Riyadh: Some 200 unemployed Saudi university graduates staged a rare protest in the capital Riyadh demanding the Gulf state give them jobs, Saudi media said on Sunday.
Unemployment hit 10.5 per cent last year in Saudi Arabia, according to official data, and creating jobs for a fast-growing native population of more than 18 million is one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s leadership.
Saudi newspapers carried pictures of graduates from state universities gathering on Saturday in front of the education ministry to demand jobs as Arabic language teachers. "Enough injustice," read one slogan carried by the protestors in front of the ministry building.
With a population officially at 27.1 million, Saudi Arabia offers its nationals several social benefits. But many Saudis are forced to work as taxi drivers, private security guards or other low-paid jobs to make ends meet. The kingdom does not publish regular jobless data.
Nayef Al Tamimi, a spokesman for the protestors, said they had graduated from university but were unable to find work, according to the daily newspaper Al Hayat. "I was surprised about the lack of opportunities despite the need for teachers but the ministry was not interested in this," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
In a statement carried by Al Hayat, the ministry of education said it was not in charge of hiring but only defined the demand for teachers based on positions allocated to it.
Its spokesman could not be reached for comment. King Abdullah has tried to overhaul the archaic education and legal system since taking office in 2005 but the religious elite which controls the bureaucracy has held back reforms. Officials who back Abdullah fear that without jobs young people will be drawn to militancy in the future.
