Saudi Gazette Many people think that studying abroad will ensure a 100 percent permanent placement in reputed companies, once they return; however, studies in Al-Madinah newspaper by academicians show a different picture. Companies when recruiting employees do not only consider a foreign degree, they taken into account the potential employees grades, honors, status, work experience, personality and others. The problem facing university graduates in the Kingdom is that the government sector is saturated, and private sector has no explicit, legal obligation to employ foreign educated Saudi students. “I believe that we have no problem in finding jobs for our Saudi students who graduated from universities abroad in the field of medicine and health sciences. The health sector is in great need for highly educated and qualified Saudi doctors and health professionals. In fact, the percentage of Saudization in the medical and healthcare sector is only 20 percent, so precedence will be given to Saudi graduates who have adequate knowledge and expertise over the expatriates with equal or lesser qualifications,” said Dr. Mohsen Al-Hazmi, member of the Shoura Council. Studying abroad has advantages other than securing jobs for the nation's youth, as it also plays a definite role in the development and advancement of the nation and in strengthening its ties with different cultures and people. “The only way for a nation to lift itself to a leading position and to be internationally recognized as an advanced and leading nation is by sending its university students to foreign countries for study. Take China for example, it has a clear strategy of sending foreign exchange students to almost all countries of the world. Does the Kingdom has clear plans for sending university students for studying abroad? Did they accomplish their graduates goals and help in solving some of the nation's internal problems? Did they contribute to our society upon their return? Who is responsible for making use of these graduates when they return: the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) or other government institutes or the private sector? All these questions need to be answered to pave the way for development in the Kingdom,” said Dr. Hashem Al-Sheikhi, faculty member at King Faisal University. According to Dr. Muhammad Al-Khazem, assistant professor at King Saud University (KSU), the criteria for employment should be based on work experience, excellence in academic performance, training, and other skills, regardless of whether the person graduated from a local university or a foreign university. Studying abroad should not be viewed as a definite assurance of finding a job. “The Kingdom has sent thousands of students to continue their education abroad, and some are more qualified and more outstanding in their academic performance than others. Graduates should not expect that the government or the private sector will definitely grant them jobs immediately once they return from abroad. In many cases, the private sector consider employing expatriates because they accept lower salaries as compared to Saudis,” said Al-Khazem. Another academician had an innovative suggestion that could open up more job opportunities for Saudi graduates. Faculty member at KSU, Dr. Ghazi Al-Abbasi, told Al-Madinah newspaper, “When Saudi graduates of high caliber and education levels are available, they should replace expatriate workers. Another strategy is to encourage early retirement of the elderly Saudi professionals to accommodate the younger, more energetic, and more promising Saudi professionals. The Ministry of Labor (MoL) needs to significantly upgrade the Saudization in both the government and private sectors in the Kingdom.” Others believe that Saudi students should be sent for higher education to universities abroad only in certain specializations that are high in demand in the Kingdom's job market and not just for any specialization. Those fields that are in need of Saudi graduates with a solid educational background are engineering, architecture, medicine, and Islamic finance. Dr. Abdullah Dahlan said, “The absence of cooperation and joint effort between the MoHE and the MoL is contributing to the problem of surplus of university graduates with no jobs. A committee that links these two ministries should be created to study the exact numbers of foreign exchange students, their specializations, and the demand in the job market. Currently, there are 120,000 Saudi students studying abroad and the various ministries and agencies must prepare from now for their employment upon their return.” __
