H.E. Dr. Hamad Al Sheikh, Saudi Minister of Education, received, on October 6, 2021 at the Ministry’s headquarters, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO.
The Minister welcomed the Director-General and his accompanying delegation, and expressed his delight at this renewed opportunity to discuss ways of further enhancing cooperation between ALECSO and the Ministry, and to benefit from the accumulated experience and expertise of the Organization which plays a significant role in its fields of competence, as was recently proved during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Minister expressed hope that ALECSO would continue to provide Arab countries with online educational platforms that help maintain the continuity of learning. He also indicated his readiness to make available the Saudi experience in overcoming education disruption. Saudi Arabia has, in fact, developed a virtual educational platform called “Madrasati”, and provided 24 educational satellite channels that offer high-quality lessons prepared by qualified specialists.
On his part, the Director-General thanked the Saudi Minister for the warm welcome and generous hospitality, and for the continuous care and support that Saudi Arabia offers to ALECSO so that it can pursue its mission as best as possible. He commended the role played by the Chairman of the Executive Board and by the Secretary-General of the Saudi National Commission in supporting the Organization, thanking them for all the effort they have made to organize and ensure the success of this visit.
The Director-General indicated that in response to COVID-19, ALECSO has worked to develop and provide online educational platforms for countries with special needs, an effort that the Organization is keen to maintain. He also reviewed the ongoing preparations for holding four specialized ministerial conferences, scheduled for October, November and December of the current year, namely: the Conference of Arab Ministers of Vocational Training, the Conference of Arab Education Ministers, the Conference of Arab Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers.
At the conclusion of the meeting, it was agreed to pursue work toward further strengthening cooperation between the Organization and the Ministry, so that they can mutually benefit from each other’s experience and expertise, and thus meet the shared goal of advancing the educational system in the Arab States and providing an enabling environment for future generations to embrace excellence and creativity.
The Minister recalled, in this context, the “Gifted Arabs” Award project, jointly implemented with King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity.
The Minister concluded by thanking the Director-General for his significant role in building fruitful partnerships with Arab and international institutions in pursuit of shared goals.
The meeting was attended by H.E. Mr. Hani Al-Moqbel, Chairman of the Executive Board, H.E. Mr. Hattan bin Samman, Secretary-General of the Saudi National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, Mr. Hani Al-Mansi, Advisor to the Saudi National Commission, and Mr. Abdelhak Haif, Head of the Office of the ALECSO Director-General.
