TAIF: Two recent reports issued by the Ministries of Education and Civil Service reveal a major gap between the specialties of university graduates and those needed in the public sector.

According to the report of the Ministry of Civil Service, the number of applications to “Jadara 3,” in the theoretical specialties reached nearly 520,000 applications, out of a total of 583,000 applications, while remaining applicants (11 percent) have specialties in medical, health and engineering sciences.

The number of new students enrolled in Saudi universities in the past year reached 424,000 students, 53.8 percent of whom studied in the fields of humanities, arts, social sciences, law and business, according to the Ministry of Education’s report.

Students graduating from higher education institutions between the years 1431 AH and 1435 AH reached 700,000, while the percentage of graduates in the fields of science, engineering, production and oil sciences declined from 35 percent in 1431 AH to 24 percent in 1435 AH.

The Ministry of Education’s report indicated that the number of new students in the social sciences, business and law grew dramatically by 134 percent, with the total number of students in creasing from 31,372 students in the year 1431 AH to 73,404 in the year 1435 AH. However, the number of female students in these specialties declined overall.

In the field of education, the number of new students at the bachelor's level dropped from 12,709 students in the year 1431 AH to 12,102 in the year 1435 AH, with a greater proportion of female students than males.

According to the reports, the number of new students has increased in the field of the humanities and arts, from 76,505 students in the year 1431 AH to 118,392 students in the year 1435 AH, with female and male numbers fairly equal.

As for the number of new students in the field of science there was no dramatic change overall as 28,784 in were enrolled in the year 1431AH and 24,693 students in the year 1435 AH. The number of female and male students were also fairly close in this field.

In the fields of engineering, production industries, and construction, the report notes that the number of new students increased from 4,789 in the year 1431 AH to 5,872 in the year 1435 AH. On the other hand, the data indicates that female rates have always been lower than male rates throughout, and has not surpassed 25 percent at any time.

The number of students more than doubled in the area of agriculture, reaching 1,943 students in the year 1435 AH, while the number of both male and female students grew by 41.8 percent in the fields of health sciences and social care, reaching 22,854 students in the year 1435 AH.

Despite the growth in the number of new students to more than double in the field of services, the report cites low figures with only 979 students in the year 1435 AH.

As for new students enrolled in postgraduate levels at higher education institutions, the report indicates that the number of new students decreased in the fields of agriculture and unspecified programs, but increased in all other fields during the period from 1431 AH to 1435 AH, including the fields of education, humanities and the arts, social sciences, business, law, science, engineering, production industries and construction.

Numbers of male and female students were almost the same in the postgraduate education programs, while more male students were enrolled in the fields of agriculture, social sciences, business, law, science, engineering, production industries and construction.