(MENAFN - Arab News) Saudi Arabia's largest university, King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah, signed an academic training agreement Saturday with a major global computer manufacturer to boost the job prospects of students in the local information technology sector.
The agreement was signed by KAU's Dean of Computer and Information Technology Dr. Abdu Fatah Sulaiman Mashat and Hewlett Packard Institute director general Ziad Murtaja at the university campus, according to a press release issued by the university.
The aim is to train 1,900 students in two years for the local employment market, according to Mashat. He said the training would also contribute to the country's Saudization program.
The HP Institute has courses at colleges and universities in Europe and America. The academic institutions involved offer HP's Accredited Technical Associate (ATA) qualification which aims to help 20,000 people, over the next four years, with both technical skills and business insight training across the world.
The ATA spans five key areas of study: Connected devices, networks, servers, storage, and cloud computing. Many of the modules provide students with the right business skills to work within small and medium businesses across the globe.
The agreement allows access to the HP Institute's Accredited Technical Associate curriculum. An exclusive HP Educational and Science Center will be established at the university to boost business-ready IT skills in the Kingdom.
The agreement reflects the Kingdom's goal to reduce reliance on an energy-based economy and grow its technology-savvy workforce and knowledge-based economy.
Equipping graduates with the right skills suitable for today's competitive marketplace is one of our main goals at KAU, said Murtaja.
"By opening the HP Educational and Science Center, we are providing students with another means to prepare for work, giving them the tools they need to be successful, while increasing their employability. We're pleased to partner with HP to add further resources to aid the Kingdom's businesses by providing skilled, work-ready graduates from the first HP Institute in the Kingdom."
