Technical and Vocational Training Corporation

ReferencesSome researchers believe that the beginning of technical and vocational education was in the Hijaz, where multiple factors influenced the course of the educational movement in general, and technical and vocational education in particular. In 1328 AH / 1908 AD, an industrial school was opened in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, to which teachers were sent from Istanbul. One of the most important government schools that combined public education and technical education during the unification period of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the Rasheediyya School, which was established between 1301 and 1303 AH / 1881-1883 AD. It used to teach the subjects of measurements, compound numbers, fractions, calligraphy, drawing, bookkeeping principles, arithmetic, flat and stereoscopic geometry, trigonometry, Islamic sciences, Arabic language, sociology, carpentry, blacksmithing, and Shoe manufacturing. Technical and vocational education[2] was also started by establishing an Industrial school in Jeddah during the reign of King Abdulaziz in 1369 AH. The period of study there was three years after the primary school, then the study was altered to a five-year system after the primary stage, and it was called industrial secondary school. Then it was followed by the four-year system after primary school, and it was called the industrial intermediate school. The first industrial secondary school in the Kingdom was opened in 1380 AH / 1961 AD, and it was called the College of Industries.[3]

The beginnings of technical and vocational training in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia go back to an early stage, as it was divided between three government agencies at that time:

• Secondary technical education (industrial, agricultural, and commercial) was correlated with the Ministry of Education.
• Vocational training (vocational training centers) was related to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
• The Institutes of Technical Assistants were linked to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.

Due to the government's interest in preparing the workforce in technical and vocational fields and the increasing need to qualify Saudi youth in technical and vocational fields, it has been decided that all areas of technical and vocational training will be under one organization. Therefore, Royal Decree No. (30 / M) dated 8/10/1400 AH was issued to establish the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training, which includes technical institutes and vocational training centers under its umbrella.[4]

Accordingly, the organization began to carry out its tasks by developing programs and human resources in line with the country's responsibility to meet the needs of the business sector. As a result, the urgent need to create highly qualified national cadres capable of advancing the requirements of the ambitious development plans of the state was apparent. This need has been culminated in the issuance of High Order No. (7 / H / 5267) dated 7 / 3 / 1403H, which supports the decision of the Supreme Committee for Education Policy No. (209) dated 10/29/1402 AH, which included the need to support technical education at the level of technical colleges to open other disciplines for higher education in a field where the country's needs have grown and become urgent. The High Order confirmed that the responsibility for expanding this pattern lay on TVTC, which achieved several positive aspects, including:

1. The academic curriculum should not be dominant, and thus technical colleges maintain their special mission of preparing cadres for the labor market and its requirements.
2. The implementation of training programs in TVTC is to be in three vocational levels: vocational and industrial training (second and third levels) and technical training (fourth level). These levels reflect the TVTC's output of various qualifications. Besides, the majors - at these levels – are integrated, which help a lot take advantage of the widely available capabilities.
3. The relationship between technical colleges and the labor market should not recede, and the gap between training programs and the nature of the need in the work sector should be bridged and reduced.
4. TVTC should unify the curriculum, the qualification level, and the requirements of the training programs and rely on unified bases and coordinate based on vocational standards prepared by specialists in the labor market.[5]

The royal endorsement for the bachelor's program No. (1194) / dated 06/10/1409 AH stipulated that “TVTC shall develop the Technical College in Riyadh and extend the study period to four years in order to grant a bachelor’s degree in technical engineering.” TVTC expanded its applied technical bachelor's program in training plans due to the need for the business sector to be highly qualified to build leadership capabilities in technical and vocational fields.

In the year 1418/1419 AH, TVTC established a Center for Community Service and Continuous Training. Its mission stems from the desire to harness the financial and human capabilities of the corporation to serve the needs of the various work sectors, as this achieves a better investment for technical and human resources and linking educational and training units to those sectors. Also, the Technical Trainers and Intermediary Center Institute was established in Riyadh, and it was one of the most important training and development facilities in the field of preparing technical trainers to meet the needs of vocational training units in all disciplines. It provides two types of programs: preparatory programs and developmental programs.[6]

By establishing technical colleges, TVTC developed technical and vocational training tracks in a progressive system to technically prepare the qualified workforce with different levels to meet the local market's need for technical and vocational working hands with varying skill levels. According to the idea of joining technical and vocational training fields under one umbrella, the Council of Ministers Resolution No. (3108), dated 4/3/1426 AH, was issued to affix the vocational training sector for girls to the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation and establish technical colleges for girls, focusing on vocational training programs for women and enabling them to get a suitable job after graduation.  

