Cultural Capability Development Strategy

The Cultural Capability Development Strategy is a comprehensive national strategy to align educational outcomes with labor market needs in the cultural sector within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It focuses on integrating culture and arts into all stages of education, as well as technical and vocational training, and enhancing the educational environment to foster the growth of the cultural sector. The strategy was launched on December 15, 2022, by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, along with the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, the Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC), and the National eLearning Center (NeLC).

The Cultural Capability Development Strategy aims to foster a positive image of cultural and artistic talents and professions while increasing public awareness about the importance of developing cultural capabilities. It seeks to provide opportunities for individuals to develop their hobbies and engage in non-formal education, encouraging them to explore their artistic skills and interests. The strategy emphasizes the continuous identification, appreciation, and support of creative and cultural talents and hobbies. It also focuses on offering high-quality educational and training programs in arts and culture for students in higher education and technical and vocational training, ensuring alignment with labor market needs. Furthermore, it aims to provide foundational, high-quality education in culture and arts for public education students and enable sustainable professional development for artists, cultural practitioners, and entrepreneurs.

The goals of the Cultural Capability Development Strategy are distributed across four educational pathways: public education, higher education, technical and vocational training, and lifelong learning. These goals are pursued through various programs, including academic initiatives, support for specialized colleges and academies, vocational training programs, and culture and arts curricula, and expanding their scope. The strategy includes extracurricular activities, teacher development programs, talent discovery programs, competitions, amateur clubs, workshops for children outside of school, informal workshops, professional skill enhancement programs, and entrepreneurship programs (incubators and accelerators).

The Cultural Capability Development Strategy aims to achieve its initial targets by 2026. These targets include ensuring that over half of public education schools offer extracurricular cultural activities and encouraging more than 5 percent of public education graduates to specialize and pursue careers in cultural fields. Additionally, the strategy aims to graduate over twenty thousand specialists in cultural disciplines through higher education and technical and vocational training stages. It also seeks to establish 120 training institutions dedicated to culture and the arts while supporting hobbies, to ensure that over 14 percent of Saudis actively engage in personal hobbies related to culture and arts.

The Cultural Capability Development Strategy has adopted thirty-three initiatives, including the Design, Improvement, and Introduction of Cultural and Arts Curricula in Public Education; Talent Discovery and Nurturing Programs; Celebrating Cultural and Artistic Capabilities; Establishing Professional Teacher Standards; Developing Infrastructure in Schools and Colleges, and Academic Programs in Higher Education; System for Technical and Vocational Training Programs and Licensing; Cultural Scholarship Program; Arts and Culture Skill Development Programs; Amateur Activities; and Studies and Research on Cultural Capability Development, among others aimed at developing the educational environment and fostering cultural creativity.

The Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with NeLC, launched the Culture and Arts Training Pathways Initiative on August 11, 2024. This initiative, derived from the Cultural Capability Development Strategy, provides diverse training pathways in various cultural and artistic fields. It offers continuous educational and developmental opportunities to support national talent in the cultural sector. Practitioners and enthusiasts can enroll to refine their talents through an ongoing learning journey that enhances their specialized competencies in the cultural sector by registering on the National eLearning Platform, "FutureX."

The initiative encompasses thirty training pathways, offering nearly 150 training programs covering multiple cultural sectors, including culinary arts, theater and performing arts, libraries, film, fashion, heritage, visual arts, literature, publishing, and translation. The duration of each training program varies depending on the specialty of each cultural training pathway.

The Cultural Capability Development Strategy represents a comprehensive national framework supported by two programs under Saudi Vision 2030 realization programs (VRPs): the Human Capability Development Program and the Quality of Life Program. Through this strategy, the Ministries of Culture and Education and other educational and training bodies, aim to enhance cultural capabilities within the education and training sectors, with the participation of relevant parties from both sectors. The strategy seeks to create better opportunities for students' talents, foster a creative generation that will serve the sixteen cultural sectors, and contribute to developing an advanced and sustainable cultural industry, achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.