RIYADH/MADINAH — On behalf of Secretary-General of the King Faisal Foundation (KFF) Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Khalid, the foundation›s assistant secretary-general Prince Mansour Bin Saad visited King Abdulaziz International School in Madinah on Monday on the occasion of the school receiving authorization as a provider of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP).

The visit reflected King Faisal Foundation’s firm support to develop education in the Kingdom the KFF-IB Partnership Project.

Prince Mansour expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome he received and his admiration of what he saw at King Abdulaziz International Schools as a result of the implementation of IB standards and frameworks, which is reflected in the students› excellent educational dialogues during his tour of some classes.

Prince Mansour urged school officials to continue to work toward the final authorization of the rest of IB Programs (MYP and DP). He also expressed the foundation’s willingness to provide appropriate support to schools wishing to offer IB programs through the existing partnership with the IB under the guidance of foundation’s Board of Trustees and its secretary-general.

Prince Mansour voiced the ambition that all schools in the Kingdom will follow suit in adopting such initiatives that provide students with a valuable educational experience, thus enabling them to keep pace with the progress witnessed by the Kingdom at all levels, locally and internationally.

Dr. Hamad Al-Humood, director of the KFF-IB Partnership Project and the International Baccalaureate, and Fadi Dahan, KFF education programs officer, accompanied Prince Mansour.

The KFF-IB Partnership Project, launched on April 3, 2014, with the support of the Ministry of Education, aims to develop learners, leaders and teachers for the IB Programs in the Kingdom.

Abdulnasser Al-Sadawi, academic director of King Abdulaziz International Schools, expressed his happiness that the schools have joined King Faisal Foundation’s project. He also extended his gratitude for the effective collaboration, which reflected positively on the process of education at the schools.

The workshops which KFF organized at the schools helped enhance the chances of applying the Intermediate Years Program in school environments. Teachers were introduced to the International Baccalaureate policies, standards, planning and concepts and succeeded in implementing the student-centered learning program efficiently.

Al-Sadawi thanked the KFF team for their continued support in implementing the International Baccalaureate and helping prepare the nomination document for the accreditation of the Middle Years Program.

King Abdulaziz International School works to teach the International Baccalaureate program to high school students in line with Vision 2030’s objectives and the schools’ philosophy to build a generation that is armed with knowledge, skills, concepts and attitudes and in order to enhance collaboration with the KFF.

The King Faisal Foundation-IB Partnership Project aims to increase the school’s opportunities to offer the Primary Years Program and the Middle Years Program in the Arabic language. The project, which targets private primary and middle schools, organized reach-out programs in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam and attracted 18 primary schools and 18 middle schools that had met the selection criteria of the International Baccalaureate. Up to 159 workshops were organized for primary and middle schools with the participation of 3,705 principals, leaders and teachers.

King Abdulaziz International Schools work toward the full accreditation of the International Baccalaureate. — SG