Over 30 English medium TVET colleges have been established in Saudi Arabia by the Colleges of Excellence initiative. Early results on PET and KET exams were disappointing. A six-month project using consultants addressed the issues and developed a quality strategy for English in TVET.
An English quality strategy for vocational education in Saudi Arabiav3
1. AN ENGLISH QUALITY
STRATEGY FOR VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA
Waleed Bajouda
Senior Education
Manager
Colleges of Excellence
Paul Woods
Freelance
Consultant
and
2. 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.
5. 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
6. 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.
8. 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
9. …….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?????
10. 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
11. 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
12.
13.
14.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. DOMAIN 4 FACILITIES AND RESOURCES
Invest adequately in the equipment and resources
needed for vocational subjects.
Use visual displays throughout the college.
22. …. 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 overall vision needs to be adapted to the college. You can draw on this when developing your own vision and objectives
SSS is currently responsible for the independent external reviews in each college
At present the external audit is carried out annually. – necessary in the set-up phase , although one could envisage less frequent reviews might be the norm in the future.
Steering Group to oversee all aspects of internal QA. Agree an annual Self Assessment Review (SAR) in preparation for external review by SSS.
Revise and update the Internal Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) regularly.
Focus on English whether this is included within the college’s overall QIP or there is a separate QIP for English, feeding into the overall QIP. QA Lead
Ensure staff are familiar with the EFL Quality Framework including EFL Quality Standards and that these are used to inform the QIP for English.
Ensure students achieve good progress through effective placement testing, streaming, the use of ILPs , appropriate methodology and recognition of achievement.
Use placement tests which discriminate adequately from A1 to B2 level, but especially at A1 level and below
Document learning goals in an Individual Learning Plan (short and longer-term), regularly updated, and monitor progress via frequent student support sessions.
Take account of students’ preferred learning styles and strengths.
Give awards for achievement as well as for attendance.
Agree a modular core curriculum for the Foundation Year for students with low level literacy skills on entry
Develop schemes of work at college level which incorporate a variety of resources and approaches, including an e-learning component.
Ensure that schemes of work cover both the cognitive academic language (CALP) needed for vocational courses and the general English needed for basic interpersonal communication and to pass the exit exams (BICS).
Consider adopting the e-learning components which supplement the printed course books and provide a wide range of supplementary materials for teachers’ use
Develop a system-wide tailor-made placement test and diagnostic assessment
Stream students by level, using placement test results.
Assess student progress regularly through informal and formal tests covering the content of what has been taught.
Repeating: where students are not performing at the expected level, they should be allowed to repeat all or part of the trimester.
Provide further staff training in aspects of testing, including item writing, validation of internal tests, and standardisation of marking.
Use the Teacher Profile for recruitment (St Overview page 60 ff)
Appoint Heads of English with EFL as well as TVET/FE experience.
The teacher recruitment process should include an oral interview with a panel including a college representative.
Establish a clear progression and training for national staff (TKT/ICELT, plus a qualification at IELTS 7.5 level)
Teacher induction on supplier’s policies and standards, the Induction Manual, and an in-country F2F induction
The performance management process should include defined goals and accountability and documented feedback which leads to continuous improvement.
Invest adequately in the equipment and resources needed for vocational subjects and incorporate these resources into English language practice.
Use visual displays throughout the college to reinforce the links between education, English and employability.
Invest adequately in the equipment and resources needed for vocational subjects and incorporate these resources into English language practice.
Use visual displays throughout the college to reinforce the links between education, English and employability.
Develop an e-learning strategy and implementation plan.
Acquire a learning management system/platform and set up a VLE to enhance learning. (See SO pp 50-59)
Consider installing an interactive display system for use in classrooms used for EFL learning.
Promote and develop the TVET English website by adding college-produced materials and materials for teaching ESP for vocational/technical subjects.
Develop a strategy for the use of portable handheld devices and encourage use of such devices for learning.
Use a variety of teaching materials and resources, not limiting teaching to following a single prescribed course book.
Establish a Learning Resource Centre with age- and culturally-appropriate resources easily accessible to students.
Promote the use of book boxes and class sets of simplified readers, as well as online digi-books.