Saudi education reform

Prof. Hussein M. AlFreihi, President of Al Yamamah University talks about the Saudi education reform.

There are almost 200,000 graduates entering the workforce every year, and opportunities in the private sector are rather limited. Do you think that the market is ready to absorb these graduates?

There might be a need for re-orientation and re-education of Saudi graduates. Of those nine million expatriates, many are in construction but a good number are in the health sciences and in universities. The faculty of private universities is comprised of 80-90% expatriates. In government-run universities- public universities that is- that number hovers around 50% in the bigger cities but again, go towards to periphery and that number rises back up to about 80%.

We are beginning to see some changes. Numerous efforts have been made to address this issue. For example, Imam University only used to offer concentrations in Arabic literature and Islamic science, but it now includes departments of medicine and computer science.

This is evidence that the government and specifically the Ministry of Education have shifted priorities in response to the needs of the labor market. Meanwhile, the private education sector, certainly benefits from the fact that expatriates cost less, are generally well-prepared and experienced, and perhaps perform better.

The government has to create an environment in which it makes sense to employ Saudis, and then enforce this in its employment regulations. It is a matter of ensuring that these programs are not graduating more students than the market can support. The government is now beginning to monitor and address these things.