• About Ministry

​The Emergence Of General Education Education

The first education system appeared in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the establishment of the Directorate of Knowledge in 1926, which is considered as laying the foundation stone for the education system in the Kingdom.

In 1928, a decision was issued to form the first knowledge council, the aim of which was to establish an educational system that supervises education in the Hijaz region. With the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the powers of the Directorate of Education expanded, and its function was no longer limited to supervising education in the Hijaz only, but rather included the supervision of all educational affairs in the entire Kingdom. It included 323 schools and started with four schools.

In 1952, the Ministry of Education was established during the reign of King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. It was an extension and development of the Knowledge Directorate, and it was entrusted with planning and supervising general education for boys in its three stages (primary - intermediate - secondary). King Fahd bin Abdul-Aziz was the first minister.

In 1959, the General Presidency for Girls' Education was established with 15 primary schools and one intermediate teachers' institute.

With the development of education, a royal decree was issued to merge the General Presidency for Girls' Education in the Ministry of knowledge in 2003. A year later, the name of the Ministry of Knowledge was changed into the Ministry of Education.

The Emergence Of Higher Education

The Ministry of Higher Education was established in 1975 by the Royal Decree No. 236/1 to undertake the implementation of the Kingdom's policy in higher education. With this decision, the Minister of Higher Education was responsible for implementing the government's policy in the field of university education.

The university education has received generous support, represented in the establishment of new universities, scientific and applied colleges, and huge financial allocations in budgets. The number of universities in the Kingdom reached twenty-five public universities, 9 private universities, and 34 private colleges, which contained scientific and applied specializations in various fields, and the Ministry of Education adopted Higher education recent trends in scientific research and future planning.

​Merging The Ministries Of Education And Higher Education Into One Ministry

In an effort to improve education outcomes, develop curricula, reduce the gap between general education and higher education, and achieve coherence, harmony and integration between them, which will reflect positively on upgrading educational outcomes, in line with the requirements of the labor market, and unify efforts and invest energies, competencies and capabilities in the two ministries, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued an order on January 30, 2015, merging the Ministries of Education and Higher Education into one ministry under the name (Ministry of Education).

Vision, Mission and Goals

​​​Vision

Distinguished, high-quality education with qualified educational cadres to build proud citizens and global competitors.

Mission

Making education accessible to all and raising the quality of its processes and outputs. Developing an educational environment that stimulates creativity and innovation to meet the requirements of development, improving the education system governance, developing the skills and capabilities of its employees, and providing learners with the necessary values and skills to become good citizens, and aware of their responsibilities towards the family, society, and homeland.

​Strategic Goals​

1. Promoting values and National belonging.

2. Improving learning outcomes and the educational  

 system's position globally.

3. Developing the education system to meet the 

  requirements of development and the needs of the   

  labor market.

4. Developing the capabilities of the education cadres.

5. Enhancing community participation in teaching and 

  learning.

6.  Ensuring education for all and promoting lifelong 

  learning opportunities.

7.  Empowering the private and non-profit sectors and 

  raising their participation to improve the financial 

  efficiency of the education sector.

8.   Raising the quality and effectiveness of scientific 

  research and innovation.

9.   Developing the university system and educational 

  and training institutions.​

The Organizational Chart

Sustainable Development

​​​​​​Sustainable Development

​​​The Ministry seeks to achieve its vision of sustainable development to reach the development that efficiently meets the requirements of the present without threatening the opportunities of future generations by providing their needs and aspirations. In other words, achieving development that nourishes the economy, builds generations and improves the quality of life without threatening the Kingdom's natural and environmental resources. This is a simplified overview of the goals, aspirations and efforts of the Ministry in working on the themes of sustainable development.​

The Ministry's Sustainable Development Goals

• Building the human resources necessary for sustainable development by offering comprehensive, high-quality education to all segments of the society.
• Encouraging continuous education and affording opportunities to all.
• Continuing to act upon the principle of gender-fair and balanced access and opportunity in education.
• Achieving equitable, comprehensive, and sustainable growth.
• Creating a reliable high-education infrastructure to help support the achievement of sustainable development goals.
• Increasing intellectual and scientific production to offset natural resource consumption.
• Conserving the environment and natural resources to ensure their availability for future generations, including climate change management and tackling natural environment decline.

