Forum to focus on teachers

Riyadh Gov. Prince Sattam opens an exhibition at the international conference   Riyadh - Arabstoday A major international exhibition and forum for education organized by the Ministry of Education was opened in Riyadh on Monday.The five-day event , organized under the aegis of Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, will focus on how to develop the education sector further and build world-class infrastructure to enable the Kingdom to be on par with the best educational systems of the world. Speaking on the occasion, Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah said Saudi Arabia was looking forward "to establish a competitive knowledge-based society." He pointed out "a shift toward a knowledge-based society requires a qualitative achievement in the field of education taking into consideration the need of society." The minister said a major educational forum had been organized on the sidelines of the exhibition. The forum would be composed of 64 sessions to be addressed by educational experts during the next four days. The forum, Prince Faisal said, would focus on the role of teachers and knowledge-based society, training of teachers, selection of teachers and evaluation of teachers' performance. The first session on Monday was addressed by several experts including professors Colin William Evers of Australia and Amer Bin Abdullah Alsherani of King Khalid University. "Most exhibitors representing 12 countries are focusing on model education systems," said Abdulelah Al-Sheddi, an official of the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is closely working with the Ministry of Education. Al-Sheddi said more than half of the exhibitors are from the Kingdom. Most of the participants are representing elite institutions including local and international companies operating in the field of education and training. One of them is Numu Al-Elmia, a leading company specialized in the field of publication and distribution of scientific books and English language teaching. Azzam Al-Dakhil, chief executive officer of Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG), said Numu’s participation in the event as a platinum sponsor was in line with the group’s services to local society. Numu offers a number of technical solutions and educational development programs in the Kingdom. “By signing strategic agreements with the Education Ministry, Numu seeks to provide a series of modern technical and educational solutions,” Al-Dakhil said. Numu, a subsidiary of SRMG, has signed accords with international firms specialized in electronic education and modern technological applications. “Numu’s provision of a number of services to the Education Ministry, including the development of curriculum, publication of electronic educational content and training of educational cadre, augur well with the ministry’s efforts to establish a knowledge-based society,” Al-Dakhil said. Numu has been involved in the development of several reading materials to suit the requirements of curricula for schools and universities in Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries, Arab countries and North Africa, said Omar Al-Sheikh, a top Numu official. The company, he said, is also working on a prestigious project to develop English language textbooks for Saudi schools. It is also working to build a world-class library for Saudi Aramco. Numu's aim is to promote education systems and distribute specialized educational contents as well as educational methods at all stages among schools, institutes and universities, the official said. Currently, activities of the company cover Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE. Numu has a qualified team to develop science contents, normal books and electronic books. This team is highly capable of running training courses also.