NEOM reveals a futuristic plan to innovate the education landscape in Saudi Arabia

NEOM has announced Education, Research and Innovation (ERI) plan to revolutionize the educational landscape of Saudi Arabia.

According to reports, the ERI will be based on four interconnected pillars covering early childhood education up to industrial innovation and research:

1. NEOM U;
2. The Education, Research, and Innovation Foundation;
3. The Talent Academy;
4. Early childhood to 12th-grade education.

This plan aims to offer top-tier educational and learning opportunities at every stage of life. Educational strata will engage in research and innovation through industry linkages and varied global institutions. The visionary planning seeks to address societal challenges in innovative ways. The Talent Academy will offer online classes in 2024 while NEOM University will start working online in 2025.

 It plans to create a digitally well-equipped workforce with fluency in tackling real life problems; and efficient in critical thinking and analytical ability to meet the challenges of the future. At every stage of education, world-class technical assistance like the provision of VR simulation technology, will be provided for comprehensive knowledge building. Inquiry and experiential-based learning will serve as the basis for the education sector.

Nadhmi Al-Nasr, Chief Executive Officer of NEOM said that education being the foundation of a progressive society demands that it should be provided a deserving place in the vision i.e. NEOM.

Andreas Cangellaris was appointed the founding president of NEOM U, the flagship university of NEOM last year. He envisioned developing such innovative programs that’ll help to meet the needs of the future.

What is NEOM?

NEOM is a large area of the country embarked to be developed under the “Vision 2030” of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. It is a futuristic project to be built on the coast of Tabuk, the northwestern province of Saudi Arabia. It is considered a smart city and informed to have 10 different projects. Four of the projects have been revealed so far i.e. The Line (a linear city of 170km in length), Oxagon (port city and largest floating structure of the world), Torenja (a skiing resort) and Sindhalah (luxury island resort). NEOM project seeks to make the country’s economy diverse instead of an oil-dependent economy. According to the developer, $500 billion in funding is required to invest in this project.