RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and the US are seeking to enhance investment and collaboration in the education sector.
Talks were held in America between Education Minister Yousef Al-Benyan and US officials and investors from Feb. 6 to 10. The minister and his delegation also toured several American institutions and universities, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
The officials also focused on internationally-recognized education for children, and students with special needs and disabilities.
The Kingdom is further seeking to attract foreign investment in tertiary education under Saudi Vision 2030.
At the University of Chicago, the minister discussed collaboration in research and the establishment of independent schools. In Washington, meetings with officials from the State Department and the Department of Education focused on economic and education advancements in the Kingdom.
The minister highlighted the Ministry of Education’s plans for curriculum improvement, and to foster global citizenship, peace, tolerance and diversity.
Al-Benyan underscored the ministry’s commitment to enhancing private sector involvement in delivering high-quality education and training of teachers, through the ministry’s National Institute for Educational Professional Development.
In Washington, a forum was held on education investment in the Kingdom, attended by more than 150 investors and representatives from US entities. Saudi Arabia’s officials fielded inquiries about establishing branches of American schools and universities in the Kingdom.
The minister discussed the opening of an Arizona State University branch in the Kingdom; and visited Gallaudet University in Washington which specializes in educating students with hearing disabilities.
He also explored cooperation with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf to establish centers for people with hearing disabilities in Saudi Arabia.
In Chicago and Washington, the minister met Saudi Arabia’s scholarship students, and briefed them on the objectives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program. He told the students they were ambassadors of Saudi Arabia in the US.
