Emerging Trends in Higher Education in KSA

1Introduction
Higher Learning institutions such as universities andcolleges generally generate and transmit knowledge by solving
the theoretical and practical problems occur in the society.
Countries in the 21st Century are in a transformation process fromindustrial to knowledge based societies. Socio-economic
development is mostly focusing on the knowledge production
and dissemination by solving major challenges such asenvironmental issues, unemployment, demographic issues,migration, development, etc. The growing number of young
population in Saudi Arabia and in Middle East in general
necessitates the need for higher level of attention required for thehuman capital formation. The increasing number of educatedpopulation, diversification, and quality conscience forces Higher
Learning Institutions to catch up with the expectation of thesociety through flexible and standardized programs.
When Saudi Arabia was established in 1932, theeducational program comprised only 12 schools with 700
students. Since 1938 (when oil was discovered in the country),educational background changed completely and by 1950 there
were 365 schools educating 42,000 students (Simmons &Simmons, 1994). In 1954, the Ministry of Education wasestablished in Saudi Arabia and in 1957, King Saud University
was founded, the first university in the country. The first girls’school was set up in 1960 and thereby elementary education wasmade free to both natives and expats (Al-Rawaf & Simmons,1991). In due course number of universities in the country
increased and the government constituted the Ministry of Higher
Education under the Ministry of Education. The Ministry
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2A. H. Alzalabani, R. D. Nairauthorized for promoting university education and research as perthe government policy, monitoring the progress of university
education, inter-university coordination, and designing rules andregulations in the field.
Later on the private sector also started contributing to theprogress of education sector in the country, and their number isincreasing sharply in recent times. All universities and colleges,both in the public and private sector are governed by the Ministryof Higher Education. However, technical colleges areadministered by the General Organization for Technical
Education and Vocational Training, under the Ministry of Labor.
The Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu supervise Collegesand Institutes Sector in Al-Jubail and Yanbu; whereas Institute of
Public Administration is self-regulating.
The universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia are recentlygiving much attention to the internationalization, lifelong
learning, and employability of the learners. Internationalization
aimed at compatibility and transferability of degrees, andinternationalization of the curriculum to ensure standardization ofinstitutions and graduates. Lifelong learning gives emphasis to
new systems of education including informal education andcontinuous education along with traditional programs. Link
between higher education and practice is emphasized throughemployability.
Higher Education institutions need to ensure that theeducation they offer meets the expectations and aspirations ofvarious stakeholders including students and employers. Qualityin teaching and learning fosters for student learning outcomes.
The vision and strategy of Higher Learning institutions need to
be aligned with the practices and innovations in teaching andISBN: 4-9908818-0-X

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Emerging Trends in Higher Education in KSA

3learning. Maintenance of quality in teaching and learning mattersfor Higher Learning Institutions, when they face challenges due
to competition resulted out of globalization in the education
sector. Application of latest pedagogical practices especially
technology has its effect on the quality of learning outcomes.
Constructive alignment of learning outcomes, teaching - learning
methods and assessment (both formative and summative) are
important elements behind the success of modern higher learning
institutions. In the present book some of the important element ofteaching – learning and employability of learners are discussed in
the context of Saudi Arabia. The book consist if five chapters
excluding the introduction.
Chapter -1 analyses the relevance of time management inclass room management for effective teaching. Teaching takes
time and in school or college, as elsewhere, there's never enoughof it. Like any executive responsible for the efforts of others,
teachers will find that managing time — teachers and thestudents' — is one of the biggest challenges. Time management is
the thread running through almost all aspects of teaching —organizing the day, organizing the classroom, deciding how longand how often to teach various subjects, recording student
progress, or keeping time-consuming behavior problems to aminimum (O’Brien & Tye, 2002). Effective use of teachers’ time
begins with efficient classroom organization and management —and vice versa. For effective learning teachers want students toengage in productive learning time. This is the time when
students are engaged in meaningful and appropriate work. The
more productive learning time we have, the more our students
will learn. The challenge, of course, is in creating a classroomthat maximizes that time. However, we may have less time toteach than we think. Lunch breaks, down-time between lessons
and activities, moving from one classroom to another,
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4A. H. Alzalabani, R. D. Nairinterruptions, and other periods of non-instructional time accountfor at least 50 percent of a teaching day. In many classrooms, thatfigure climbs beyond 40 percent. The major objective of thechapter is to evaluate the efficiency with which teachers are using
different time management tools in the class room for delivering
effective teaching/ learning.
Chapter -2 is intended to analyze the assessment practices inthe Business Studies of the IMT Department, based on thefundamental principles of assessment as highlighted by Race(2010). Assessment refers to all those activities undertaken byteachers—and by their students in assessing themselves—that
provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching
and learning activities. Different forms of assessment have got
different objectives and accordingly it operates at different levels
as well. Summative assessment is the attempt to summarize
student learning at some point in time, say at the end of a course.
The transformation from teachers as passive deliverers ofcurriculum to makers and users of assessment data reflects theshift from teacher as assembly line worker to lifetime learner.
Teachers find themselves transforming their teaching as ongoingassessment reveals how students approach tasks, what helps themlearn most effectively, and what strategies support their learning.
The more teachers understand about what students know and how
they think, the more capacity they leave to reform theirpedagogy, and the more opportunities they create for student
success. Authentic assessments require students to be effective
performers with acquired knowledge. The objectives of thechapter are circumventing around the analysis of standard
assessment practices of IMT Department.
The main objective of Chapter-3 is to compare
bachelorette parallel-time students’ academic performance with