In 1428 AH, the Royal order No. (268) was issued on 8/14/1428 AH to restructure TVTC according to the orientations of the state. TVTC continued in developing training programs to focus on skills and operating efficiency. It attracted the best international expertise in technical training to operate international colleges and strategic partnerships institutes, help existing colleges improve the quality of training, and make optimal use of the available human and financial resources to contribute to providing distinguished quality training. And due to the importance of integration between education in its various levels and training, the Council of Ministers issued a resolution (469), dated 7/20/1438 AH, that The Minister of Education chairs TVTC's board of directors.[5]

The Council of Ministers resolution No. 158 dated 6/12/1429 AH was issued to approve the general training plan for the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, which included:

The total number of TVTC facilities reaches up to 260 units, covering all regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the units vary as the following:

1. Colleges of Technology.
2. International Colleges of Technology.
3. Institutes of strategic partnerships.
4. Industrial institutes and secondary institutes of architecture and construction.
5. Vocational training institutes in prisons.

TVTC also licenses and supervises nearly 1011 private training units.

TVTC offers more than (250) majors and training programs, including:

1. Training programs in the TVTC's units such as colleges and institutes, institutes of strategic partnerships and the international technical colleges.
2. Training programs in private training facilities.
3. Flexible supportive social programs.

TVTC  is continuously expanding training programs to meet the needs of the labor market, based on the Kingdom  vision 2030.[1]

Technical colleges qualify students at high school or their equivalent to obtain an intermediate university degree (sixth level of the National Qualifications Framework). These colleges also offer some applied bachelor programs (seventh level of the National Qualifications Framework) to qualify trainees as technical engineers to meet the needs of the local labor market by technical human resources or recruited them as trainers in the TVTC facilities. The duration of training in these colleges is two and a half years for the diploma, while in bachelor's programs, an additional two and a half years is required.

Governmental technical colleges provid high-quality training for boys and girls through international operators and trainers with industrial experience to graduate qualified cadres of both genders with international standards to meet the needs of the local labor market.These colleges provide diploma in two years preceded by intensive English course.  Bachelor of Applied Engineering Program is takin place in the Technical Trainers college.[1]

     Non-profit technical training institutes that the TVTC adopts to establish, license, supervise, and operate with the private sector. It offers holders of high school or its equivalent various technical training programs in a period of time by employing a beginner training.

Institutes for strategic partnerships have been established in pursuit of the objectives of the National Transformation Program that comes within the Kingdom's vision 2030, as the TVTC represented by the National Center for Strategic Partnerships has involved the private sector in its training program system to ensure the quality of training, and to meet the labor market needs of qualified national cadres, as it aims to meet the needs of the private sector in the priority sectors of emiratisation.

     According to these partnerships, the TVTC undertakes the establishment of institutes and equips them with basic equipments as the private sector participates in the operation, providing distinguished trainers and the training programs. The private sector provides specialized equipment and benefits from the support of the Human Resources Fund. These partnerships are free to be locally or internationally operated. Nowadays, these institutes are internationally operated by several international agencies, including Japanese, American, New Zealand, Canadian, British and Dutch.[1]

List of strategic partnerships institutes in the Kingdom

Secondary training institutes qualify middle school graduates and first and second secondary grades to obtain the diploma of industrial institutes, architecture and construction. The training period is (3) years. According to the needs of the business sector. These institutes also offer various evening training programs available to all members of the society and for many professions, according to the needs of the business sector.

TVTC implements institutes' programs to enable graduates of intermediate school or higher to obtain a high school diploma. It offers (102) specialized programs to them for a period of one training semester, to obtain a certificate of completion of a training program and benefit from the rapid qualification specified for the skill. Training in such institutes is of vital importance in the rapid rehabilitation of the national workforce, and in meeting the national development needs in providing technical and skilled workers, which qualifies them to join the labor market.[1]

List of industrial institutes and secondary architecture and construction institutes

TVTC established Institutes in cooperation with the General Directorate of Prisons, for inmates in prisons and inmates in care homes for girls during their sentence, in order to train and qualify them in specialized professional programs and courses. The graduate is granted a certificate from the Industrial Institute in the region without indicating that he obtained the qualification in prison.[1]

They are non-governmental training institutes and centers established by the private sector for the purpose of providing training, technical and professional programs. They are licensed by TVTC, supervising their performance, and applying quality standards to them. The number of private training facilities reaches 674 training facilities for men and 337 training facilities for women.

they offer various training programs in all specializations, and at multiple levels, from short developmental courses to post-secondary training diplomas, as follows:

1. Training Diploma: a training program that lasts from two to three years.
2. Qualifying program: a training program that lasts from one to less than two years.
3. Qualifying Course: A training program of more than a month to less than a year, and the number of training hours of which is more than (60) hours.
4. Developmental Course: A training program of no more than one month's duration, and the number of training hours of which does not exceed (60) hours.[1]

• (in English) official website