RIYADH: The Education Development Program will be launched in schools at the beginning of the next academic year, the Director General of the King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Program for Development of Education has said. Speaking at the opening of an educational forum in Riyadh Saturday, Ali Al-Hakami said that the Strategic Plan for Development of Public Education designates the roles and tasks of the Ministry of Education and its offices and schools through the various phases of education. “The plan seeks to gradually replace the current education model with the new one at 33,000 schools for boys and girls,” Al-Hakami said. “It will introduce modern practices which focus on producing results in school leavers.” He said that plan had in place performance quality indicators to gauge student performance in the study curricula, and that it also focuses on “greater connection with kindergartens and improving pupils' preparation for life beyond school and the job market and academic education at university”. “It focuses on talent and persons with special needs and curbing the number of school drop-outs,” he said. “The plan aims to strike partnership agreements between public education bodies to develop programs, policies and specifications, and set up an evaluation and certification commission for public education, a center for the development of educational leadership, a center for research and creativity in education, a national organization for teachers pertaining to the ministry to provide incentives such as medical insurance and benefits with airlines, and raise the level of professionalism in education to make it a more competitive profession in which everyone can compete.” Al-Hakami said there were also other projects for “change and communication with schools”, teacher testing, career paths, a national center for school leaders and a project for local district schools. “The project aims to convert 1,000 schools in local residential districts into educational and recreational centers,” he said. “The Education Development Strategy will begin in a month, and opinions on it will continue to be taken from all sections of the public.”
