Universities urged to hire Saudis with advanced degrees

The growing number of doctorate and masters degree holders at the government employment scheme Jadara has prompted the Ministry of Civil Service to ask the Ministry of Education to instruct Saudi universities to hire these applicants in place of foreign employees. 
Communication between the two ministries show that 310 PhD holders (210 men and 91 women, and 19,439 master degree holders of which 8,458 are men and 7,981 women) applied for jobs through Jadara. 
The Ministry of Civil Service asked the Ministry of Education to ensure that Saudi universities absorb holders of higher education degrees, conform to decisions and royal orders to replace foreigners in government agencies with Saudis.
The ministry also asked that the appointment of qualified Saudis be facilitated, as per the five-year plan to Saudize jobs so far taken by foreigners. 
In its letter to the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Civil Service said the annual report for the 1436/1437 AH shows that 14,442 foreigners are faculty members in Saudi universities, including 8,248 assistant professors and 2,088 lecturers. 
This is almost equivalent to the number of Saudis who hold PhD and master degrees that qualify them for these jobs, said the ministry.
Several holders of higher-education degrees criticized Saudi universities who rejected their applications for faculty positions and employed foreigners instead. 
Monitoring agencies identified an increase in the number of contracts signed with foreigners; more than 10,000 applications for visas were processed at the Ministry of Education over the past three years.