In cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba", held a program to train teachers in the sciences of distance scientific Olympiads, during the period from 12 to 16 September, with the participation of 455 teachers in the disciplines of: mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology and informatics.
Training is programmed as for 3 hours per day during the training period to be carried out by a group of distinguished experts and trainers in the training of scientific teams. The trainees are divided into groups of no more than 25 trainees in one group. The training ends with a test through which the trainees are classified for collaboration in the central training programs.
Mawhiba praised the cooperation and partnership with the Ministry of Education, which produced this program to localize training in the sciences of the International Olympiad and to provide them with the necessary mechanisms and skills, and for the Saudi cadres and expertise later to train the nation's talents and qualify them to participate in the international Olympiads in the name of the Kingdom. Mawhiba emphasized that supporting localization in the Olympiad science training sector does not conflict with Mawhiba’s ongoing efforts to attract global talent, to achieve the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, and build a strong Saudi knowledge economy.
Mawhiba added that, with the momentum of competition to ascend the podiums, everyone who wants to achieve this must own a system that annually produces a generation of trained students in the targeted disciplines, which requires a long and qualified list of qualified national trainers capable of absorbing the growing ambition. For the sons and daughters of the nation, who are both quantitatively and qualitatively talented, through the localization of training, the discovery of distinguished teachers in scientific disciplines, and the achievement of Saudi medals in international forums.
The Teacher Training Program on the Scientific Olympiad aims to localize Olympiad training in various education departments, thus contributing to raising the level of students participating in local scientific competitions qualified for national teams, and informing the trained teachers of the nature of the topics and questions of basic international competitions, and the discovery of distinguished teachers to train national teams participating in international competitions, as well as training on an advanced subject in the approach of specialization that aims to increase information, to develop trainees' skills, and to raise their own competencies.
The Program also seeks to expand the base of Saudi trainers in the educational zones, nominate distinguished among them for training at higher levels, and spread the culture of training in the sciences of the International Olympiad.
It is noteworthy that during 2019, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and KAUST, Mawhiba trained 250 teachers in attendance, where it was the first time that the Program was held in this form. Prior to that and over the course of ten years, Mawhiba designed and executed many programs directed to teachers on the sidelines of the central forums, in addition to the Training Convoys Program, through which trainers were sent to education departments to train teachers.
