الشورى يطالب جامعات بمعالجة تحدياتها وتعزيز جاذبيتها

The Shura Council called on Umm Al-Qura University to include in its own resources the returns generated from its investments in "Makkah Valley for Technology," and to measure its impact on the university's financial sustainability, as well as to enhance the effectiveness of scientific chairs by directing their efforts towards applied research to ensure the effectiveness of their outputs, attract funding entities for its activities, and achieve differentiation for the colleges and branch programs from the main campus to enhance their attractiveness.

During its seventh ordinary session of the third year of the ninth term, held (via video conference) under the chairmanship of the Deputy Chairman of the Council, Dr. Mishaal Fahm Al-Sulami, the Council requested Jazan University to develop a plan to address the challenges faced by students in academic achievement to retain them, and to improve the employment index of graduates to achieve its academic targets, as well as to complete the localization of academic positions at the lecturer level to meet national and academic objectives.

The Council also urged Jeddah University to enhance its competitiveness and presence in global university rankings, to develop the operational model for its branches to increase their operational efficiency and capacity, and to strengthen its developmental role, as well as to study the establishment of a university teaching hospital in partnership with the private sector to enhance the quality of health outputs and improve clinical training and scientific research.

Meanwhile, the Special Economic Zones Center in Riyadh was called upon to complete the requirements for accrediting its permanent executive body and its formation to enable it to transition from the establishment phase to effective institutional execution, and to approve participatory investment models and mechanisms with the private sector to finance, develop, and operate the special economic zones to enhance their financial sustainability.

The Presidency of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque was requested to develop its comprehensive strategic plan to achieve its goals, and to expand partnerships with the private and non-profit sectors to contribute to the development of its initiatives, and to govern the interactive technological initiatives provided to beneficiaries to ensure the accuracy of information and the correctness of its translation.

The Council urged the King Salman Park Foundation to expedite the completion of the comprehensive operational plan for the park, including the governance model, the operational and financial model, and the targeted performance indicators for the post-opening phase, as well as to complete and approve the integrated regulatory framework for managing the multi-ownership and usage real estate components within the park project in line with the size and nature of the project, and to align the cash flows allocated for the project with actual needs and implementation plans to ensure business continuity, according to the approved timelines, and to prepare a comprehensive workforce plan, identifying the necessary job requirements for the stages of project implementation and operation.

The Council discussed the annual report of the Martyrs, Injured, Prisoners, and Missing Fund, and the annual report of the Global Academy for Tourism, and members of the Council expressed several observations and opinions regarding the contents of the annual report of the Martyrs, Injured, Prisoners, and Missing Fund, and the Global Academy for Tourism.

At the end of the discussion, the committees requested more time to study the opinions, suggestions, or recommendations raised by the members and to return with their viewpoints to the Council in subsequent sessions.

Al-Najjar to "Okaz": The Tourism Academy must measure its economic and social impact

Council member Dr. Abdullah Al-Najjar called on the Global Academy for Tourism to prepare a comprehensive framework to measure its economic and social impact, which includes documenting the methodology of its forecasts and assumptions, verifying their reality, establishing baselines, performance indicators, and interim targets, and measuring actual results and comparing them with forecasts immediately upon starting operations to support the evaluation of return on investment and efficiently direct resources, enhancing the Academy's contribution to achieving the objectives of the Vision.

Al-Najjar considered what it offers as strategic opportunities to prepare qualified national cadres that keep pace with the expansion of projects and tourist destinations in the Kingdom, contributing to raising the quality of services and localizing specialized and leadership jobs. He urged it to benefit from the studies that informed the design of its programs and to strengthen them with benchmarking against specialized institutions locally, regionally, and globally to verify the alignment of specializations, curricula, and targeted skills with the current and future needs of the Saudi labor market, noting that the success of the Academy is not measured merely by the number of programs and students but by the extent to which its outputs meet the needs of the tourism sector in the Kingdom and fill quality jobs. He called for coordination with relevant entities to continue aligning its specializations, curricula, and outputs with the current needs of the tourism labor market in the Kingdom and to develop them in light of changes and skill gaps, while establishing indicators to measure graduate employment and the extent to which their skills align with the evolving needs of the sector, thereby supporting the efficiency of the Academy's expansion and the objectives of Vision 2030 in developing human capabilities and localizing quality tourism jobs.