RIYADH — The National eLearning Center has restored the distance education e-learning programs in four major government universities after its suspension three years ago. The center has granted licenses to King Abdulaziz University, King Faisal University, Qassim University, and Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman University to provide e-learning programs. The programs will be implemented in line with the rules and regulations and criteria set by the center. King Abdulaziz University obtained license for diploma in professional sales, marketing, public administration, banking and insurance, while King Faisal University was granted with license for diploma in marketing and sales, banking and insurance, and public administration. The center granted license to Qassim University for diploma in digital marketing, logistics and supply chain management, accounting and sales, while Princess Noura University was granted license for a diploma in marketing. The decision to return e-learning to four universities comes as a result of the difficulties caused by male and female students and employees for completion of their distance education courses following the decision of the former Minister of Education Ahmed Issa to stop all parallel education programs in universities after restricting them to the electronic university. National eLearning Center announced the launch of the licensing service for e-education and training programs to all public and private universities, and educational and training institutions in the Kingdom. A number of public and private universities, educational and training agencies and various government and private agencies have applied to obtain license from the center, and subsequently, procedures are under way to grant them licenses. The center had given the agencies, which are providing electronic education and training programs, one-year period to correct their status in order to obtain the center's license to practice their electronic educational and training activities. If they fail to correct the status within the stipulated one-year period, of which four months had already passed, they will not be granted the license. Granting of licensing service and setting controls and standards for e-education and training in the Kingdom is part of the center's efforts to control the quality of e-learning. The center has taken several steps recently with the aim of raising the quality of e-learning and controlling its practices, especially with the accelerated global trend towards this type of education, which has become a necessity and a strategic choice for the future after the coronavirus pandemic. It is noteworthy that a large number of male and female students demanded the return of distance education to universities, noting that the Ministry's decision to suspend it prevented them from completing their distance university level courses. These students considered that the ministry's decision to suspend distance education is not based on strategies or plans, especially while taking into account of the fact that many advanced countries supported distance education and implemented it in their schools and universities even before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
