The Ministry of Education is celebrating today, Tuesday, the International Day of Education, which is observed on January 24 each year. The theme of this year is "To invest in people, prioritize education." The Ministry of Education invests in its students by working toward a set of objectives. This is demonstrated by improving learning outcomes, establishing an e-learning system, strengthening partnerships with the private sector, expanding the fields of training, qualification, and scientific research, and emphasizing the link between investment in education and sustainable development processes and its repercussions on human development, capabilities, and skills, which achieve major economic and societal transformations. The Ministry made changes to study plans and curricula by linking their contents to the strategic axes and objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. This is done to enhance learning outcomes in line with global trends, future requirements, and the labor market.
The second phase of developing schoolbooks and curricula for the academic year 2023 has included the approval of 29 new books, 43 developed books, and 106 amended books, more than 250,000 book modifications, and more than 2,500 improvements to graphics and photographs. In addition, the changes have included the implementation of the study plans created for urban education and the secondary school pathways system, which aims at early detection of students' interests and abilities according to individual differences and directs students towards specialized pathways related to the demands of the labor market and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Early childhood has also earned priority and particular attention by increasing the kindergarten enrollment rate to reach 32.6% in 2022.
The Ministry of Education has created an integrated e-learning system. By converting to the blended learning model, it has been successful in implementing the distance education model as one of the technical educational alternatives that contributed to the formation of a new phase of flexible and comprehensive education. This involves the supply of various educational techniques through home-based education, e-learning, and the School of Broadcasting Educational Lessons, in addition to recording more than 19,000 lessons in the School of Educational Broadcasting and achieving more than 144 million views during 2022.
The Ministry's initiatives have also contributed to the development of university education, research, and innovation, as well as enhancing the ability of universities in the Kingdom to compete globally. In addition, the kingdom accomplished a lot during 2022. These include continuing progress in global performance indicators in the field of university education, improving the Kingdom’s classification in the scientific research indicators, and Saudi universities' standing in world rankings.
