Saudi Arabia Launches Job Skills Tests in Egypt After Success of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka Schemes
Saudi Arabia will test the skills of workers coming from Egypt as it looks to boost the labour force in the Kingdom.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development started the first phase of the Professional Verification program in Egypt in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Manpower.
The programme entails twinning the skill-inspection systems in the two countries to ensure that appropriately skilled labourers work in the Saudi market.
Saudi-Egypt jobs
The first phase of the programme targets five vocational fields:
- Plumbing
- Electricity
- Welding
- Automobile mechanics
- Carpentry
The ministry plans to add more vocational fields in the coming phases.
This initiative in Egypt is part of the ministry’s endeavour to activate the programme in several countries after its successful implementation in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
The programme helps ensure that workers have the skills necessary to work in the profession they choose before entering the Saudi labour market.
The certificate attesting to professional verification has become a main requirement when recruiting labourers to perform specific jobs in the Kingdom.
The certificate may be granted by an accredited inspection centre in the workers’ country prior to the workers’ arrival in Saudi Arabia after passing two tests, one theoretical and one practical.
The programme, together with a series of other development programmes, falls under the umbrella of the Professional Accreditation System; it reflects the Kingdom’s endeavour to create a solid and attractive labour market that is characterised by great flexibility, rapid response to variables, and attracts higher skills.
