Saudi Arabia's Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) concluded a virtual conference earlier this month which saw attendees from more than 60 countries around the world take part.
The event saw over 33,000 viewers tune in for the two-day conference via conference applications and browsers around the world, while on social media, over 92,000 viewers watched the event unfold live.
The conference, named the "International Conference on Education and Training Evaluation: Improving Learning Outcomes and Supporting Economic Growth," included keynote speeches and thematic sessions, and was held under the patronage of Dr. Ahmed Alessa, Chairman of the ETEC Board of Directors.
Prior to the conference, 21 specialized professional development workshops were held over four days, with 840 trainees from eight different countries taking part for a total of 93 hours.
Saudi Arabia's ETEC held the conference in partnership with the G20 Saudi Secretariat – the Kingdom holds the presidency of the G20 this year, and the event took place as part of the G20 International Conferences Program.
"The linkage to the G20 Summit is certainly to add value and significance to the conference. It is an indication that education and training are important pillars for economic development in Saudi Arabia and worldwide," Dr. Husam Zaman, ETEC President had said in the lead up to the event.
A number of international experts and specialists participated in the conference, including representatives from the OECD, World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and UNESCO.
Members from other academic and government bodies were also in attendance, including the New Zealand Ministry of Education, the Scottish Education Department and evaluation authority, the evaluation authority in the Netherlands, Stanford University in the US, the University of Porto in Portugal, and Zayed University in the UAE, as well as experts from relevant ministries and authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.