More than 15,000 graduating high school students from Eastern Province and Bahrain visited the 5th International Education and Training Exhibition which concluded here Thursday at the Dhahran International Exhibition Center. Organizers said the big turn out is due to the increasing number of Saudi graduates of secondary education seeking university educations both in Kingdom, neighboring Gulf states and overseas. The event, opened from April 5-9, was held in collaboration with the Eastern Province Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labor. More than 38,000 Saudis graduate every year from high school in the province. Over half of them, about19,000, pursue their higher education outside Saudi Arabia, according to statistics of the Ministry of Education in Eastern Province. While the Ministry of Education sends thousands of Saudi students to continue their education abroad in Western universities, a number of high school graduates now prefer to pursue their education in neighboring Gulf states, like Bahrain. “Which is why, compared to the previous, the number of learning institutions from the Gulf and Middle East is increasing. This year 48 percent are locally based universities, colleges, technical, and specialized institutions,” organizers of the event said. The exhibitors include open universities, technical schools, colleges, commercial schools, institutions and schools for specialized skill, career guidance centers, ministries, human resource consultancy firms, employment agencies and suppliers of educational materials, services and technology. The participants came from as far as Australia, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, USA, Canada, India, Jordan, Egypt and the neighboring GCC countries such as Oman, UAE and Bahrain. One of the biggest attractions during the five-day event were the series of lectures delivered on various subjects every hour by Saudi Aramco. The main sponsors of the show were Saudi Aramco, Kasco, Ahila University, Alfaisal University, International Academy for Medical Studies, the British Council,and the Human Resources Development Fund.
