1954

The Budget of Ministry of Education

A statistical study

Prior to the establishment of the Ministry of Education at the order of King Saud, may Allah have mercy on his soul, all responsibilities lay with the Department of Education,which then had a budget that did not exceed (226,600 SR.) The Department, with great dedication and determination, discharged its duties and drew up programmes for the various educational levels and opened new schools in all parts of the country. The Department also divided its purview into seven educational zones and appointed a director at the head of each zone responsible for the organization, development and upgrading of schools. Despite limited material resources, the Department succeeded in accomplishing a number of achievements, namely:
1. The Saudi Scientific Institute: 1345H. (1927)
2. The First Education Council: 1346H. (1928)
3. The Pre-Scholarship School: 1354H. (1935)

The establishment of the Ministry of Education involved growing responsibilities, diversity of specializations and further performances – in other words, huge financial resources. Needless to point out, the Ministry of Education required large financial allocations to meet the costs of education development. For that reason, the State did not hesitate to meet these requirements and decided that they should be of large and sufficient proportions. Perhaps the earliest sign of the development of education was the growth of the Ministry of Education budget which was increased by 400% during a 3-year period: from 20,000,000 SR in 1373 H. to 88,681,704 SR by the year 1376 H. The education budget continued to rise at an unbelievable rhythm – even by world standards – so that in 1383 /1384 H., towards the end of the days of King Saud, may God have mercy on his soul, it reached 354,569,500 SR – a growth rate of 1700 %.

This miraculous development in education during the reign of King Saud is indicative of the importance he attached to education and the support he extended to it. ^[1]

References

^{^}KING SAUD BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SAUD MONARCH OF THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA 1373 H (1953) – 1384 H (1964) By : Dr. Saleh Aoun-Hashem Al-Ghamdi