JEDDAH: The Knowledge Economic City (KEC) in Madinah signed an agreement yesterday with Al-Andalus Private Schools to build two smart schools in the new city.

The agreement was signed at Hilton Qasr Al-Sharq Hotel in Jeddah by Tahir Mohammed Bawazir, chief executive officer of the KEC, and Abdulghani El-Khereiji, owner of Al-Andalus Private Schools.

The two schools, one for boys and the other for girls, will be built on separate plots of land covering an area of 50,000 square meters. The schools will provide education to students from the kindergarten up to the 12th grade.

“With an investment of around SR150 million, the schools will provide e-learning and the use of the latest technology to enhance the learning experience,” El-Khereiji said.

He said Al-Andalus Smart Schools would benefit from KEC’s modern infrastructure that will facilitate the speedy delivery of information and the optimum application of technology.

“I am confident that future graduates coming from Al-Andalus Schools will make their fair share of contribution to the development of the KEC and also to the Kingdom’s transformation to a knowledge-based economy,” El-Khereiji said.

Bawazir said the development of Al-Andalus Smart School “is a significant first step” toward the educational reforms introduced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. “The KEC in Madinah is the new home of knowledge-based industries and Al-Andalus School will benefit tremendously from this location to lay the foundation for preparing our youth for a knowledge-based economy,” he said.

He cited Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah’s statement that the Saudi education sector is going through an important phase in its history as a result of reforms introduced by King Abdullah to improve the country’s standards of education on par with the best in the world.

“We need more efforts in strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position by building knowledge and investing in human capital,” Bawazir said, adding that Al-Andalus would meet the challenges in achieving the vision set out by the Kingdom’s education planners.

The Knowledge Economic City Company recently completed the design for its smart IT network infrastructure in conjunction with Cisco Systesms and has also developed a study on the proposed smart services that will be provided there.