Saudi Arabia's education minister launches initiative to improve professional skills

Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh, Saudi minister of education and chairman of the board of directors of the National E-Learning Center, recently launched the Flexible Learning Pathways Initiative to improve professional skills for K-12 education, higher education and professional development.

The initiative has been launched through one of the center’s platforms, the National E-Learning Platform, FutureX, in partnership with global platforms such as Coursera, Edx, Udacity and FutureLearn.

Al-Sheikh said the initiative is a qualitative leap in the online education and training sector to provide innovative learning pathways and qualify citizens with capabilities related to the needs of the labor market.

The initiative provides access to more than 10,000 professional courses, programs and certificates, offered by more than 300 leading universities and companies worldwide.

The initiative is divided into three main paths during the first phase. The first is the general education path dedicated to enhancing the skills of high school students wishing to join the labor market, targeting 150,000 students.

Next is the higher education path dedicated to improving skills to up to 250,000 university students.

It will also offer a professional development path, designed to provide flexible career paths to develop and create new skills and target 150,000 employees and job seekers.

The initiative aims to cover several primary skills in the digital sphere, design, arts and music, engineering and science, critical thinking and business.

These pathways will be implemented at the national level. Related entities will recognize them, with the initiative contributing to achieving integration by linking the paths to skills, jobs, and labor market needs. Universities and employers will participate in designing, approving and recognizing the pathways.

The Flexible Learning Pathways initiative is also characterized by its flexibility in enabling entities to design pathways for interdisciplinary specializations and offers stackable micro-credentials. The initiative also uses data to track and improve the learning experience and document the process through a unified learner record.