RIYADH: In a landmark development, all licensed public and private schools in the Kingdom will undergo performance evaluation as part of an educational reform drive, Saleh Al Shamrani, deputy governor of the Public Education Evaluation Commission (PEEC), said on Monday.

The commission has resumed work with schools opening across the Kingdom this week, after the Eid holiday break.

The state-owned commission will work in complete independence from the Ministry of Education. Its report will have positive bearing on its credibility, because PEEC 18 standard areas are based on international practices of leading consulting firms.

According to the deputy governor, during the first phase of the operation this year, the team visited primary, intermediate and secondary schools, for both boys and girls, covering 12 districts. It will be followed by public schools later this year.

Ninety-two newly accredited specialists, selected from over 500 applicants, were divided into 37 teams to oversee the operations. He said that the commission has set strict standards for their specialists to ensure professionalism in their approach.

Shamrani said the primary mission is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses in three key areas — school leadership, quality of education and teaching, and personal development of the students.

He said that schools will be classified as to whether they applied the criteria level, non-application of the criteria, partial application, full application, and innovation in criteria level.

Shamrani said the outcome of these reports determining the eligibility levels of the schools will be announced through various media outlets and the PEEC website.