Dr. Fahd Aldohish has made an innovative brilliant job-model for job-seekers. Usually, colleges and vocational and departments train their students so that they seek jobs after graduation, but in Aldohish's case, it is a different story. The department he leads embraces jobs for graduates before their enrollment in the training programs.
As the general director of the Directorate General of Strategic Partnership in TVTC (Technical & Vocational Training Corporation), Dr. Fahd says, "Our strategy aims for insuring the employment of young Saudis and is based on a partnership we form with big corporations. These corporations design their curricula according to their future needs, and the trainees who will study the curricula shall surely work in these corporations as soon as they graduate." Brilliant job-model!
He also emphasized, "Such strategic partnerships with these big corporations reassure the stability of employing young Saudis in numerous fields, and this will ensure their welfare with good salaries as well as lowering unemployment."
"TVTC is now responsible for the whole infrastructure," Dr. Fahd added. "We build the training institutes (polytechnics) for the partnerships we bridge with corporations. Moreover, the companies, with HRDF and with an excellent international operator of high reputation, we all work together to operate these polytechnics. Now, we have about 30,000 trainees who will graduate every year from 22 polytechnics. Over SR4 billion have been invested in these polytechnics, and the road is still open for those who want to seize the moment. This is an offer that can't be refused!"
Following is the excerpts of the interview with Dr. Fahd Aldohish:
Q: TVTC lately has launched a project with the private sector in order to employ Saudis. Tell us about the project and why did you launch it?
A: The government established the TVTC to train our youth in numerous technical and vocational fields, whether in the private or public sectors. Its programs have Saudized a lot of jobs in government sectors and in private companies. But since the private sector benefits from TVTC more than the government, so we developed our training programs continuously according to the various job markets' demand and in a way suitable so that our trainees will be capable of working in these various vocations. Knowing that any institution in the world cannot segregate its graduates from the nature of the practical jobs available in the job-market (even in the medical field), these institutions coordinate with business departments to train their students. Hence, on-job-training closes the gap between theory and practice and improves the employees for that new job, despite of his/her qualifications. Although this may seem so necessary, but still, it is a waste of time, in money, and in production. And this led us, in TVTC, to establish a new methodology in the training progress in our Strategic Partnership (SP) Department.
Most training institutions are responsible for the teaching process; they have nothing to do with employing their graduates who search for jobs after training. Our job in SP is to find the job first with the private sector X, for example, then formulate the training courses according to X's demands. We do all of that with high quality and efficiency: We make sure that the graduate is fully accredited for the vocation that he or she has been prepared for. This process will save time and budgets in building qualified and skilled workers.
Q: Why did you name the project "Strategic Partnership?"
A: Institutions are not responsible for employing their graduates, but many institutions work hard to train good graduates so that they will find good jobs after graduation. Our plan is to assure the employment of the trainee from the first day he or she enrolls in institute X. So on the day of graduation, the trainee becomes an employee. And since this project is rare, we called it Strategic Partnerships because it is based on a training and employing partnership relation between the two parties who will mutually benefit on the long term.
Q: What are these mutual benefits?
A: First and foremost: employing Saudis and decreasing unemployment in the Kingdom. Second, building independent national laborers so that citizens may play a positive role in the economic development which this country is now experiencing. Third, TVTC by this has embraced long-term jobs of good salaries for the graduates, despite their great numbers. Fourth, the companies who joined us in these partnerships have gained Saudis who are specifically tailored for the jobs they aimed for, and this will save these companies great losses that they usually undergo while training newcomers. Fifth, we build for this companies all of the training institutions' infrastructure, provide them training facilities, furniture, systems and license of operations (and operational costs).
Q: How can you be sure that such a project will not fail, especially when joining companies that may undergo administrative changes or go bankrupt?
