Riyadh , October 29,2010
His Excellency the Minister of Education, Dr. Hamad Bin Mohammed Al-Sheikh, expressed his deep thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and His Highness the Crown Prince , His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdul Aziz , on the occasion of the approval and adoption of the New University System.
He said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency ” SPA” : The New System will achieve a qualitative leap in the march of the Saudi Universities on the basis of empowerment , excellence and quality, contribute to the development of the educational process and research, raise the efficiency of expenditure , and the development of financial resources of the universities and human capabilities in line with the kingdom’s Vision 2030. He clarified that the application of the system will start gradually on three universities as a first stage, and offer them a transitional period of (one year) starting from the date of the execution of the System Project.
He added that the New System is characterized by achieving the disciplined independence of the universities in accordance with the public policy by the State, the establishment of a Council for Universities Affairs with the membership of a number of government agencies, representatives of the private sector, a broad of trustees in each university to contribute achieving governance , and international advisor Councils to expand the base of participation in decision-making . He pointed out that the New System allows the universities to activate their own resources, allow them to create endowments and establish companies, enable them to approve their specialties and programs, choose their leaderships on the basis of efficiency , and improve their outputs in response to the needs of the labor market, in addition to creating job opportunities for the citizens in universities on a competitive basis.
He also pointed out that the New System will allow the opening of branches of foreign universities within the Kingdom in accordance with specific regulations to increase competitiveness in raising the efficiency of University Education System. He stressed the determination of the Ministry of Education with the continued support of the Wise Leadership to the University Education in achieving unprecedented qualitative gains at several educational and research levels, and activating the role of universities in the service and development of the society.
It is worth mentioning that the Minister of Education held, in the first week of his appointment , the first meeting of the university directors on January 6th, 2019 in Riyadh, and directed the formation of a committee of a number of university directors to review and reformulate the University System Project . The Committee held a number of meetings and reviewed the System , its articles and provisions. The Committee submitted a complete vision of the a project. The second meeting between HE the Minister of Education and the University Directors was held on Saturday , March 23rd , 2019 in Jeddah , during which the system was finalized and submitted to the competent authorities.
