Minister of Education Dr. Hamad Bin Muhammad Al-Asheikh has announced that Saudi Arabia is ranked first in Mideast in the number of expert teachers in the program "expert teacher Microsoft", which is part of the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Education and Microsoft Arabia, Saudi Press Agency said. In a press statement, the minister said: "This national achievement reflects the position of the Saudi teacher and the pivotal role of education and in improving its outcome, through the use of technology to develop students' skills, collaborative work and innovation". He pointed out that the program shows an added value in supporting and enhancing teachers' influence, and honoring teachers at the world level, especially those who use technology and are an example for their counterparts in using technology effectively and achieving better results in learning and education. Al-Asheikh said: "Apart from the "Expert Teacher Program", this agreement includes many programs in the fields of merging technology in education and tapping the potential of teachers and students to improve the outcome of learning, like learning programming, Microsoft, designing education technology projects, robots and training teachers skills of the 21st century. The minister further said that the Kingdom has won international prizes in all its global participation in which both Saudi men and women teachers took part. Recently, two Saudi women teachers won prizes in the World Microsoft Forum for the Exchange of Expertise in Paris 2019. — SPA
