A UK education company has been selected to develop and manage three new vocational colleges for women in the Kingdom.

The Oxford Partnership, comprising Activate Learning, GEMS Education Solutions and Moulton College, will run the colleges in Al-Jouf, Arar and Qurayyat, it was announced at a press conference here by the Colleges of Excellence (CoE).

It is among 27 international companies and universities taking part in an ambitious Saudi plan to provide applied skills training for its young population, to occupy available jobs and another 800,000 posts within the next five years.

Matthew Hancock, England's minister of state for skills and enterprise, told Arab New: "I visited Saudi Arabia earlier this year in support of UK bidders and am particularly pleased that they will soon be offering high quality practical skills training to an additional 24,000 Saudi students including 14,000 Saudi women."

Canadian Ambassador Tom MacDonald told Arab News on the sidelines of the event that this was a "great opportunity for the Kingdom to pay much-needed attention to technical training."

He said that Canada's educational institutions have set up three campuses, including one in Jazan, and the Niagara College that will focus on hospitality. "We have almost 20,000 Saudi students in Canada and it's wonderful that we now bring Canadian education here directly to the Kingdom."

The first 10 CoE colleges opened in September 2013, with a further 27 due to open in September 2014. New purpose-built facilities provided by the Saudi government will cater to up to 500 students per college in the first year, rising to 2,000 per college in five years.

Students will focus on English language training and basic information technology skills in the first year, before specializing in vocational areas including health care, business, finance, hair and beauty, fashion design and agriculture. Subject areas have been chosen by the government to support growing employment needs in certain parts of the country.

Sally Dicketts, chief executive of Activate Learning, previously Oxford & Cherwell Valley College Group, said: “This project exemplifies our group vision, to transform lives through learning. The colleges represent a significant investment in the training and development of women in Saudi Arabia, empowering them to develop the technical skills and qualifications required for successful futures.”

Chris Kirk, chief executive officer of GEMS Education Solutions, said: “A program of this scale recognizes the vital importance of vocational and technical education in achieving sustainable economic growth for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

This is a program that will work closely with employers — from design to delivery — linking learning to future employment opportunities, said Stephen Davies, chief executive of Moulton College.

“We are best placed with our partners to make a significant difference to young adults in Saudi Arabia in delivering best in-practice technical vocational education and training, and excited by the opportunities this expansion provides for our own UK-based staff and students by broadening experiences on a global scale.”