would be supported by the ministry, he said.

“Actually we would like our universities to support innovative ideas, right from the nebulous stage to the manufacturing stage,” Al-Fantookh said. About 750 students from 21 universities, colleges and general education schools, with 259 projects, are competing in the country’s largest contest on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Al-Fantookh said the ministry is restructuring its programs according to the needs of the labor market, in collaboration with the Ministries of Planning and Labor.

About claims that the qualifications of graduates are not suitable for the labor market, Al-Fantookh said they have as much skills and knowledge as those from neighboring Arab countries.

He said several government agencies and nonprofit organizations are participating in the event, in collaboration with King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) and other technical institutes in order to develop start-ups that can provide jobs.

He said innovation is no longer an intellectual luxury but a necessity, and those with new ideas would be given the space to explain their financial feasibility to local businesspeople at the event.

Al-Fantookh said the incentives offered to students would be finalized soon. Awards are expected to include a SR50,000 prize for first place, and trips of up to two weeks to Asia and America for the three winners where they would visit manufacturing and innovation centers and meet experts and students. Last year, the prizes for winners were nearly SR2 million.

The government has set aside about 25 percent of its SR217 billion education budget for innovation, and about SR2 billion for scientific research.

The ministry reported that final results are likely to be announced during the conference or shortly afterwards. The conference covers four themes: innovation and entrepreneurship; humanities and social sciences; basic sciences and engineering; and health sciences.