Vocational Education in Saudi Arabia - Cranking the Motor of Innovation Together

TTC students visit the Federal Ministry of Education and Research ©BMBF, 2012The Technical Trainers College is built on the model of German vocational training. The College offers Saudi graduates a three year Bachelor programme which qualifies them to become instructors at vocational schools. The degree builds on the students' existing technical backgrounds and provides pedagogical and career-specific content.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has collaborated with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, formerly GTZ) in the development of the TTC since 2008. The GIZ also recruited the institute's teaching staff including Dr. Abbes Sebihi, who accompanied the student delegation on their educational trip to Germany.

In January 2012, State Secretary of the BMBF Dr. Georg Schütte visited the Technical Trainers College during his stay in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While there, he called for further exchange between Germany and Saudi Arabia, as well as continued cooperation with institutions like the Saudi Arabian Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC).

Germany has much to offer countries like Saudi Arabia in terms of the export of educational services. With the initiativeiMove, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is targeting its support to the internationalization of vocational education and training providers. Contact between German education providers and Saudi Arabian businesses has been made possible primarily through the yearly German-Arab Education and Vocational Training Forum, which is organized by iMove and Ghorfa, the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce.