60% of unemployed Saudis hold degrees

RIYADH: Sixty percent of those unemployed in the Kingdom hold diplomas and bachelor’s degrees, said Dr. Saleh Al-Amro, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy and Planning for Human and Community Development Affairs, noting that this reflects the gap between education and training institutions.
He said the need for citizens in various sectors will continue to rise in the coming years, especially in the health sector, which will provide approximately 238,000 job opportunities for Saudis in the coming years. This underlines the need to increase the number of graduates with diplomas, he said, expecting that the number of graduates with bachelor’s degrees will decline.
He said privatization of the education sector is complex, noting that the state spends about 25 percent of total government spending on the sector, or about 6 percent of GDP, amounts he described as “generous” as compared to other developed countries.
During his discussion on “Privatization and its impact on Education … Challenges and Opportunities” within the activities of the third day of the International Exhibition and Forum for Education in Riyadh on Wednesday, Al-Amro explained that privatization must be done in stages, by changing the infrastructure, building the capacity of management and governance capabilities, and making improvements to create transparency in the education and training system.
For his part, Dr. Osama Al-Heizan, supervisor of the project of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the development of public education, called for turning challenges into opportunities, which is required sooner rather than later by the ministry and the private sector, especially with the current movement toward accelerating privatization programs in the state, and initiatives of the national transformation program.
He confirmed the presence of two schools, out of a number of schools, in this strategic thought that explain this relationship, noting that challenges they face include the legislative environment, and legal and regulatory requirements.