RIYADH, 12 January 2004 — Saudi Arabia will send five senior education officials to Japan in a move to learn from the Japanese experience in curriculum development, said Abdulilah Al-Mosharaf, director general of the curriculum department in the Ministry of Education yesterday.
Al-Mosharaf said the new curriculum, which is part of a comprehensive reform process, would be introduced in the next academic year (2004-2005).
The Saudi officials have been invited by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a government arm responsible for implementing technical cooperation programs. JICA has a training program for Saudi nationals in which more than 1,333 Saudis have participated since its inception in 1960.
The visit to Japan by Ministry of Education officials is part of a plan which seeks reforms and changes in the school curriculum to cope with the challenges of the new world order.
“The Saudi officials will attend a tailor-made training program during their monthlong trip,” said Al-Mosharaf.
Seiichi Miyoshi, JICA resident representative, said the Saudis would be received in Osaka on Tuesday. At present, Saudi Arabia’s expenditure on education is one of the highest in the world at over nine percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) compared with the world average of only 5.08 percent.
