Saudi technical college study maps uneven sustainability education

A mixed-methods study at one anonymised public technical education institution in Saudi Arabia found that most staff viewed environmental sustainability and economic diversification as only moderately or incompletely integrated into technical and vocational education and training (TVET). The survey, conducted from 18 April to 31 May 2024, included 100 employees: 82 trainers and 18 administrators. Respondents rated the level of integration, with 40% reporting moderate integration, 35% limited integration, 15% full embedding and 10% no integration.

Researchers combined the survey with semi-structured interviews, open-ended responses and institutional documents to examine how sustainability appears in curricula, teaching, governance and institutional practice. The analysis focused on perceived integration and the conditions associated with sustainability-education outcomes at this single institution. It was not designed to estimate national conditions in Saudi Arabia, and its results should not be interpreted as evidence of cause and effect.

The study found positive associations between perceived sustainability-education outcomes and four institutional features: curriculum integration, the effectiveness of digital tools, governance and leadership, and entrepreneurship-oriented training. Staff who regarded these elements as more effective or strongly developed tended to report better outcomes for sustainability education. Resource constraints and insufficient trainer preparation were negatively associated with those outcomes. The mixed evidence also converged on three implementation needs: explicit sustainability learning outcomes, systematic monitoring, and targeted trainer development.

Based on these findings, the researchers proposed a tentative implementation framework for local auditing and improvement. It specifies 12 measurable indicators, identifies data sources, assigns institutional owners and sets review cycles. The framework is a foundation for monitoring rather than a tested intervention, and the researchers state that it needs validation both within the institution and over time. The study’s single-institution scope and its reliance on staff perceptions limit generalization, while the associations do not establish whether any particular institutional feature produces stronger sustainability outcomes. The results therefore offer a structured basis for evaluating and refining sustainability integration in technical education, but they do not demonstrate a national shift in TVET practice or measure the educational benefits of the proposed framework.

Subject of Research: Institutional integration of environmental and economic sustainability in Saudi technical education

Article Title: Advancing environmental and economic sustainability in technical education: a mixed-methods approach in Saudi Arabia

Article References: Alghamdi, M. M., Awad, A., Ghonim, A., Yusuf, A. A., & Sayed, A. M. (2026). Advancing environmental and economic sustainability in technical education: a mixed-methods approach in Saudi Arabia. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-09228-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-026-09228-y

Keywords: technical education, TVET, Saudi Arabia, sustainability education, environmental economics, economic diversification, curriculum integration, trainer development, institutional governance, mixed-methods research, Advancing, environmental