Ministry of Education (Saudi Arabia)

Ministry of Education
Government body overview
وزارة التعليم

Yousef al-Benyan [ar], current Minister of Education since 2022
Formed	1926; 98 years ago (1926) as Directorate of Knowledge
Preceding agencies	Directorate of Knowledge (1926–1953) Ministry of Knowledge (1953–2003)
Jurisdiction	Government of Saudi Arabia
Headquarters	Airport Road, Riyadh 11148, Saudi Arabia^[1]
Government body executive	Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan, Minister of Education
Website	Official English Site

The Ministry of Education (MoE) (Arabic: وزارة التعليم), before 2003 as the Ministry of Knowledge and until 1953 as the Directorate of Knowledge, is a government ministry in Saudi Arabia that is responsible for regulating primary, secondary and higher education in the country. It was established in 1926 by King Abdulaziz ibn Saud in the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz. Since the amalgamations of the General Presidency for Girls' Education (GPGE) in 2002 and the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) in 2015, it became the sole body which supervises all schools, universities and colleges in the country.

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History

In 1926, Sultan of Nej Abdulaziz Ibn Saud annexed Kingdom of Hejaz and dissolved the government of Hijaz as well as the Sultanate of Nejd and established the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz with running a dual monarchy. King Abdul established the Council for Knowledge which focused on education in Hejaz region.^[2] He appointed Salih ibn Bakri Shata to head the council.^[3] Then Kamil Al Qassab was made the head of the education directorate.^[3] The directorate was also headed by the following until 1953: Majid Kurdi, Hafiz Wahba, Muhammad Amin Fuda and Ibrahim Al Shura.^[3]

In 1953 King Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud established and merged the Directorate of Knowledge to Ministry of Knowledge and appointed Prince Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud as the minister on 24 December 1953.^[4] In 1960, Crown Prince Faisal established General Presidency for Girls' Education. In 2002, King Fahd issued a royal decree which merged General Presidency for Girls' Education with the Ministry of Knowledge. It was renamed as Ministry of Education on May 1, 2003.^[5]^[6]

Special Education/Al Noor Institute for the Blind Riyadh

As far back as 1958, Special Education for students with visual and hearing disabilities had been in existence Saudi Arabia as fostered by the Special Education Unit of Education Ministry A formal step was taken by the government in 1960 when Riyadh's Al Noor Institute for the Blind was set-up and subsequently followed by Al Noor Blind Institute of Makkah in 1962 and then others in various regions in the country- https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/525529. The curriculum is identical with that of general education except where instruction was adapted to meet the needs of students with visual/hearing impairment who use Braille Method and similar systems to teach prescribed subjects.

In February 2021, Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Othman has been appointed as undersecretary for private universities at the Ministry.^[7]

List of ministers

Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1953–1962)
Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al Khwaiter (1976–1996)
Abdullah bin Saleh bin Obaid (2005–2009)
Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Saud (2009–2013)
Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud (2013–2015)
Ahmed bin Mohammad Al Issa (2015–2018)
Hamad bin Mohammed Al Al-Sheikh (2018–2022)
Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan (2022 - present)

Achievements

In September 2018, the Ministry of Education and Arizona State University partnered with each other in order to launch Building Leadership for Change Through School Immersion program which would commence from February 2019.