Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman will sponsor the international conference on education and employment, which will be hosted by the Economic Knowledge Park in Madinah on Sept. 3.

The two-day conference will discuss the compatibility of educational outputs with the needs of the labor market in the member countries of Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Marwan Fahmi, executive director of the developer company for the Economic Knowledge Park, said that the conference is organized by the Knowledge Park Institute for Leadership and Pioneering Work.

“About 20 scientists and experts will participate from various countries. The conference will help us gain a better understanding of the meaning of the readiness of graduates of learning institutes in the member countries of OIC, and rethink the meaning and the needs of the labor market as a key objective,” he said.

“It will discuss the compatibility of these things with educational programs. The idea is to suggest solutions to the various and multi-dimensional challenges that have to do with the rise of unemployment among the graduates of educational institutes, and to explore the possibility of adopting common initiatives that will help solve the problem of employment for graduates,” he added.

Fahmi said the conference will offer an opportunity to share actual world experiences for the work strategies and plans in order to adequately address unemployment among graduates.

“The conference will also discuss the factors determining the quality of the graduates of educational institutes, especially institutes of higher education and the consequences on the cultural framework as a key objective in university education,” he said.

“We will try to find ways to challenge the lack of readiness of the graduates to join the labor market. We will also explore the traditional relationship between the university and the society, and we will present views and opinions the ideal university syllabus that will meet the needs for the employment of graduates,” he said.

Fahmi also noted that there are challenges related to the governance of the educational institutes, the quality of their performance and the employment opportunities for their graduates.