المملكة: "School twinning"..an initiative by education to exchange experiences and raise the quality of education

The Ministry of Education, represented by the Early Childhood Agency and the General Administration for Primary Grades, revealed the general framework of the model supporting school excellence in the early grades.

The model aims to improve Education quality and improving learning outcomes by applying the concept of twinning between schools, so that distinguished schools transfer their educational and administrative expertise to low-performing schools, thus enhancing integration between schools and achieving sustainability of excellence in educational practices.

The Ministry confirmed that the model represents an integrated system of educational and administrative practices that seek to enable schools to achieve the highest quality standards in education, through a stimulating educational environment in which there is effective school management, a distinguished teacher, enrichment classroom activities, and a community partnership that contributes to improving the outcomes of education in the early grades (first – second – third primary), in proportion to Developmental characteristics of students in this basic stage .

The model aims to build institutional schools capable of transferring expertise and providing support and assistance through modeling, simulation, and exchange of experiences, in areas including effective school administration, distinguished teachers, attractive and supportive educational environment, enrichment activities, continuous evaluation and improvement, and partnership with the family and community, In a way that contributes to raising the efficiency of education and achieving the Ministry’s goals in developing the early grades .

The Ministry explained that the detailed objectives of the model include .

The Ministry has set precise controls for Selecting distinguished schools participating in twinning, including that the school include complete early grades from the first to the third of primary school, and that it achieves high performance in all components of the general framework, with the availability of a safe and stimulating educational environment, management with a clear vision and an effective strategic plan, and qualified teachers who have specialized professional development programs, and the application of teaching strategies that take into account individual differences among students, in addition to Its readiness to provide support and share its experiences with beneficiary schools"LTR">.

The controls for selecting the beneficiary schools also include that they be among the early grades, and that their employees have a motivation for development, with a decrease in one or more components of the model according to the approved measurement tools, and that the schools be within the same geographic scope as the School of Excellence to facilitate the twinning process and continuous field follow-up.

The Ministry indicated that the education departments are responsible for collecting data on the nominated schools and their level of performance, verifying their validity, and submitting the list of nominations to the Ministry, attached to the analytical reports. The model will then be implemented through twinning within each educational department, linking low-performing schools with distinguished schools in the same department to ensure direct communication and continuity of support and technical supervision.

The coordinating supervisor for the early grades supervises the preparation of the procedural plan to implement the model within each educational department, which includes diagnosing the reality of the targeted schools through field visits and analyzing student results, determining priorities for improvement according to the main weak points, and developing an accurate time follow-up plan that includes a schedule of visits and monthly reports to measure progress, performance indicators, and the required support.

The implementation of the model is being monitored at three integrated levels, starting at the school level by submitting reports after each support process, passing through the Education Department, which follows up indicators of improvement through a specialized supervisory committee that provides periodic feedback, all the way to the Ministry, which analyzes the reports and issues periodic and final reports at the end of each academic year to measure the extent of achieving the goals.

The work of the model concludes with the holding of a final workshop at the level of education departments to arbitrate the procedures of the general framework for twinning between schools, with the participation of early grade supervisors, school principals and educational experts, to review success stories and best practices that contributed to improving the quality of education and developing learning environments.

The implementation of support begins by identifying the areas and components required to be developed according to the analysis of the reality of the beneficiary schools, then preparing an integrated support program for an entire semester that includes the timetable, components and procedures of support provided by the schools of excellence in coordination with the beneficiary schools. During implementation, Excellence Schools provide field presentations to showcase their achievements and experiences, and provide opportunities for practical application, discussion, and exchange of experiences. The beneficiary schools will later be provided with applied models to benefit from in developing their performance and improving their practices. .

At the end of each semester, the coordinating supervisor prepares a comprehensive report that includes performance indicators and the amount of improvement in educational outcomes, and submits it to the Ministry along with development proposals that support sustainable improvement and integration in twinning between schools.

The launch of the twinning model between early grade schools confirms the Ministry of Education’s keenness to raise the efficiency of the educational system, develop learning environments, and improve the quality of basic education, which contributes to achieving the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to build an educated generation that possesses modern skills and knowledge, and contributes to consolidating excellence and sustainability in education in the Kingdom. .