المملكة: "UNESCO 2026 report".. Accelerated growth in the university education system in Saudi Arabia
Report praised "Global Monitoring for Education 2026" Issued by UNESCOin the Kingdom of Arabia University education, based on data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics for the year 2024.
The Kingdom recorded an enrollment rate of 83.88% in post-secondary education for the year 2024 AD, as the Kingdom’s data on the UNESCO Institute for Statistics database indicate that there is almost complete parity between the sexes at a ratio of 1.01, as well as an increase in the number of students enrolled in university education to 1.57 million male and female students.
The report showed a remarkable growth in specializations related to the knowledge economy, and a reduction in the gender gap in university education from 20 percentage points in 2006 to only 5 points in 2022, knowing that this gap disappeared in 2024 with a slight increase in the enrollment rate of girls, according to data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
E-learning and blended
The report touched on developing the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ scholarship program to be consistent with the internal expansion of universities. In the Kingdom – driven by the entry of Saudi universities into international classifications – in addition to the expansion in the opening of a number of technical colleges.
The report also indicated that e- and blended education were among the most important successful solutions developed by the Kingdom to remove obstacles for girls in enrolling in university education, as the enrollment rate of girls in the Saudi Electronic University nearly doubled in the period from 2018-2024.
This came coinciding with the Ministry of Education’s participation in the high-level event to launch the report at its headquarters UNESCO in Paris, based on the organization’s invitation to the Kingdom as a leading model in post-secondary education.
Quality of educational outcomes
The Undersecretary for Planning, Eng. Saad bin Abdul-Ghani Al-Ghamdi, reviewed the Kingdom’s efforts to enhance access to post-secondary education while ensuring the quality of educational outcomes, including the expansion of more than 70 universities and colleges, the development of e-learning through the Saudi Electronic University and university programs, and the launch of a platform "acceptance" To ensure equal opportunities for admission, in addition to the enrollment rate in technical and vocational education exceeding 30% during 2024, as part of the initiatives of the Human Capacity Development Program.
Al-Ghamdi reviewed the successes achieved by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program, which includes more than 56 thousand scholarship students, in addition to the arrival of the number of beneficiaries of services. "Study in Saudi Arabia" To 200,000 international students, as well as efforts to attract prestigious international universities to open branches within the Kingdom.
In a related context, and on the level of academic excellence, the Undersecretary for Planning pointed out that King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals achieved 67th place in the world according to the QS classification, and that Saudi universities entered the list of the top 100 universities in the world based on the report of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and based on data from the US Patent and Trademark Office USPTO. Patents for the year 2025, and the percentage of female graduates of STEM programs increased to 45.6% in 2024, which reflects the growing research and innovation environment in the Kingdom.
- For more: Follow Khaleejion 24 Arabic, Khaleejion 24 English, Khaleejion 24 Live, and for social media follow us on Facebook and Twitter
