Minister of Education: Our goal is to position Saudi Arabia among the top 20 educational systems worldwide

The Ministry of Education, under the auspices of His Excellency the Minister of Education, Mr. Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan, and attended by various Ministers and leaders in government agencies and the private sectors, organized the first edition of the Invest in Education Forum 2025. The event, themed "Invest for Impact, Enabling Growth to Transform Education," is taking place for over two days, February 25 and 26, at the Ministry's main headquarters in Riyadh.

During the opening dialogue session of the forum, the Minister of Education stated, “Our government is making an unprecedented investment in education, with a budget that aligns with the requirements of growth and development." In 2025, the budget designated for education stands as the second largest allocation, totaling 201 billion riyals. Education must be an integrated initiative among various sectors, and we collaborate with government agencies. Our objective is for Saudi education to rank among the top 20 educational systems worldwide, in alignment with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.”

His Excellency emphasized that integrating the government, private, and non-profit sectors is crucial for achieving future educational objectives. The ministry works within an integrated system with government agencies to provide an attractive investment environment for the private sector in education. He highlighted the investment opportunities in constructing schools, overseeing their operations, delivering services, and creating content. Many investors are interested in investing in the sector.

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Al-Benyan noted that the private sector plays a significant role in supporting and enhancing the development of the education system, which is an attractive environment for investment, with a participation rate of 17%. The goal is to achieve 25% by 2030 with the backing of investors. He said the ministry always helps the private sector do its job in all parts of the Kingdom. The ministry aims to reach strategic goals and give the private sector the tools it needs to build promising educational facilities, creating an attractive investment environment that helps academic projects grow and last.

His Excellency explained that the expected investment opportunities would reach 50 billion riyals by 2030, encompassing 5,000 promising prospects within the education sector. He pointed out that the Ministry established the Business Center and three advisory councils to facilitate sector integration. He also mentioned that qualitative measures were implemented in development and governance, such as issuing a Cabinet decision to develop the Teachers Institute and strengthening the National Curriculum Center's role in creating educational content.

Minister Al-Benyan emphasized that the Ministry of Education is dedicated to delegating all its tasks to specialized entities to ensure quality. He highlighted the launch of the “Madares” platform for assessing schools and the NِAFS program for evaluating national tests, aiming to improve education quality and enhance competitiveness. He added that the ministry is collaborating with international organizations to examine the impact of artificial intelligence on educational curricula in the kingdom and achieve global educational outcomes.

His Excellency, the Minister of Education, concluded his speech by emphasizing that the Invest in Education Forum will serve as an essential platform for fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors and addressing the future of education. This illustrates the trend toward strategic investments to raise the quality of education and achieve ambitious goals.

During the Invest in Education Forum, numerous agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed between the Ministry of Education and various related entities. This encompasses an agreement with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing and a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Education, the Infrastructure Fund, and the Education and Training Evaluation Commission. Furthermore, a cooperation agreement was established between the Ministry of Education and the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank, along with a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Education and the "Meem Ain" Endowment Education Company. Various other initiatives have been introduced, such as the business school's services and the collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Education and the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization.

The forum featured multiple dialogue sessions involving various officials from government and private agencies as well as educational leaders. They discussed the strategic directions for investment in education, exploring the potential and opportunities available in this sector. The discussions also covered the challenges and opportunities for private education investors and various partnership models between the public and private sectors. Additionally, they reviewed notable success stories of educational partnerships and presented workshops and working papers focused on private education.

The forum serves as a platform uniting investors in the education sector to discuss the current landscape and the prospects of educational investment. The event aims to showcase investment opportunities and strategic directions that foster industry growth while facilitating strategic partnerships between the public and private sectors to promote sustainable development, enhance the efficiency of the educational process, and help achieve the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.​