5,000 Saudi women build careers in mobile phones maintenance

MAKKAH: A Saudi woman trainer in mobile phones maintenance says that more than 5,000 women trainees have graduated and entered the labor market in the past three years.
Fadwa Al-Atwi has also created a team of trainers in all regions of Saudi Arabia to unite academic efforts and training platforms.
The Saudi trainer, who runs several courses in America, Jordan and Egypt, told Arab News that the courses in mobile maintenance and other technology skills began five years ago.
Al-Atwi said she had received diplomas from Jordan, Egypt and the US in hardware and software, noting that “the Saudization of the telecommunications sector has increased the involvement of Saudi women in the labor market significantly.”
She said that the program began with small beginner’s courses in the Faculty of Education in Tabuk, in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, and also in private institutes, as well as courses at chambers of commerce and industry in several Saudi cities. It was then expanded to all cities of Saudi Arabia.
Al-Atwi said that the demand for Saudi women in the sector is large and consistent with the challenges of the labor market in the country.
“More than 5,000 have been trained and then entered the labor market either through small and medium-sized enterprises or by doing business from their homes.”
She said that the trainees were able to perform practical and theoretical tasks and to conduct academic research related to maintenance.
“Work is being done on the training of mobile maintenance female technicians in a step toward establishing these professions for Saudi women,” she said. She said the trainees covered a range of ages, including 60-year-old women.
Al-Atwi has also created 18 WhatsApp groups with more than 14,000 members so they can follow up the maintenance process while working. She said that 40 percent of women trainees are working from home, 10 percent are trainers and 50 percent work through specialist shops.