Saudi- Degree of success: Industry internship vital for graduates

(MENAFN- Arab News) Saudi universities are being urged to work with industries and businesses to understand market requirements. "They should modify their existing curriculum to suit market needs. Professional degree programs should have at least one semester of internship within the industry," said Mukhtar Khan, executive director of the World Center for Education and Training Consultancy in Riyadh. A recent poll conducted among students in GCC countries showed that the majority of content taught in classrooms does not comply with the needs of the employment market. The survey, carried out by Booz & Company, a global consulting firm, showed that there is a blatant necessity in the Middle East to perk up employment levels and job opportunities for regional youth. Commenting on the study, Mukhtar Khan said: "By the time a student completes the course, they would have garnered knowledge of the market and would be ready to serve it. This needs government approval, as many companies refuse to entertain such internship students since they are legally not allowed to work for the company." Education and job training experts say that the main cause for the extensive unemployment crisis in the Kingdom is a disparity between the demands of the job market and the skills being developed in schools. "Schools have to primarily focus on basic factors to prepare their students for the job market," said Rania Salama, head of the Youth Business Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI). "In a study we conducted, we found that schools are actually capable of teaching and training young students to take risks and boost their self-confidence." Salama said that there are many extra-curricular activities that can develop these skills in students, but that they are not practiced at many public schools in the Kingdom. "I agree that the GCC education system is not up to standard. We didn't realize this until we recruited different training specialists and programs from abroad to train our youngsters for the job market," said Salama. "We then found that these youngsters were lacking the basic soft skills, which any training institution or program would expect them to possess. They need to be given a basic education about the job market first before going into complicated business education."