More private training institutes are being established across the Kingdom to provide young Saudis with applied technical and vocational skills and knowledge. Emphasis will be on industrial areas like Jubail where job opportunities have been showing an upward trend lately. The General Directorate for Private Training, which operates under the management of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC), has already registered about 700 private training institutes for males and some 400 centers for females all over the Kingdom as of 2010. The TVTC has registered Riyadh region as having the most number of private training institutes and centers with over 140, followed by Makkah region with more than 110 institutes. The Eastern Province ranked third with over 90 private training institutes. The Industrial City of Jubail is considered now to be growing hub for private training institutes because of the expansion and establishment of more petrochemical and heavy industries there. When the construction of Jubail Industrial City 2 completes its phase IV and final stage during 2019 to 2022 period, about 55,000 new direct jobs along with over 330,000 indirect jobs will be created. Saudis who will fill in these jobs will have to be trained now to prepare them to take over those technical and vocational posts. The establishment of more private training institutes is now being encouraged to provide training for young Saudis, as mandated by the Ministry of Labor, which supervises TVTC, according to a retired Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) executive who is setting up a training center in Jubail City in cooperation with local and foreign companies. “Opportunities for such institutions (private training centers) are great because they are at the forefront of providing tools for young Saudis to be more competitive in the job market, and thus fulfill the Saudization objective of this country,” the retired Sabic executive said. TVTC classifies private training institutions into four categories, namely, higher training institute which awards diplomas, training programs and short and medium courses; training center which offers only short courses; training institute which offers training programs, and short and medium courses; and technical institutes offering courses at the level of secondary school. The latest training institute to establish its operation in Jubail Industrial City is Jawaher Al-Sharq (JSharq) Technology Resource and Training Institute, which plans to focus its training program on applied technical jobs, like outside plant telecommunication systems, premises distribution and structured cabling systems. TVTC has announced last week the approval of another training program– a diploma curricula of industrial secondary institutes and the architectural construction secondary institutes to add more specialization in technical and vocational fields. TVTC is now encouraging the establishment of more private training institutes and centers, in cooperation with Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), which supports such program by providing funds and subsidies. __
