Under the catchphrase “Technical and Vocational Perception Program,” the Jeddah Directorate of Education on Saturday in cooperation with the Technical and Vocational Training Board (TVTB) conducted a program aimed to reinforce the concept of technical and vocational work in school students. The Second Industrial and Vocational Institute hosted Saturday some 400 schoolboys representing 20 intermediate and secondary schools. Started last year, the program aims to spread the culture of vocational work and remove the social barriers that have, for a long time, been raised against hand skilled workers, labeling them as ‘inferior'. Commenting on the program as the first of its kind countrywide, Dr. Rashed Al-Zahrani, head of the Technical and Vocational Training Board (TVTB) in Makkah Region said that such programs can create a culture that encourages students to deal with technical problems that arise in homes every now and then. “With this program, people will not need to seek the assistance of a professional to make minor home repairs,” Al-Zahrani said. He added that the program aims to instill the love of profession in the minds of school students. He explained that the targeted students would receive training courses in a number of professions, such as, electricity, car mechanics, and computer and cell phone maintenance.” He added that cooperation with the Directorate of Education would also promote similar partnerships between different government and private sector institutes. Abdullah Al-Thaqafi, Director General of the Jeddah Directorate of Education (Boys), said that some students are still reluctant to engage in technical work due to the ‘inferior' label attached to it. “This program can succeed in making our students reconsider vocational and technical work. Many students have always looked at such work as inferior, but the time has come to explain how important this kind of work is,” Al-Thaqafi said. He added that the government encourages young people to join technical and vocational institutes since the country should depend on the arms of its youth in all fields. “Not only that, but graduates of technical and vocational centers can easily find good jobs and earn a good income,” he added. According to Saad Al-Ghamdi, head of the trainees unit at the TVTB, the program will continue its activities during this academic semester and is expected to train some 1,200 schoolboys from 120 schools. “A participating student will have the choice of having a training course two days a week in one of 35 specialties. All these fields are urgently needed in the labor market,” Al