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Emerging Trends in Higher Education in KSA

5regular-time students in Yanbu Industrial College in the digitalage and give feedback on sustainability of such program in thefuture. The need to upgrade ones position through academic
excellence is universal and is true among the youth in theKingdom of Saudi Arabia. There is a surge of students enrollingin both undergraduate and post graduate programs due tofavorable government policies and socio-economic environment.
To cater the surge in enrollment, Yanbu Industrial College (YIC)
has started a unique parallel degree (PT) program to full-timeworking adults who hold the associate degrees. It allows them toembark on a 2 years bachelor’s degree program. The subjects,
contents and work load of parallel-time program are exactly thesame as for regular-time (RT) program. This program wasintroduced on an experimental basis. However, there is muchreservation on the program from many quarters, including
academics, due to multiple commitments of the students.
One of the most visible and important trends in higher
education is the rapid expansion of online learning. As far as thePT students are concerned the online learning facilities createdthrough Moodle have helped to a great extent in updating during
the off-classroom times. The pace of change brought about by
new technologies has had a significant effect on the way people
live, work, and play worldwide. New and emerging technologies
challenge the traditional process of teaching and learning, and theway education is managed. The online learning facilities in YIC
helped the students, especially the PT students to have access tovariety of learning resources such as handouts, PowerPoint
presentations, Assignments, e-text books, which facilitatedanytime learning, anywhere learning and collaborative learning.
This Chapter will examine the possible link in the performance
between RT and PT students and some of the issues raised by PT
students.

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6A. H. Alzalabani, R. D. Nair

The objective of Chapter-4 is to develop a rational
method of measurement of academic quality ranking at the higher
learning institutions in Saudi Arabia. There are differences incriteria and strategy used to rank higher learning institutions
throughout the world. The measurement of academic quality isbasically focused on educational outputs and different criteriaemphasize different weights to the selected indicators. Over theyears there are tremendous improvements and diversification
including sophistication of the approach to ranking. But, different
ranking agencies are following different methodologies having
different perspectives and sometimes it become controversial aswell due to quantification of subjective elements, and enduring asa result of lack of other publicly attractive methods forcomparing institutions. This chapter is attempting to develop an
academic quality index through which objectively rate and rank
the institutions and departments.
Chapter-5 is an attempt to address the youth’s perception
towards jobs and career opportunities in Saudi Arabia. The study
is based on the School to Work transition Model. Job creation ofcitizens through nationalization of expatriate jobs continues to bea top priority of GCC countries. More innovative approaches arebeing tried in countries such as Saudi Arabia to promotenationalization by introducing elements of choice, competitionand commercial incentives.
Youth perception towards
employment in this chapter is assessed by considering both thesupply and demand sides of the labour market. The supply oflabour in the youth labour market is embodied by two major
indicators of ‘Attitude towards work’ and ‘Job selection’. Thebifurcation between voluntary and involuntary unemployment isto a great extent decided by the job seekers’ attitude towards
work, and in the Arab World it is mostly influenced by thecultural factors. Attitude towards work captures essentiality of

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Emerging Trends in Higher Education in KSA

7

employment, confidence on qualifications (both present and at
higher levels), and willingness to work. Selection of jobs is
portrayed by the salary, location of the employment, sectoral
preferences (Public and private), training options, and work
environment. The work environment reflects job security,
flexibility, interest, challenge and opportunity (Accomplishment& responsibility). The demand side of the youth labour market issignified by ‘Career opportunities’. Career opportunities
comprise higher pay structure and allowances, job diversity,
labour laws, reasonable recruitments, employer requirements, andclarity of career paths. The major objective of this chapter is toanalyze perception of the youth cohorts in Saudi Arabia towards
their job aspirations and career development.
REFERENCES
Al-Rawaf, H. & Simmons, C. (1991). The education of women inSaudi Arabia. Comparative Education, Vol. 77.
Simmons, C., & Simmons, C. (1994). English, Israeli-Arab andSaudi Arabian adolescent values. Educational Studies, Vol.20.
No. 1.

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