 JEDDAH — In a novel way to fight unemployment and make jobless Saudis self-reliant, the Abdul Latif Jameel Fund (ALJF) for Vocational Training and Development has launched a scheme to train Saudis in Islamic calligraphy so that they could start their own mirco enterprises in this aspect of decorative arts.
| Boy, there's just gotta be a market for .. one or two of these guys. |
The fund has sponsored a group of 11 Saudis to qualify them as Islamic calligraphers. It is the second initiative of its kind by the ALJ Fund, which had earlier conducted a training programme for Saudis in cookery to help them own micro business establishments in this field.
The young Saudis will study at Balqa University in Amman, Jordan, which specialises in this art and offers the training programme in collaboration with the Prince's School for Traditional Arts in London, which is located in Shoreditch. The school's patron is Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales.
| Yet another connection between Chuckles and the House of Saood ... |
Omar Al Thebaiti, manager of ALJ Fund for vocational training and development, said that looking at the renewed interest witnessed in the society in these handicrafts and the changes in taste of Saudis in the fields of design, decoration and traditional works of art there was definitely a market for creating an Islamic ambience in the interior and external designs of houses and villas. "The six-month training course aims to qualify young Saudis, especially as there is a noticeable increase in demand for qualified people in these skilled areas. After completion of the training course, the trainees will be appointed in companies dealing in this business," he assured.
| But that means that the trainees would have to .. work. Isn't there a Pakistani or a Filipino who could do this while the young Saoodi just gets paid? |
He said that the course would concentrate on gypsum, metal and wooden decorative work. Students would be trained in brass work, design and implementation of gypsum work, as well as the art of wood carving and moulding work. The course will enable its graduates to have their own small businesses with the help of ALJ Fund for Micro-projects, which would also equip these enterprises and provide administrative and financial support to them. |