Several private secondary schools in the Kingdom have closed their Commerce department limiting studies to science and art sections due to the low turnout of students.

Academic experts confirmed that 50 percent of private schools and 7 percent of public schools have a Commerce department but opted to scrap the subject in favor of science and art subjects.

“Students have not shown much interest in Commerce which has led to its elimination from the school’s curriculum,” a Saudi professor of Economics said.

Meanwhile, the Saudi labor market has large numbers of expats dominating commercial specializations. Many of them have diplomas in Commerce while the Kingdom has no specialized schools to teach the subject.

A number of Saudi professors of Economics urged the Ministry of Education to force Saudi secondary schools to open commerce sections as they have done for the Science and Arts subjects.

Dr. Farooq Al-Khateeb, a Saudi professor in the Faculty of Economics at the King Abdul Aziz University (KAU) said: “Our secondary school students have limited options to choose from. Most Saudi schools have stopped teaching commerce subjects despite their importance in the job market. Moreover, Saudi universities don’t recognize secondary school qualifications for Commerce and only accept students who have certificates in Science or Arts.”

Speaking to Arab News he said: “Commerce certificates can play a big role in increasing the chances of employment for many Saudi students in the Saudi labor market.”

He pointed out that unlike other Arab countries, there are specialized schools for Commerce and that only 50 percent of private schools have commerce sections.

Commerce subjects at the secondary stage include Accounting, Communication, Economics, Sociology, Psychology and Administration while scientific subjects include Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Biology, and with a strong focus on Mathematics. On the other hand, Arts subjects comprise History, Arabic language and religious sciences.