Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Dr. Khalid Al-Sabti, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Education and Training Evaluation Commission, affirmed the commission’s endeavor to ensure the quality of education and prepare globally competitive citizens by developing a flexible and solid educational foundation for all.

The commission provides lifelong learning opportunities that are keeping pace with the requirements of the labor market, he said.

Al-Sabti made the remarks while presenting a paper titled “Quality of Education, the Future of Generations and the Development of a Nation” at the 8th National Conference on Quality.

“By 2030, we will have 10 million students, 69 universities, and 24,000 schools, while there will be 3,626 training programs,” he said.

Regarding the future prospects of today’s students and the use of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in education, Al-Sabti stated that it will be through integrating technologies that blur the lines between the physical, digital and biological fields and the use of artificial intelligence.

He pointed out that the total data that will be generated, copied and consumed globally would increase to approximately 181 zenabytes during the next five years.

Al-Sabti emphasized that education is a major component in international development and competitiveness reports.

“The commission is working to evaluate education and training to raise their quality and adequacy and their contribution to serving the economy and national development through quality assurance by setting standards for curricula, learning outcome, evaluation standards, institutional and program accreditation, licensing controls and professional standards, in addition to qualification controls and standards,” he said.

Al-Sabti also spoke about the commission’s initiatives to improve education and training.

“The Eighth National Conference on Quality this year adopts six main goals that highlight the importance of quality in sustainable development, and enhance the role of quality applications and institutional excellence in improving business performance and driving change and transformation by reviewing best local and international practices,” he said.

According to Al-Sabti, the conference aims to highlight the role of quality in achieving the local and international competitive advantage for products and services, as well as enhancing the culture of quality in the individual and society.

It is also discussing the most prominent challenges and future directions in the concepts of quality and its applications, he pointed out.