Saudi Schools Add 50 New AI Learning Units

The Ministry of Education has updated 22 school subjects and added 50 new artificial intelligence learning units to the national curriculum for the 2026–2027 academic year, as part of a wider drive to modernize education across the Kingdom.

The new units build on the national AI curriculum first rolled out in August 2025 for the 2025–2026 academic year, which reaches around six million students from elementary through high school and up to university level. AI is now a mandatory subject across general education in public schools, with age-appropriate modules for elementary (grades 1–6), intermediate (7–9), and secondary (10–12) levels covering AI literacy, ethics, computational thinking, data literacy, machine learning concepts, and applied projects.

How the curriculum is structured

The program is designed to grow with students. Early grades focus on safe and ethical digital use, later grades introduce basic programming and simple AI systems through age-appropriate programming environments, and secondary students move on to applied AI projects and studies of AI's impact on society. The rollout follows the earlier launch of a dedicated "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence" course for third-year high school students in the general track, introduced in 2025.

The curriculum was jointly developed by the Ministry of Education, the National Curriculum Center, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, as part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 digital transformation agenda. New digital courses, interactive books, and updated learning resources have been created and hosted on a unified national education portal.

Tens of thousands of teachers have been trained in AI-related skills and in using AI tools in classrooms, and a national assessment framework has been established to measure quality across schools. For families, the changes mean children at every grade level will gain practical AI knowledge, while the reform also aims to support teachers and reduce administrative workload in schools.

---

Stay updated with the latest news, events, sports updates, business insights, real estate and lifestyle stories on Saudi Living — the leading online platform for residents, expats, and visitors in Saudi Arabia.

Follow Saudi Living for daily updates:

• Instagram - @saudiliving
• X - @saudiliving
• Facebook - @saudiliving
• YouTube - @saudiliving