In an effort to boost educational standards in Saudi schools, the King Faisal Foundation (KFF) has teamed up with International Baccalaureate (IB) to run an ambitious education project for a cluster of 18 schools in the first phase.

The project supports IB’s commitment to giving more Arabic-speaking students access to a globally valued IB education.

Speaking about this tie-up between KFF and IB, Adrian Kearney, IB’s regional director, said here Sunday: “We are extremely pleased with the positive development of this pivotal project in Saudi Arabia … and it underpins our aim to gradually transform education in Saudi Arabia to be the best in class worldwide.”

He said that a series of workshops have been lined up this year and next year under this program. Workshops will continue monthly until the end of May 2016 and will involve over 540 school leaders and teachers in preparing them to apply for their schools’ IB candidacy in 2016, said Kearney, while referring to the second phase of the joint project.

The project aims to increase access to an IB education for Saudi students and make a wider impact on the quality of education in the Kingdom.

A total of 18 schools across the country were invited to join the project and receive a series of leadership and pedagogy workshops that are funded by KFF.

The first leadership workshop, “Leading for learning in the 21st Century,” was run in Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah from Oct. 3 to 4. Ministry of Education officials and school leaders from each of the regions and the 18 schools worked together to explore the theories and practices that support the IB Primary Years Program (PYP).

The workshop was organized and delivered by leaders of IB World Schools in the region, who facilitate “new thinking” and discussions on what schools can do to support the transition from teacher directed classroom practices to child-centered learning experiences.

Founded in 1968, the IB is a non-profit foundation, which offers four high quality and challenging education programs for a worldwide community of schools. Currently, more than 1 million IB students attend more than 4,000 schools in 147 countries.

The King Faisal Foundation (KFF) is an international philanthropic organization established in 1976 with the mission of preserving and perpetuating King Faisal’s legacy. It has been involved in several welfare projects across the world besides giving the prestigious King Faisal Award every year.

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