Page 6 - ELG1601 Jun Issue 437

Page 6 ELjobs June 2016

Issue 6 | June 2016

New for 2016: Brand marketing, talent recruitment, student enrolment

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Empowering the next generation

he Saudi govern-
ment has spent over
T$1 billion setting up a
network of more than thirty
English-medium technical and Paul Woods on the challenges Saudi Arabia has faced with its vast new technical
vocational training colleges in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and vocational training college network – especially the English-medium instruction
using a public–private partner-
ship model in which fourteen
top-level international provid- The Colleges of Excellence But the choice of English
ers and consortia have invested play a vital role in empower- as a medium of instruction
to develop programmes using ing women to take active role has proved problematic. The
facilities provided by the Saudi in the Saudi workforce, with 50 model chosen involves a
government. per cent of the single-sex col- foundation year during which
These include Laureate leges taking men and 50 per cent students, many of whom enter
(US), Giz (Germany), Aviation women. A knowledge of English the colleges with only minimal
Australia, Mondragon/Wintec is highly valued by women stu- literacy in English, study the
(Spain), Algonquin and Niagara dents, and having a vocational language intensively alongside
(Canada), Hertfordshire, Nescot, qualification opens doors for IT and employability skills,
the Oxford Consortium and ESG them to the world of work. Most in order to then proceed to
(all from the UK) and CINOP of the colleges have impressive an associate diploma course
(from the Netherlands). purpose-built campuses capa- in subjects such as business,
The ultimate goal is to make ble of accommodating up to mechanical technology, elec-
the country much less reliant on 3,000 students, although some, trical technology and tourism.
expatriate labour and to provide especially those located in A pass in English at CEFR
employment for Saudi citizens remote rural areas, have found A2-level is a prerequisite for
in areas identified as matching it difficult to fill all the places proceeding to technical and
manpower requirements. potentially available. vocational courses, but results
on the KET (Cambridge Eng-
lish’s Key English Test) in the
first wave of eleven colleges Courtesy of Paul Woods
which opened three years ago
were disappointing. Only 10
per cent of students reached
the required level to proceed MASSIVE INVESTMENT The Saudi Arabian government has spent over $1 billion setting
beyond the fourth term. up technical and vocational training colleges including the Al-Rass College of Technology
In an attempt to resolve
this problem, the Colleges of teacher profile, toolkit for of how best to motivate Saudi attractive destination for expatri-
Excellence contracted a team teachers and website for teach- learners and the lessons of ate EFL teachers, with generous
of international consultants to ers and managers. experience have all contributed tax-free salaries and allowances,
carry out a six-month quality The results have been towards this increase. Ini- although conditions in some of
improvement project for Eng- impressive, with the overall tial plans envisaged a further the more remote locations can
sixty English-medium colleges
be quite demanding, especially
pass rate on KET rising to 60
lish. This included an initial
Courtesy of Paul Woods needs analysis, a programme per cent in the first-wave col- being opened in a third wave for women teachers. n
leges in the last semester, and
from 2016, but these ambitious
of regional training workshops
Paul Woods has visited 117
plans have now been scaled
with men’s and women’s col-
for EFL teachers and manag-
ers, and the development of
back for the time being, partly
countries (the same number as
leges both achieving similar
an overall quality strategy for
after 37 years as a British
prices on Saudi government
practices, more appropriate
English with an accompany- results. Better recruitment due to the impact of falling oil the Queen) and recently retired
LEARNING CURVE A pass at in English CEFR A2-level is a ing quality framework and curricula and materials for expenditure plans. Council officer and now works
prerequisite for proceeding to technical and vocational courses standards, a quality handbook, English, a better understanding Saudi Arabia can still be an as a freelance consultant
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