Accord signed for center of educational excellence

Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah and Royal Commission President Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan yesterday signed an agreement to establish a regional center for educational quality and excellence.
The agreement was aimed at activating a proposal made by the Royal Commission on establishing a center of quality and excellence during the first international conference on the quality of general education.
During the conference, which was held in Riyadh in January 2011, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah emphasized the government's resolve to modernize the Kingdom's education system. He also urged education officials and teachers to make all-out efforts to provide quality education. Yesterday’s agreement was aimed at strengthening cooperation between the ministry and the Royal Commission in various sectors and exchanging their expertise to spread a culture of quality and excellence.
“We don’t have any choice except improving the quality of education,” the minister said after signing the agreement. “We have achieved quantitative growth in education and it is now time for qualitative development,” he added.
Prince Saud highlighted the Royal Commission’s contributions toward making optimum use of the country’s natural resources. “The new center of educational excellence will help realize better investment in human resources through added value and sustainable development.”
Noura Al-Faiz, deputy education minister for girls education and chairperson of the founding committee for the regional center for quality and excellence, commended the Royal Commission for its support to the ministry in promoting quality education.
“Education leaders in the Kingdom have understood the importance of adopting the concepts of comprehensive quality and excellence,” she said while underscoring the need for partnership with various institutions like RC to achieve the goal.
Al-Faiz said the regional center for educational excellence would be first of its kind in the Kingdom and the whole region. "It will work with UNESCO’s technical support and serve all Arab countries," she added.