The Management of Public Education in Saudi Arabia

(From Inception to Organization 1926-1939)

Abstract

This study aims to identify the educational systems and administrative regulations that influenced the course of public education in its early stages, specifically during the period from 1926, the year that witnessed the establishment of the first Directorate of Education, to 1939, the year in which the first specific system for public schools, the Princely Schools System, was issued. The study found that the Directorate of Education was initially responsible for education in the Hijaz region only, then expanded to cover the entire Kingdom after the unification of the country was completed. Several educational systems were issued during this period, including the Board of Education System of 1927, the Curriculum Unification System of 1927, in addition to the School System of 1929, which included both public and private schools. The study found that after the unification of the country by King Abdulaziz, the Directorate of Education was tasked with supervising the education sector throughout the entire country, whereas previously it had only supervised education in the Hijaz. Several systems were issued between 1932, the year the Directorate of Education was tasked with overseeing all education sectors in the country except for military education, and 1939. The most important systems issued during that period were the Directorate of Education System of 1938 and the Princely schools System of 1939, which replaced the previous school system. The study reviewed many details related to the administrative regulations in the Directorate of Education during the historical period from 1926 to 1939.