ICDL Saudi Arabia, the governing body and certification authority of the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has announced that it has renewed its certification agreement with Taibah University. The renewed agreement will increase the university's ICDL program student membership (male and female students) from 1700 in 2008 to 5000 this year. Located in Madina, Taibah University includes 22 colleges in diverse fields ranging from medicine and education to computer science and dentistry. It maintains various language, computer, clinical, and science laboratories and manages a closed-circuit television system with 13 studios. “The support of prominent academic institutions such as Taibah University is vital to promoting IT literacy throughout Saudi Arabia as a vehicle for personal and national growth. Through the ICDL approach to computer proficiency, we will provide the University's students with the skills necessary to excel in their respective fields and become productive contributors to the development of their communities. We are especially pleased about the huge increase in the program's Taibah student membership this year, and we look forward to signing agreements with more organizations in the months ahead in our efforts to maximize IT literacy in the Kingdom,” said Dr. Sulaiman Al-Dhalaan, managing director, ICDL Saudi Arabia. The ICDL standard has already been adopted in other leading universities in the Kingdom such as King Saud University; Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University, the first university for girls in Saudi Arabia; and University of Tabuk. Several other local educational institutions are in the process of either implementing or renewing their ICDL programs. The International Computer Driving License is an integrated program that teaches individuals fundamental IT skills and practical use of common desktop computer application.
