Prince Turki Al Faisal, the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. has affirmed the attention paid by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to invest in the field of education and training and to continue the march of development and progress in various fields. "The King encourages and supports these efforts to contribute in contemporary civilization as our predecessors contributed in the making of Islamic civilization in the golden era," he said yesterday in a speech at Princeton University. He highlighted the importance of Kingdom's efforts to modernize and develop education programs. "In the next five years, 2,500 schools of different stages of education will be constructed, beside 50 colleges and 155 new technical training institutes in various regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Prince Turki said. Highlighting the importance of the King Abdul Aziz program of exchange students group, he said. "Currently, 10,000 Saudi students receive education in universities and institutes in the United States of America and a number of other states," he added. Prince Turki also presented an overview of the process of education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and stages of development, and said the government allocated nearly 26% of the annual budget under the current fiscal year to spend on public education, higher education and technical training. He noted the important role of women in Saudi society and her achievements in areas of education and employment. Prince Turki, then, participated in a dialogue session on education training and the importance of acquiring new skills in promoting economic growth and keeping abreast of the contemporary era of globalization.
