Saudi Arabia adds 50 AI units to curriculum
Education minister unveils reforms for new term, schools to expand AI learning
#SaudiArabia #education- Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan has announced 50 new AI educational units added to the national curriculum for the 2026-2027 academic year, alongside updates to 22 subjects. The changes were unveiled at a government press conference in Riyadh, as part of a wider reform package that includes a new General Education Law, teacher training programmes and AI tools designed to reduce administrative workload for teachers. The new AI programmes were developed in collaboration with Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Kingdom’s national AI company Humain.
SO WHAT? - Saudi Arabia has spent the past eight years developing AI policies, programmes and initiatives across every aspect of its economy, public sector and society. After launching national AI curricula for schools last year, extensive AI education and skills initiatives reach directly into classrooms boosting AI literacy among both students and teachers. The new reforms expand and enhance this effort. Beyond teaching AI as a subject, the Ministry of Education is supporting teachers themselves, providing AI tools and platforms to help them manage workloads and so increase the education system’s capacity.
KEY POINTS:
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan announced significant reforms for the 2026-2027 academic year at a press conference this week.
The curriculum changes for the new academic year include 50 new AI educational units and updates to 22 existing subjects, alongside the rollout of a unified Education Portal bringing educational services together on one platform.
AI tools are being introduced through a technical experiment with Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and national AI company Humain., designed to reduce operational and administrative burdens on teachers so they can focus more directly on students’ needs.
The reforms follow Saudi Arabia’s launch of one of the world’s first comprehensive national AI curricula in August 2025, which introduced age-appropriate AI modules from elementary school through university level to six million students nationwide.
The Ministry of Education and SDAIA have also issued guidance for the ethical and responsible use of generative AI in general education, aimed at preserving teachers’ central role while supporting enhanced learning through AI tools.
Alongside AI-specific measures, more than 240,000 teachers are being trained through the Human Capability Development Program, with 60,000 already trained in the past year as part of one of the largest professional development plans in the education system.
The ministry’s revised Hudoori attendance system will let teachers leave school once they’ve completed their scheduled duties for the day, rather than working to a single fixed schedule, The reforms also introduce a strict ban on teachers instructing subjects outside their specialisation.
More than 37,500 educational and administrative staff are set to be promoted next month. The ministry delivered 36 million textbooks to schools before the summer break, an improvement the ministry attributed to working with its implementation arm Tatweer.
The minister noted that early childhood education enrolment has risen to more than 35%, with the ministry targeting 90% enrolment by 2030 as part of its wider Vision 2030 education goals.
ZOOM OUT - The reforms for the 2026-2027 academic year build on an already ambitious curriculum. Last year Saudi Arabia's National Curriculum Center introduced AI teaching from elementary school through university. The new AI curricula reached some six million children attending public schools nationwide. The Ministry of Education developed the curriculum in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and SDAIA, alongside a parallel Academic Framework for AI Qualifications designed to bring Saudi AI graduates up to international standards. One year on, the expansion suggests the Kingdom is building on this foundation, adding more units and AI tools for teachers.
[Written and edited with the assistance of AI]
Source: Saudi media, various, MEAIN
Read more about education in Saudi Arabia:
SDAIA opens AI professional badge registration (Middle East AI News)
Saudi culture ministry signs AI MoU with SDAIA (Middle East AI News)
SDAIA trains 215 students from 28 universities (Middle East AI News)
SDAIA launches national data and AI university curriculum (Middle East AI News)
Saudi Arabia launches SAMAI 2 workforce AI initiative (Middle East AI News)