National School Upgrade Program

National School Upgrade Program is a national educational initiative and one of the pillars of the strategic plan for the development of public education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Launched in 2011, the program aims to improve the performance levels of educational and vocational institutions. School Upgrade Units were established in education administrations in the Kingdom's Provinces to implement it.

The program undergoes continuous updates by the Ministry of Education to operate in accordance with the concept of the learning community, in which teachers collaborate to help students activate their roles in the learning process.

The School Upgrade Unit in the National School Upgrade Program consists of an expert professional team of educational supervisors in the fields of school management, planning, training, guidance and counseling, teaching techniques, activities, educational supervision for scientific subjects, and educational supervision for theoretical humanities subjects. This team is organizationally linked to the education administration it follows, works to develop the elements of the educational process, and supports schools in carrying out their tasks by enhancing the efficiency and productivity of vocational educational communities.

It also aims to qualify and develop human capabilities, support field requirements with modern and specialized initiatives, achieve excellence in the education sector, and expand community participation in education.

The School Upgrade Unit in the National Program coordinates with responsible entities to provide learning materials, participate in preparing and implementing the development initiatives, disseminate the culture of the school development model among the staff of education administrations, and contribute to establishing internal competence within schools. It also assists in ensuring the quality of school assessments and plans, and strengthens schools by providing them with professional expertise and effective experiences from other schools.

The School Upgrade Unit prepares training workshops and programs related to school development, and then transfers the training to its unit supervisors, who subsequently convey it to development schools. Additionally, it participates in conducting school assessments based on agreed-upon performance purposes and prepares annual performance reports for schools within the education administrations.

Initiatives are considered a fundamental part of the National School Upgrade Program, as they work to establish a culture of collaborative work and stimulate learning communities within education administrations and their schools. They aim to achieve the agreed-upon productivity set by organizational unit partners for the development of common aspects among schools.

The process of producing a school development plan begins at the school level, starting with the collection and analysis of information, identifying priorities, agreeing on the plan, and determining the implementation mechanisms. It is then reviewed by the School Upgrade Unit, and if approved, a support and development plan is adopted. Afterward, the plan is integrated into education departments and offices, the support plan and initiatives are implemented, and the plan is put into action at the school.