Saudi Arabia preparing for comprehensive reform

The Kingdom Saudi Arabia is taking a big step for implementing a broad shift of the education system: the National Transformation Program 2020 as a part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

According to education minister Ahmed Al-Issa, the reform includes the stop of printing textbooks within two to three years to promote digital education.
Furthermore, it aims for specific goals like an increased kindergarten enrollment rate and a higher percentage of students who take part in extra-curricular activities. And finally, the program expects the students to achieve a higher number of medals and honors in international competitions as well as higher average results in the international TIMSS tests. The government is planning to invest 1.6 billion riyals (about 400 million Euros) into the project.

“Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030” does not only focus on the education sector but on all areas the government is responsible for. It is divided in five phases from identifying the challenges over developing initiatives and implementation plans to promoting transparency and continuously auditing and improving.

Editorial staff (sz)

Sources

Photo credit: SAUDI ARABIA by Tribes of the World / CC BY-SA 2.0
Information sources: middleeastmonitor.com, vision2030.gov.sa – full program .PDF