Education & Training

Education continues to be a major focus for Saudi Arabia, with an estimated $399.75bn spent on education between 2005 and 2015. This trend is set to continue, as the creation of a knowledge economy forms the third objective of the Kingdom’s 10th Development Plan. Private instruction continues to gain in popularity – the number of pupils at private schools grew by about 9% a year between 2008 and 2011 and currently makes up around 14% of the K-12 sector. Under the Kingdom’s Colleges of Excellence programme, meanwhile, international training providers run a range of vocational courses and build their own curricula to be taught at purpose-built facilities supplied free of charge by the Saudi government. Regionally, the e-learning market in the broader Middle East is set to expand by 8.2% annually as governments invest to support the segment. This chapter contains interviews with Azzam Al Dakhil, Minister of Education; Ali Al Ghafis, Governor, Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC); Abdullah Al Mosa, CEO, Saudi Electronic University (SEU); and Badran Al Omar, Rector, King Saud University.