EMBRACING THE FUTURE
Saudi Arabia is allowing women more privileges, including driving and becoming ambassadors. The Future Institute of Higher Education and Training is trying to help by providing courses they need to adapt to this new world.
BIOGRAPHY
Rajaa Moumena did her bachelor in microbiology from Manchester University Medical School in the UK and completed distance learning in computer science from Alabama University in the US.
Can you walk us through the evolution of the Future Institute of Higher Education and Training since it was founded?
Since its foundation in 1991, this institute has constantly played a crucial role in empowering young Saudis, constantly expanding in terms of geographical presence, clients' profile, courses offering and accreditations. Our dual goal is to increase the employment rate among skilled Saudis and ensure a higher rate of competent and qualified Saudis enter the workforce. In order to achieve these objectives, the institute had to undergo a constant process of innovation to adapt to a dynamic, changing business environment, especially since the announcement of Vision 2030. The changes and progress within the organization are clear. From being a center, it became an institute offering recognized diplomas; from offering courses just in Jeddah, we are now present in other cities such as Riyadh and Medina; from training only women, it now trains both female and male workers; from being known for its training in creative development, it now offers courses in over 65 different areas; and from being mainly focused on B2C channels, it is establishing a more thorough B2B avenue that offers over 50 programs for companies within different sectors can benefit from. The institute never stopped advancing and improving to raise the standards of the broader education segment of the country.
What helped the institute to remain active and adjust to the rapid changes in the education and work environment?
Over its 28-year history, the Future Institute has become so much more than an education facility, developing into a vital tool for helping women enter a wide range of the country's workforce. We have pioneered courses for women in a range of areas, recognizing and forecasting areas in which women would soon be permitted to work. This foresight has enabled Future to grow into the market leader for educating women.
What assessment methods does the institute provide?
For our B2C segment, we have a benchmark that serves as a general standard, but we work with people in a hands-on way in order to ensure their personal development. At times, different candidates need different instructions based on what you are trying to teach and depending on their learning styles. Our main body of students are working professionals or entrepreneurs, but we do have some university students who come here to complement their knowledge, so clearly there has to be a specialized approach to each one of them. With regard to our B2B channel, we work closely with companies to understand what exactly their employees need to have learned at the end of the course.
Looking at the medium term, what are your strategic priorities, and how do you seek to achieve them?
Our strategy remains focused on expanding regardless of the status of the economy. The country will always need qualified workforce, and our duty is to maintain a constant supply of skilled candidates. As such, we are trying to break into the B2G training space, an area traditionally difficult to gain a foothold in. I have worked with the Ministry of Education in the past, but even if you have developed a relationship with various ministries, there is a tendency in the government to hire people from abroad. This is an pattern that we would like to change, since there is a great deal of potential in our local training firms. We need to see the government tap into these local resources more. On the industry side, hospitality is an area we are interested in, because of its size and growth projections. As such, we are planning to add professional hospitality training to our offerings.
EMBRACING THE FUTURE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Interview
Mohammed A. Al-Mowkley , Deputy Minister of Water Services, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture & CEO, National Water Company (NWC)
NWC leads the Kingdom's efforts to preserve water as a non-renewable national resource and drastically reduce the average per capita water consumption.
read articleInterview
Majed H. Al Saadi , Managing Director, Priority Projects Office (PPO), Local Content and Government Procurement Authority
PPO and ECA act as an accelerator for the realization of Vision 2030 by bridging the gap between the private and public sectors and helping the government diversify the economy in the long run.
read articleInterview
HRH Princess Hala bint Khaled bin Sultan Al-Saud C, Chairman, Saudi Law Conference (SLC) organizing committee & Founder,, Burhan Almarifa
Burhan Almarifa is focused on maturing the legal sector, encouraging innovation, and enabling research and development in KSA through knowledge transfer and consultancy.
read articleInterview
Sahel N. Abduljauwad, Rector, King Fahd University oF Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM)
The King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals has long been the backbone of Saudi Arabia's formidable drilling expertise. Today, it is working to train the next generation of renewable energy and water management scientists.
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Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish, Rector, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University (IAU)
Dr. Abdullah Al-Rubaish was appointed vice president of KFU in 2007 and president in 2010. He combined his executive experience from serving in various deanships at KFU with academic practices to become associate professor of medicine and work as a medical consultant at the Department of Internal Medicine. He graduated from KFU's College of Medicine and completed his medical internship at KFHU, where he also pursued a fellowship program. He became a member of the UK Royal College of Physicians and the Arab Board after he completed his sub-subspecialty in Pulmonary Medicine at the University of Alberta, Canada.
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Rajaa Moumena, Founder & President, Future Institute of Higher Education and Training
Saudi Arabia is allowing women more privileges, including driving and becoming ambassadors. The Future Institute of Higher Education and Training is trying to help by providing courses they need to adapt to this new world.
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