The Saudi Arabian government is courting UK FE providers to support the expansion of its flagship Colleges of Excellence (CoE) programme.
The Saudi government’s Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) today held an event in London to promote the latest wave of the programme, which will this year see seven new contracts up for grabs as well as the possible retendering of the 31 current college contracts.
The scheme was set up in 2013 with the aim of improving technical and vocational education in the Middle Eastern country. Half of the country’s population is under the age of 25, and Saudi ministers are keen to develop vocational training as part of attempts to diversify its economy. TVTC’s target is to increase the proportion of high-school graduates going to applied education programmes from 9 per cent in 2016 to 12.5 per cent in 2020. This equates to an expansion from 100,000 trainees in 2016 to 950,000 by 2020.
A ‘winning’ proposition?
International FE providers are being invited to take on purpose-built colleges across the kingdom to train Saudi youngsters. More than half of the current partners for the scheme are English FE providers. These include: Hertfordshire London Colleges, a consortium led by Hertford Regional College and including North Hertfordshire College; the Oxford Partnership, comprising Activate Learning, GEMS Education Solutions and Moulton College; North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot); Interserve; Lincoln College; and Burton and Highbury Group, made up of Burton and South Derbyshire and Highbury colleges.
However, the scheme hasn’t been without its controversies, with those involved warning of punitive contracts and low levels of recruitment. In 2015, Pearson pulled out of a contract it had to run three colleges.
Addressing these concerns, TVTC governor Dr Ahmed Al Fahaid said he wanted FE partners to feel like they were “winning”. He added: “If our international partners do not feel like they are winning, then I will not be happy.”
The director of tendering and procurement at CoE, Reem Alotaibi, said the programme’s organisers now had five years of experience, which new partners could benefit from.
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