Title: A futuristic discourse of higher education system linkages with the labour markets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors: Adel S. Aldosary, Kh.Md. Nahiduzzaman

Addresses: Department of City and Regional Planning, College of Environmental Design, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, P.O. Box 5053, Dhahran 31261, KSA. ' Department of City and Regional Planning, College of Environmental Design, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, P.O. Box 5053, Dhahran 31261, KSA

Abstract: This research paper reports on the policy analysis of higher education policy debate together with a survey conducted among the alumni of College of Environmental Design (CED) at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is accelerating its development procedures in all levels with the priority towards the human resources development (HRD). On account of which, the Government of KSA established schools, universities and training centres in every city to reduce the augmented reliance on the rising foreign workforce that is in many ways creating unemployment among the Saudi labour. This research emphasises to explore the linkages and gap between the higher education system in KSA and the facts behind the employer demands for skilled human resources in the labour market. This is concluded by making a futuristic recommendation aimed at facing the challenge of protecting local workforce from being unemployed.

Keywords: higher education; labour market; teaching evaluation; Saudi Arabia; human resources development; HRD; employment; skills; local workforce; unemployment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJACMSD.2010.037143

International Journal of Arab Culture, Management and Sustainable Development, 2010 Vol.1 No.4, pp.326 - 339

Published online: 26 Nov 2010 *

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