Overview of Education System

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes that it is essential to prepare good and productive citizens who can meet the needs of this era and the future. To this end, the government considers investment in education and human resources to be a basic element in the comprehensive development of the country and the advancement of its policies and programs.

Since the founding of the nation in 1932, the public education system in Saudi Arabia has marked many accomplishments. Today, free education is available to all throughout the country, there is near complete (99 percent) enrollment of targeted children in primary education, educational opportunities are equally available to men and women, and illiteracy has radically decreased for both men and women. The development of curricula and adoption of student evaluation policies has focused on satisfying students’ basic needs, providing and developing the learning environment, and improving procedures for hiring and integrating teachers and for reviewing teachers’ employment status.

The Ministry of Education, which administers the education system in Saudi Arabia, aims to:

  • Differentiate teaching for students based on individual abilities by placing students at the center of the education process
  • Plan and direct the learning process by developing standards, requirements, and new systems of quality control and motivation
  • Avoid centralization in managing learning processes by granting independence to educational directorates and schools
  • Provide facilities and equipment to schools and focus school plans and programs on learning processes
  • Build human and technical capabilities to manage education, lead the process of developing schools and achieving quality performance, grant suitable administrative authority, define goals for students, and establish schools that can accomplish these goals

The Ministry of Education oversees educational directorates and has refined their missions and processes to help schools concentrate on student learning and commit to nurturing personal development. This refinement also has put in place mechanisms to aid directorates and schools in meeting learning outcomes and organizing supervision. Currently, the assessment of school and directorate competence is based on administrative effectiveness, the ability to implement education, and effective follow‑up and monitoring. The Educational Department Council and its secretariat develop plans for courses of study and requisite educational infrastructure; approve plans and policies for educational development, training, research, computer projects, learning technology, and assessment; develop curricula; and prepare teacher education and professional development programs. The Ministry of Education supervises these plans via its educational directorates and offices throughout the country.

General education in Saudi Arabia is divided into public (government funded) education, private education, special education (under the supervision of the Ministry of Education), vocational education (related to the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation), and foreign education. Numerous specialized institutes operate under the supervision of departments such as the Ministry of Health and telecommunications and security departments. In addition to the many colleges offering various courses of study, Saudi Arabia has 30 universities (six of which are private).

Basic compulsory education in Saudi Arabia is for all children ages 6 to 15. The country’s public education system is divided into six years of primary education (Grades 1 to 6), three years of intermediate education (Grades 7 to 9), and three years of secondary education (Grades 10 to 12).