| Like the rest of Saudi Arabia’s economy, the education sector is in the midst of rapid evolution.
As the pandemic demands social distancing and limited physical interaction, any activity that brings together many people together in a closed environment has become problematic.
To counter the problem, the Saudi government has turned to distance learning tools to ensure that the citizens have continued access to education, even though physical schools remain closed.
In April, Dr Hamad bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheikh, minister of education, said distant learning will turn out to be a strategic choice rather than just an alternative.
The minister said e-learning will not remain the same as before and will have a greater role in the post-pandemic period.
In June, the minister said the government was looking at live educational TV broadcasting via iEN Channels, links of YouTube channel, iEN Enrichment Portal, Future Gate, and Unified Education System in addition to the efforts made by the universities in providing virtual classes.
The ministry is leveraging the use of virtual classrooms via Vschool.sa and providing digital reading material on its website and mobile apps on both Android and Apple platforms.
“Remote e-learning is not limited to lessons taught by the teachers through platforms. Students can take part in several activities that can enrich their learning experience,” Dr. Ali Al-Ammari, assistant professor at the College of Computing and Informatics at the Saudi Electronic University, said in a media interview.
“In addition to simultaneous virtual lessons attended by students and teachers at the same time, there are other lessons that students can watch, pause and watch again at any time.”
The kingdom’s investment in online learning is also paying off, with the Saudi Electronic University, King Saud University, King Abdul Aziz University, King Faisal University and other universities boasting a fully functional remote-learning infrastructure.
FUTURE GATE
Long before the pandemic, Saudi Arabia had embarked on boosting its education infrastructure. Over the past few years, education has been the biggest spending item in the budget, as the government has focused on raising the skillsets of Saudi citizens in the new economy.
The Future Gate initiative, rolled out by the Tatweer Educational Technologies (TETCO) on behalf of the government in 2018, has already heralded smart classrooms and digital education management systems in the kingdom.
The portal provides a number of educational services, such as interactive learning. It also allows teachers to give homework and worksheets in addition to electronic tests, and is a way for teachers to communicate with students and parents. The portal has tools for teacher to prepare lectures and examinations paper. It also allows teachers, students and school administration to view weekly and daily programme, and schedule virtual classes for students.
The focus on online learning has already been a boon for a Saudi start-up Noon Academy, an online learning platform that raised USD 13 million from Riyadh-based STV, Alturki Holding and NFX Venture in June.
The start-up said it saw 3 million new students on its platform since the start of the pandemic, and the company plans to add new functionalities to allow schools in Saudi Arabia and around the world to utilise their platform easily.
“This is particularly relevant as students will continue to study from home for the foreseeable future,” Mohammed Aldhalaan, Noon Academy’s co-founder and CEO, said.
The focus on digital learning across the world would also have other consequences. As a number of western countries keep their universities closed and some countries consider limiting foreign students, the Saudi government will be looking to fill the gap and provide more services.
In June, the Saudi education ministry officials met with their counterparts in the UK to discuss joint co-operation in the fields of education. “The two sides also reviewed the situations of the Saudi students in the UK and the British students in Saudi Arabia as well as the efforts exerted by the Education Ministry in developing curricula and measures to confront COVID-19 pandemic,” the ministry noted.
Saudi Arabia is among the 10 biggest source markets of foreign students in western countries, according to UNESCO, with 5% of Saudi tertiary students studying abroad on average. By 2017, more than 84,000 Saudi students were studying abroad.
As their studies abroad are disrupted and often reduced to distance learning, more Saudi students may prefer to study at home, which would benefit Saudi universities in the long term, as they will be looking to expand their own courses and programmes to accommodate the rising demand. |
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