This report was prepared as part of the OECD’s series of Reviews of National Policies for Education, and undertaken by the Policy Advice and Implementation Division within the Directorate for Education and Skills. The review was co‑ordinated and prepared by Elizabeth Fordham (Senior Advisor, OECD) and Richard Ruochen Li (Analyst, OECD).The review team who authored the report consisted of Dr. Wael Amer (Education Advisor, American University in Cairo), Professor Toby Greaney (University of Nottingham), Dr. Tina Isaacs (Honorary Associate professor in Educational Assessment, UCL Institute of Education), Mike Thiruman (General Secretary, Singaporean Teacher’s Union), Elizabeth Fordham and Richard Ruochen Li.
We wish to especially thank the Ministry of Education (MoE) for its support of the review, in particular Minister of Education H.E. Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Shaikh and former Minister of Education H.E. Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Issa. This review was guided by Dr. Nayyaf Al-Jabri, championed by Dr. Salim Al-Malik, and co-ordinated by Dr. Abdulrahman Mirza, who served as the national co-ordinator for the review and oversaw the preparation of a country background report. They were supported by Mr. Naif Al-Shathri.
During three missions to Saudi Arabia in 2018, the OECD review team met with a wide range of government officials and key educational stakeholders. These included senior leadership from MoE, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC), several Education Directorates and Departments, institutions of higher education and schools in and around Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Lith. The team is grateful to all of the above for their time and valuable input.
Background research and data analysis for the project was provided by Esraa Salim (OECD, Intern) and Charlotte Mayard (OECD, Consultant). Administrative support was provided by Sara Gouveia (OECD, Project Assistant), who also prepared the report for publication. The review team is grateful for the contributions from Malek Abu-Jawdeh (OECD, Analyst) and the feedback and support from Andreas Schleicher (Director, Directorate for Education and Skills (EDU), OECD) and Paulo Santiago (Division Head, Policy Advice and Implementation Division, EDU, OECD).