المملكة: Establishing a department to protect the educational environment from behavioral risks

Minister of Education Youssef Al-Benyan issued a ministerial decision establishing a new organizational unit under the name of the Department of Social and Behavioral Studies.
This comes based on the powers granted to him by law and Cabinet Resolution No. 265 dated 1/8/1445 AH approving the structure and organizational guide of the Ministry of Education and based on what the business interest requires.

Protecting the educational environment

The decision stipulates that the new administration will be organizationally linked to the general supervision of the Education Research Center and will assume its duties immediately as of the date of issuance of the decision.
The decision also eliminated any conflict with previous decisions to ensure the achievement of work objectives under the new organizational structure and in line with the vision of the Ministry of Education to develop the educational environment and enhance its social and psychological stability.

Providing forward-looking studies and research

The Department of Social and Behavioral Studies aims to provide forward-looking and social studies and research that contribute to diagnosing the educational reality and anticipating the future and working to build and enhance the student’s positive and productive personality while strengthening his psychological immunity and among members of the school environment.
This aims to protect the educational environment from behavioral, intellectual and psychological risks and contribute to achieving social security within schools and educational communities.

Preparing qualitative studies

The administration is responsible for preparing qualitative studies that focus on analyzing social phenomena and behavioral deviations in coordination with the relevant authorities, in addition to conducting forward-looking studies in the behavioral, social, intellectual and psychological fields.
It enhances support for the sectors of the Ministry of Education and determines their effects on education, curricula and specialized plans. The administration also works to collect and analyze data related to the student’s personality and the social phenomena associated with him to develop education strategies and public policies.

The administration develops preventive and therapeutic intervention plans in cooperation with the General Administration of Student Guidance. It also monitors and analyzes negative social phenomena, behaviors, and behavioral deviations at the local and regional levels.
This is in addition to preparing qualitative studies that contribute to building remedial plans to protect the educational environment from negative behaviors and intellectual deviations that may affect the school community.

Social phenomena

The administration works to prepare studies related to social phenomena and their future impact, while providing specialized studies at the national and international levels for comparison with similar global experiences.
It also aims to reduce negative phenomena through social, psychological and behavioral studies and explore their effects on the school and community environment, and seeks to develop sustainable development programs by investing in specialized social research in coordination with relevant authorities and active participation in community dialogues.

Social and behavioral studies

The Ministry of Education confirmed that the establishment of the Department of Social and Behavioral Studies comes within the efforts aimed at enhancing the quality of the educational environment and achieving integration between social research and educational policies.
This contributes to achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which focuses on developing education and achieving sustainable development in society, stressing the importance of activating the role of the new administration to ensure the achievement of its goals and support the stability and safety of the school environment.

This decision represents a strategic step towards enhancing the sustainable educational environment in the Kingdom in a way that enhances positive values, reduces social and psychological risks, and contributes to building a safe and productive school community.