Transplanting Failures: The Role of the Global Education Industry in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Increasingly driven by the global education industry (GEI), a neo-liberal perspective dominates education reform agendas in transitioning economies (Ball, 2012; Steiner-Khamsi, 2016; Verger, Steiner-Khamsi, & Lubienski, 2017). The drive to equip a competitive workforce for a knowledge economy frames efforts to build stronger pathways between education and work. These efforts tend to be led by global consultancies and often overlook local challenges. Although recent literature on policy borrowing in education has highlighted the drawbacks of analyzing education out of context, countries in the Global South continue to import education models across contexts (Steiner-Khamsi, 2016). The case of Saudi Arabia, a transitioning economy with agendas heavily influenced by international management consultancies highlights the challenges faced by a profit-driven GEI. This essay argues that current approaches to education reform in the Global South fail to address existing social and cultural challenges in the local context. The standardization of education policies and provision has led to several negative consequences in education reform efforts. Through presenting the case of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) reforms in Saudi Arabia, the essay argues that engaging international education consultants in the process of education reform fails to address the local concerns of TVET and instead imports a new set of challenges to implementing a thriving further education sector in the Kingdom.

Citation

Almoaibed, H. (2021), "Transplanting Failures: The Role of the Global Education Industry in Saudi Arabia", Wiseman, A.W. (Ed.) Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2020 (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 40), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 71-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920210000040006