Saudi Arabia has made big strides in development and education during the past eight decades of the Saudi dynasty. Indeed, such development and progress is unprecedented in the modern history of that country. Thousands of schools and colleges have been opened in the kingdom and new opportunities provided to the younger generation. The accession of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz to the throne has however heralded a new era of educational development in the country. It has indeed ushered in a revolution in the field of education.

Saudi Arabia, thanks to the King's progressive policies, now spends 25 per cent of its budget on education. This is part of the great reforms brought about by King Abdullah in socio-economic and educational sector. During his reign the number of universities has jumped from eight to 24 and the number of Saudis pursuing higher education has grown manifolds.

An idea of the big change brought about in the educational field can be had from the fact that in 1970 the total number of students enrolled in all colleges and universities in the country was 7,000, while by 2005 that number had gone up to 200,000 and half of the students in the colleges and universities in the kingdom are now females.

Today the number of male and female teachers in the 33,000 schools Saudi schools is nearly 500,000, and more than 80,000 Saudi students are now pursuing higher education in reputed universities around the world.

This is no less than a revolution which is going to transform the Saudi Arabia into one the of the world's advanced countries.

Indeed, King Abdullah, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has shown the way to the other Arab and Muslim countries too. Education is the key to progress; it is the key to the solution of all the problems of the Arab and Muslim world including the political problems. Without education, no country can be truly independent and strong. The future of the world is in knowledge- based economy towards which King Abdullah has been leading the Saudi Arabia's new generation. One of the major milestones in the kingdom's march towards knowledge-based economy is the establishment of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at a large campus 80 kilometers north of Jeddah, three years ago. Today KAUST is a bustling higher educational complex with students not only from Saudi Arabia, but from all over the world including China and the United States. Side by side a women's university, the Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University for Women, the largest women only university in the world, has been opened in Riyadh.

Besides 1, 30,000 Saudi students have been studying abroad in some of the world's best universities on scholarships. When these students return to the kingdom after advanced studies, it would bring a real change making Saudi Arabia a model society in the Muslim world. Let other Arab and Muslim countries follow the lead provided by King Abdullah.

---