Saudi Arabia has a five-year plan worth more than 21.33 billion US$ to improve education sector

Education is a fundamental pillar in achieving Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 through graduating a capable and ready generation of youths to complete the country's development process. In 2018,technical programs on Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity were introduced in some Saudi universities as part of Vision 2030.In the same year, more than 600,000 students and 11,000 male and female teachers were provided with programming training. More than 8,400 male and female graduates were provided with digital skills training that qualified them for the labor market in 2018. In an age when education is regarded as both essential and expensive, Saudi Arabia’s scholarship program provides a world-class education, ensuring financial assistance and paid tuition to all those who qualify. Beneficiaries of the program study abroad, returning with degrees and skills needed for the Kingdom’s development into a modern society.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud sanctioned a five-year plan worth more than 80 billion riyals (US$21.33 billion) in 2014 to expand and improve Saudi Arabia's education sector. This was an additional investment to the existing annual allocation of the Saudi Ministry of Education. He also started a renovation drive of state schools and universities.

Today, Saudi Arabia’s education system includes more than 30,000 public schools, large number of colleges, 25 public and 27 private universities. The government grants monthly allowance of approximately US$ 200 to all university students, to incentivize them to get their undergraduate degrees. The emphasis is not just on domestic education. The enrolment of students in overseas universities has also been growing exponentially through initiatives such as the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Scholarship Program (KASP). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia won three international awards in April 2019 in the categories of Innovation and Technology Employment and the Grand Award at Paris Experience Exchange Forum. The Kingdom's participation comes within the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Education and Microsoft Arabia Company, whereas a delegation of Saudi teachers participated among 400 teachers from around the world to display their creative projects in integrating technology into education. The Hacathon e-Learning 2019 was held in March 2019 at Princess Noura Univeristy in Riyadh under the theme of "Innovation in Digital Education and Vision 2030. The two-day event is organized by Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University represented by the Deanship of e-learning and distance education and will witness the participation of 400 students from government and private Saudi universities. The event will enhance the creativity of the nation's citizens into innovation and produce ideas for new projects in the fields of ''Interactive Learning, Personalized Learning, Future Skills, Inclusive Learning." Gearing up for scoring a leading position, King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is taking part in the International Chemistry Olympiads (IChO 2019), which is being held in France from 21st through 30th of July with the participation of 80 countries. It is Saudi Arabia's ninth time to take part in IChO, with a record of 21 medals throughout the last competitions. The IChO is an annual international chemistry competition for high school students, being held at the end of the school year and lasts for ten days. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Talent and Creativity and the Ministry of Education, is preparing to compete in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO - 2019) to be held in England on 11-22 July with the participation of 116 countries. A team of 6 Saudi students will compete in the IMO. This is the Kingdom's 15th participation in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), through which it has won 31 medals including 6 silver, 25 bronze and 10 certificates of appreciation. The International Olympiad is an annual competition with the participation of pre-university students under 20 years.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kingdom of Norway in December, 2018, co-shared the International Working Group for Teachers seat, affiliated to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In a press statement, UNESCO Regional Director for Educational Quality and Excellence Dr. Abdurrahman Al-Mudaires affirmed that this vote reflects the Kingdom's effective presence and role in the international organizations and committees in the field of education.

Saudi Arabia is spending more than $500 million on building education “complexes” that will serve 90,000 students in major urban centers. The Education Ministry, represented by the government-owned Tatweer Buildings Co., on Tuesday, signed an agreement with Al-Mabani Real Estate Co. to build 30 institutions for students in Dammam, Jeddah and Riyadh. The agreements include a short-term plan to establish 10 complexes across the three cities with a combined intake of 30,000 students. These will cost around SR800 million ($213 million) and are expected to be completed in 2022. There is also a long-term plan to set up 20 complexes for 60,000 students costing SR600 million. The complexes will be at locations approved by local authorities. The Ministry of Education in September 2018 made available all the curricula and digital textbooks through the portal of ien.edu.sa in order to make it accessible to its students by easily downloading them. The move is part of the Ministry of Education's great efforts to adopt digital content and technology in education.

The Saudi Education Ministry participated in the Global Educational Supplies and Solutions (Guess) conference and exhibition in Dubai. It signed a number of agreements aimed at improving the level of education in the Kingdom.

In May 2019, The King Salman Center for Disability Research (KSCDR) announced the launch of an interactive smartphone application for learning difficulties on Sunday — an updated version of an app used by KSCDR since 2013. The new version offers effective counselling and teaching strategies through evidence-based practices illustrated in videos, in addition to a number of measurement tools and primary indicators to identify learning difficulties in early stages of development. Global Shapers Jeddah, a network of young people working together to address local and international challenges, held an event in May 2019 about the future of technology. The workshops and talks focused on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) — artificial intelligence, blockchain, robots, 3D-printing and the internet of things. The event was the launchpad for Meraab, a new initiative to serve Saudi society through technology. Meraab targets talented Saudi students in Jeddah and Riyadh, aged from 16 to 30, who are excited about creating better technology.

The 8th International Exhibition and Conference on Higher Education 2019 (IECHE 2019) under the title "Transforming Saudi Universities in an Era of Change". The Minister of Education disclosed that a new developed university system will be announced soon, adding that this system seeks to provide new governance for the universities and adopt various funding sources in addition to transformation some Saudi universities, as a first phase, into non-profit institutions.

Saudi students will soon be learning with the aid of artificial intelligence, as Riyadh’s leading Misk Schools become the first in the country to introduce AI into the classroom. From September 2019, students at Misk Schools will learn through and be assessed by artificial intelligence, providing a personalized education for each child and giving teachers greater insights into their performance. The school will use CENTURY, an award-winning teaching and learning platform that uses AI to adapt learning to each student’s individual strengths, weaknesses, behaviors and habits. Founded by Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s Misk Foundation, Misk Schools is a state-of-the-art day school in Riyadh offering a new paradigm in education based on the best practices of international and progressive education