By Muhammad Al-Abdullah

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

DAMMAM — Young Saudi women are soon going to be hired in the Kingdom’s vital energy sector, according to a senior official.

Abdul Rahman Abdul Karim, advisor to the Ministry of Energy for corporate affairs and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic (SPSP), said that the board is considering opening the field for women for studies and training in the petroleum services sector to take up jobs that are suited to their nature, especially in the energy sector.

He made the remarks while gracing the graduation ceremony of the 10th batch at SPSP on Thursday. “It is not yet decided to enroll girl students at the Saudi Petroleum Services Polytechnic or any other polytechnics, and the Board of Trustees is currently carrying out studies about opening up this area for girls,” he said.

Abdul Karim said that 328 students graduated in the 10th batch after receiving training to work in various fields related to energy. He said the polytechnic’s policy focuses on steps to be taken for future expansion, especially that the polytechnic aims to graduate qualified cadres according to the requirements of companies, and that is in cooperation with several other bodies to cover the shortage in the energy sector.

For his part, Abdul Hamid Al-Rasheed, vice president of Saudi Aramco’s division of drilling and well maintenance, said that studies with regard to provision of training for girls are in an advanced phase and the training is expected to start for the first batches of students during the year 2020 in areas appropriate to the nature of women.

“The Saudi women have proved their high efficiency in all fields where they got employed,” he said.

Bassam Bukhari, director of SPSP, said the number of graduates of the 10th batch in Dammam and Khafji, reached 659 Saudi trainees to work in the energy sector, including 331 graduates in the Khafji branch.

More than 8,000 students have graduated during the last 10 years from the polytechnic in as many as 12 trades, including mechanics, welding, installation of pipes and cranes and electrical machinery.

In his speech, Abdul Hakim Al-Ammar, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Eastern Province (Ashariqia), said that the chamber supports training programs for large number of Saudi youth in the energy sector and plans to start training programs for women from next year.