A: This is an important point. That is why we only build partnerships with big companies that will employ a suitable number of trainees annually. These partnerships are not only built on the national level, but on the international level as well. If you view these companies we joined, you will notice that they are huge companies with thousands of good-paying jobs where Saudis will find themselves financially and socially stable. I'll give you the following companies' names and their annual capacities:
| Capacity | Location | Partner | Polytechnic Name | No |
| 600 | Jeddah | Japanese Auto M / D Companies | Saudi Japanese Automotive High Institute ( SJAHI ) | 1 |
| 700 | Riyadh | Sharq & sabic | Plastics High Institute | 2 |
| 800 | Dammam | Chevron | Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic | 3 |
| 2000 | Riyadh | Saudi Oger | Saudi Oger Training Institute | 4 |
| 2000 | Bahrah | Bin Laden | National Institute of Technology ( NIT ) | 5 |
| 800 | Deraiah | Japanese Electronics & Home Appliances M / D Companies | Electronics & Home Appliances High Institute (EHAHI ) | 6 |
| 600 | Yanbua | Yanbut & sabic | Rubber High Institute | 7 |
| 600 | Rabigh | ACWA Power | Power & Water Polytechnic | 8 |
| 800 | Arar | Ma, aden | Mining Polytechnic | 9 |
| 1000 | Madenah | Madenah Economic City | Saudi IT Polytechnic | 10 |
| 6000 | Rabigh | King Abdullah Economic City | Polytechnics Campus ( O & M , Engineering ) | 11 |
| 800 | Jeddah | Jaffaly Group | Saudi Germany Polytechnic | 12 |
| 800 | Jeddah | Civil Aviation Authority | Saudi Aviation Polytechnic | 13 |
| 1000 | Ras Azzoor | Ma' aden | Metal Polytechnics | 14 |
| 1000 | Riyadh | Al - Marai | Dairy Polytechnic | 15 |
| 1000 | Riyadh, Dammam | Telecom Regulator & Telco companies | Telecom Polytechnic | 16 |
| 3000 | Hail | Hail Economic City | Polytechnics Campus( O & M , Engineering ) | 17 |
| 4000 | Jaizan | Jaizan Economic City | Polytechnics Campus ( O & M , Engineering) | 18 |
| 1000 | Riyadh | Al-Obaikan Group | Riyadh Polytechnic Institute (RPI) | 19 |
| 500 | Riyadh | Saudi Research &Publications | Prince Ahmad bin Salman's Inst. | 20 |
| 600 | Riyad, Jedda, Dammam | General Motors | General Motors Prog. | 21 |
| 3000 | Madinah | Tourism Authority | Hotel and Tourism Polytechnic | 22 |
| 2000 | Al-Ahsa | ARAMCO | National Industrial Training Poly | 23 |
| 2000 | Jizan,Riyad | Saudi Electric Company | Electric Power Polytechnic | 24 |
| 1500 | Riyadh | Boeing | Saudi Aviation Maintenance Inst.: SAMI | 25 |
| 1000 | Jubail | Rotary Singapore | Saudi industry safety polytechnic | 26 |
We, in TVTC, are keen to establish ties with big corporations in numerous fields. One of our main goals is having a variety of technical and vocational arts. Another main goal is to distribute these polytechnics geographically around the Kingdom. Together, we and the big corporations can build great businesses able to evolve and compete in manpower, while preserving employees' rights at the same time. This, of course, will lead the workers to a satisfactory state because of the care they receive and the production they contribute. This also gives them a chance to develop themselves in future training and in having scholarships. We also have links with these companies; i.e. agreements and exchanging experiences. We occasionally develop these polytechnics, and utilize the polytechnics' huge infrastructure with its labs, IT, classes and workshops that are operated by the best trainers.
Q: How do you administer these polytechnics with the companies?
A: We founded for each polytechnic an independent Board of Directors (BOD) that plans its training and employment strategies. The BOD takes care of the polytechnic's internal affairs and makes its fundamental decisions. The polytechnic executives are qualified Saudis: the ED, his assistants, trainers' affairs, trainees' affairs, marketing, etc.
Q: What is the role of each party in SP?
A: TVTC: gives the complete infrastructure, training equipment, furniture, labs, IT, LAN, computers, operational System and license for operations.
HRDF: pays the operational costs.
The International Operator: operates the institution and the training process. The international operator is chosen according to the operational experience and reputation and according to international accreditation standards.
The Private Sector: employs these trainees according to the stated time agreed upon.
Q: What is the nature of the training programs of these polytechnics?
A: Because of the variety of demands, the business sector has (whether industrial or services), formulated two kinds of partnerships, based on the nature of the needs of the service companies: First: the polytechnics (or institutes) which demand high school graduates. The polytechnics have a 2 to 3 years training period (1st year: IT; and intensive English and work ethics; 2nd year and after: the main major and on-job-training). Second: The programs that do not demand school degrees can be short-term courses. These courses are tailored according to needs. These programs do not demand a private building or campus. They can be carried out in any of the TVTC's workshops or any other location agreed upon.
Q: What benefits does the trainee gain?
A: From day one of training, that is the 1st day of employment, which means that this period will be considered for pensions the government will pay to the employee through the General Organization of Social Insurance (GOSI) after retirement. The graduate will also gain a diploma from TVTC (with English and IT), and an international certificate from TVTC (equivalent to the NVQ Level 3 in the UK System). Moreover, the trainee receives a monthly salary. As for those who enroll in the short programs, they will gain a certificate from TVTC, and an international vocational certificate.
Q: Are the SP's fields different from TVTC's other programs? And do you intend to expand your programs to other sectors?
A: What's different is that SP trains young Saudis in occupations they know nothing about. These jobs are for high standards and good salaries, i.e., plastic manufacturing, petroleum services, mining, rubber, food processing, etc. Regarding expansion, we are continuing to sign agreements with big corporations that demand a big number of jobs for citizen.
Q: You mentioned in your previous answer that you cooperate with your partners in the training process -- how?
A: Let me explain: we do not carry out the training process through TVTC trainers directly. What we do is make an agreement with one of the big companies on a partnership training program, where we specify the vocations and technical arts we need, then we choose the name of the polytechnic, build it and furnish it, give it the license for its operation, then we choose with our strategic partner the unique international operator through an international bidding competition which allows us to make sure that the best training companies will operate the polytechnic according to international standards. The most important part in the training process is that the company that employs the trainees participates in this process, and supervises its numerous stages efficiently. This reassures that the trainee shall be specifically qualified for the job he or she was planned to carry out before enrollment.
© Arab News 2010
