Part 2: Saudi education strengthens its domestic base (page 1 of 2)

For this latest venture a coalition of 32 American universities under the umbrella of the Texas International Education Consortium will help set up and run the new university for two years after it opens. The new Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd University will have 17 academic programmes all taught in English.

Indeed it is not clear whether Saudi Arabia's funded study abroad programmes are part of a long term strategy, or whether this will change when the latest five year scholarship plan comes to a close. Arab News has recently argued that in order to encourage the development of the kingdom in the long term, it will be necessary to increase investment in Saudi universities both by bolstering the capacities of existing institutions and by funding the establishment of new universities on Saudi soil.

There have been widespread concerns that sending students abroad could contribute towards brain drain for the home nation, and that the high cost of overseas provision might inhibit the large scale investment needed for Saudi universities.

In fact the Saudi government has recently provided additional large scale investment to fund existing and open new universities on Saudi soil. $104 has been allocated to education in the kingdom's latest budget, reportedly the largest in its history. In 2004, overall education spending increased by 24% from the previous year, and higher education has been named as a top priority for the kingdom's immediate future.

Three new universities

In June 2005, three new universities were approved by royal decree, and three additional universities were created through a process of mergers involving Qassim University, Taibe University and Taif University. The Ministry also announced tentative plans in October 2005 to transform 102 women's colleges in the kingdom into women's universities, and confirmed that six women's colleges in Riyadh had received official orders to merge into one new university.

These new universities are aimed at boosting capacity in the already overburdened university system and developing a domestic, highly skilled workforce. With growing population rates and approximately half of the population of 26 million under 30 years of age, demand for tertiary education is set to expand drastically over the next decade.

Total educational enrolments over the last two decades have quadrupled and the gross enrolment ratio for tertiary level education in 2004 was approximately 22%, which highlights an increase on previous years but is still low compared to other Arab nations. There are currently 11 public universities and approximately 60 other public tertiary institutions in Saudi Arabia, including women's colleges, health and technical institutes and teachers colleges, all run by the government in some guise.

Skill shortages

Indeed the relatively small public tertiary sector has been unable to meet the increasing and highly specialised demands of the domestic labour market.

In the mid 1990's, a group of government, business and universities in the Arab Gulf States was set up to co-ordinate the programmes offered by public universities and align them to the needs of the labour market, an initiative which has allegedly lead to some positive developments in this area. However, even today only a small percentage of Saudi students reportedly graduate in subject areas relevant to modern industries such as medicine and engineering.

Businesses operating in Saudi Arabia have been required to import foreign nationals to fill their skills gaps, particularly in areas such as science and technology.