AN ENGLISH QUALITY STRATEGY FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA

Waleed Bajouda Senior Education

Manager Colleges of Excellence

Paul Woods Freelance Consultant

and

WHAT ARE THE COLLEGES OF EXCELLENCE?

1. Set up to reform SA’s vocational and technical colleges through internationalization.

2. Worth over $ 1 billion dollars investment. 3. An ambitious attempt to use education as a

primary tool for producing human capital with a good command of English.

4. Maximum exposure to Western best practices and knowledge through English-medium training.

5. Over 30 English-medium International branch campuses established since 2013.

MALE COLLEGE LOCATIONS (19)

FEMALE COLLEGE LOCATIONS (18)

VISION

“Connecting learners to world class training, opening the door to a successful future”

MISSION

“We foster relationships between top quality training providers, learners and

local employers”

PARTNERS

GOAL FOR EFL

To provide high quality EFL provision which enables vocational students to enter and succeed on internationally recognised Saudi Skills Standards vocational programmes and to communicate effectively in English in the workplace and wider society.

PREMISES – NO EXPENSE WAS SPARED!

DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED

•Entry level of students - in some colleges up to 70% not literate in English•Availability of appropriate syllabuses, schemes of work, books and materials•Poor exam results on PET in the first 11 colleges in 2014, with only 10% achieving the required CEFR level to start their technical/vocational courses•Teacher recruitment issues•Student attitudes and motivation

…….DIFFICULTIES

•Conflicting demands of teaching the Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills needed to pass KET and PET exams and the Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency needed for vocational/technical programmes•Some providers lacked experience in running TVET programmes in GCC countries•Others?????

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT FOR ENGLISH

• Following a tendering process, CoE appointed a team of consultants to identify the issues and come up with a plan for quality improvement.

• 6-month mini-project from February to July 2015

ELEMENTS OF THE PROJECT

•Needs analysis. A team of international consultants visited all 33 colleges currently operating (February 2015)•Two-day training workshops for English teachers were held in regional centres (March 2015)•A two-day workshop for managers (March 2015)•A website for managers and teachers was created•Individual consultancy visits and follow up sessions (July 2015) •Creation of a set of legacy documents

QA STRATEGY RECOMMENDATIONS – THE QA PROCESS

Establish a Quality Assurance Steering Group.Agree an annual Self Assessment Review (SAR).Revise and update the Internal Quality Improvement

Plan (QIP). Appoint an internal QA Lead for English.Ensure all EL staff are familiar with the EFL Quality

Framework.

RECOMMENDATIONS – DOMAIN 1 STUDENT OUTCOMES

Use placement tests which discriminate adequately.Document learning goals in an Individual Learning

Plan. Give awards recognising achievement as well as

attendance.Schedule formal and informal formative

assessments regularly.Motivate students by using technology.Make study skills/skills for employability a key

element of the FY programme. Incorporate short periods of work experience.

DOMAIN 2 – TEACHING, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

Agree a modular core curriculum for the Foundation Year for students with low level literacy skills on entry.

Develop schemes of work covering both cognitive academic language and the general English needed for basic interpersonal communication and to pass the exit exams.

Consider adopting e-learning components of published courses.

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

College-based TPD using the TVET website. Individual self-study. Support for certificated external training. Short face-to-face training courses.Coaching for managers. Support for attendance at conferences. Use the Cambridge Teachers’ website.

ASSESSMENT

Develop a system-wide tailor-made placement test and diagnostic assessment.

Stream students by level. Assess student progress regularly. Provide further staff training in various aspects of

testing.

DOMAIN 3– LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Appoint Heads of English with EFL as well as TVET/FE experience.

Involved colleges in teacher recruitment. Establish a clear progression and training for

national staff. Improve teacher induction and performance

management.

DOMAIN 4 FACILITIES AND RESOURCES

Invest adequately in the equipment and resources needed for vocational subjects.

Use visual displays throughout the college.

…. EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS

Develop an e-learning strategy.Acquire a learning management system/platform.Develop a strategy for using portable handheld

devices. Establish a Learning Resource Centre. Promote the use of book boxes and class sets of

simplified readers. Promote and develop the TVET English website.

THE RESULT – CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT