RIYADH: The Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), in partnership with the King Saud University (KSU), launched Sunday at the university’s headquarters the career counselor training program, in cooperation with the National Career Development Association (NCDA). Turki bin Abdullah Al-Jawini, general manager of HRDF, and Mohammed Al-Numay, vice-rector for educational and academic affairs at KSU, attended the event. This is the first-of-its-kind program in the Kingdom which aims to improve and develop the national competencies in the education and vocational sector, and to contribute to the employment of national cadres in various areas. In addition, it aims to promote community engagement in the business sector and contributes to achieving one of Saudi Vision 2030’s goals through human capacity development. In this context, Al-Numay gave a speech on behalf of Badran Al-Omar, president of KSU, and said that the program was carefully designed to enhance the efficiency of national cadres in education and various other sectors. He noted that the program was achieved in cooperation with NCDA, an expert in training and career development at the international level, and will contribute to supporting human capacity development, one of the Saudi Vision 2030 programs. He commended the leadership’s support in developing and raising the efficiency of Saudi men and women. He added that the university is focused on achieving the project’s main objectives, enhancing the efficiency of trainee outputs and achieving sustainability; The university will design a professional certification that will be leading in this area locally. Al-Numay hoped that the program would achieve its developmental objective by contributing to achieving the Saudi Vision goals related to human capacity development, in partnership with the government and private institutions. Al-Jawini said that the program was launched with the aim of enhancing and developing the national competencies’ skills in the education and vocational sectors, as well as supporting sustainable employment in various fields and specializations of the labor market, thus achieving one of the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 by developing human capabilities and overcoming challenges in the required disciplines. He added: “In its detailed objectives, our ambitious program, in partnership with the university [KSU], requires building a base for vocational guidance by training local counselors, trainers and senior trainers, and qualifying career counselors who are capable of helping individuals establish educational and vocational plans and goals that are in line with their capabilities and labor market needs, as well as enhancing career counseling capabilities through a professional and academic journey based on the comprehensive training course.”