The Ministry Is Working In Multiple Areas To Achieve The Aforementioned Sustainable Development Goals

As a government agency, the Ministry is working in multiple areas to achieve the aforementioned sustainable development goals:

• Achieving societal sustainability.
• Achieving economic sustainability.
• Achieving environmental sustainability.

The Ministry is implementing many programs and initiatives to  create a  knowledge-oriented society through a knowledge-centered economy. The Ministry has deemed necessary to transition to the electronic and mobile government, which links to all sustainable development goals but is mainly instrumental in achieving the above three goals.

• Electronic and distance learning.
• Saudi Digital Library.
• Open data for education.
• Electronic societal participation.
• Developing graduate academic and practical qualifications (Safeer Graduates Program).
• Environment and natural resource consumption reduction initiatives (For further information on the Ministry's efforts towards creatiing a friendly environment, please visit the FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT site).

​Contributions Of The Government And Electronic Services In The Achievement Of The Sustainable Development Go​Als

In addition to the sustainable development initiatives and projects, the Ministry implements the concepts and principles of electronic and mobile government in all of its initiatives, projects, and strategies through the following actions:

• Reinforcing transparency and responsibility through open statements.
• Reinforcing competency and effectiveness through electronic transactions.
• Ensuring high-quality education and equal opportunities to increase societal knowledge and skills by recommending specializations and universities for students interested in studying abroad.
• Strengthening electronic societal involvement.
• Achieving economic sustainability through the encouragement of scientific research, intellectual production and building the human capital.
• Realizing green government by way of complete transitioning towards electronic systems and reduction of natural resource consumption. (For more information on green government, please visit the FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT site).
• Ensuring gender equality as it relates to educational opportunities through the implementation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program.
• Facilitating electronic licensing of private education to encourage the private sector to invest in private education to contribute to sustainable economic growth.
• Reflecting positively on social development by transferring more teachers so their workplaces will be closer to their residences.

Projects And Initiatives Related To The Sustainable Development Goals

• The new university system.
• Initiative to support scientific research and development in universities.
• Early childhood expansion.
• Update the list of educational jobs.
• And the professional development of male and female teachers.
• Identify the gifted students.

• Ministry Sectors

H.E. The Minister

​​​​​​H.E. Dr. Hamad M.H. Al Sheikh, The Minister Of Education​

H.E. Dr. Hamad M.H. Al Sheikh is the Minister of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He is a member of the Council of Ministers and t​he Council of Economic and Development Affairs. In the United States, he attended Stanford University, earning his Ph.D. in Economics, Planning and Development in 1995. He also has an M.A. from Stanford University in 1987 and an M.A. from the University of San Francisco in 1985, receiving both degrees in Economics, Planning and Development. He graduated from King Saud University in 1981 with a B.S. in economics.

His Excellency served as an Advisor to the Royal Court from (2017–2018), and he is currently a member of several ministerial committees, task forces and councils. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the General Commission for the Guardianship of Trust Funds for Miners and their Counterparts. He also a member of the Boards of Directors for the Royal Commission for Al-Ula, the National Development Fund and the General Authority for Statistics.

At the Ministry, he was the Deputy Minister of Education for Boys’ Educational Affairs (2011–2015). Dr. Al-Sheikh has had an extensive career in academia: Vice-Rector for Development and Quality at King Saud University (2009–2011), Dean of King Abdullah Institute for Research and Consulting Studies (2008–2009)  and Vice-Dean for Development and Accreditation at the College of Business (2007–2008). At King Saud University’s College of Administrative Sciences, he was the Chairman of the Department of Economics (2006–2007) and a professor until 2011. He was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford in 1997 and a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Economics at the University of San Francisco from (1983–1984).

Dr. Al-Sheikh is a published researcher with an impressive record at international conferences and seminars. His Excellency specializes in analyzing public policies and evaluating economic policies. His research has included international economic clusters, economic stability and structural and organizational reform policies. He has built standard and quantitative economic models and analyzed energy economics and natural and environmental resources.

In addition to advising the public and private sector, Dr. Al-Sheikh is an active member of several professional associations such as the Saudi Economic Society, the American Economic Society, the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists  and the American Agricultural Economics Association.

H.E. Dr. Al Sheikh was awarded the King Abdulaziz Sash of the second class in 2021, the King Abdulaziz Medal of the first class in 1991, and the Battle insignia and the Kuwait Liberation Medal by the Joint Forces Command in 1991​​.​​

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