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​​​​People with Disabilities in University Education:

The Ministry of Education has provided people with disabilities in university education with the opportunity to enroll in Saudi universities through the programs and facilities offered by Saudi universities to this category of society. Disabled students are offered a preparatory year, the first of its kind in the Arab world, and several Saudi universities have formed specialized committees related to the education of people with disabilities. These include the Scientific Committee, the Curriculum Committee, and the Support Services Committee. These committees have worked on defining a number of criteria and conditions for the nomination of those admitted to Saudi universities. Programs for the disabled are intended to serve as a house of expertise and a scientific reference in the fields of education, training, and rehabilitation of people with disabilities and those who work with them, as well as to form partnerships with all societies at the local, regional, and international levels.

The programs for people with disabilities in Saudi universities work on developing the language skills of the beneficiary category, preparing human cadres capable of communicating with people with disabilities efficiently, and preparing cadres capable of providing appropriate support services to them, through training and qualifying workers according to the latest scientific trends in this field. These programs also work to educate the community and the concerned stakeholders about this category, its capabilities, characteristics, and needs. In addition, ways of how to deal with them by raising the level of awareness of disability and the best ways to deal with them socially in a way that contributes to the integration of the disabled into society and what provides them with a more stable and independent life​.


The most important facilities and services provided to people with disabilities in Saudi universities include:

  • Environment conditioning: such as providing appropriate lighting, classrooms organized in a way that does not hinder movement, suitable seats for students in the classrooms, and alternative places such as providing a room free of distractions, or testing them individually.
  • Information presentation method:  They involve providing presentations that contain images and videos to help clarify information for students with learning difficulties or hard of hearing during the lecture. In addition to enabling them to record lectures, increasing the time to present some information, as well as providing scribes for students who have problems writing to take important notes in the lecture, as well as providing a sign language interpreter for the hearing impaired.
  • Organizational conditioning: This involves the use of to-do lists; a timer so that the students can manage time and teaching them strategies for organizing information such as mental maps and visual notetaking. 
  • Assessment conditioning: It represents in assessing students with disabilities through the means that suit their abilities so that teaching methods can be repeated in a way that achieves the greatest positive result of the educational process for people with disabilities.  Thus, the questions can be read to them, or the tests can be done orally and blind students can receive tests questions written in Braille system.


Services Provided By Some Universities​:

  • Higher Education Program for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students​.
  • Universal Access Program – King Saud University.
  • The Support Services and Universal Access Program – Princess Nourah University.
  • Deanship of Students Affairs for Persons with Disabilities – King Abdulaziz University.


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