Ma'aden's Schools of Excellence are providing a world-class STEM education to students in the Northern Border Province, helping develop Saudi Arabia’s next generation of mining champions.
Located in Arar and Turaif, the Schools of Excellence are designed to equip the next generation of leaders with a top-tier education and prepare them to join elite universities, both in the Kingdom and across the globe. This high-quality education is provided in partnership with Dhahran Techno Valley Company (DTVC), a subsidiary of the prestigious King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM).
By cultivating critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, and a deep understanding of natural sciences through the Schools, Ma’aden and the Northern Border communities are helping empower talented young people to become leaders in engineering, medicine, nursing, and pharmaceuticals, making significant contributions to the mining industry and beyond.
Each year, the Schools welcome 100 new female and male students to their state-of-the-art campuses, which include English labs, computer labs, chemistry labs, biology labs, classrooms, offices, a gym, and a football ground. Ma’aden has invested 158 million SAR into the Schools since 2016.
Schools of Excellence Achievements
- Over 1,200 students supported to-date
- 850 graduates since 2016
- 693 graduates enrolled in elite universities
- 569 enrolled in Specialization in Medical Sciences and Engineering
The Schools’ graduates have gone on to study:
- Medical sciences – 33%
- Engineering – 25%
- Nursing – 21%
- Human medicine – 16%
- Pharmaceuticals – 5%
Northern Borders Community Impact
The Schools of Excellence are helping create new academic and career opportunities for the Northern Borders Province community.
The Schools facilitate annual professional development courses for local teachers, helping support their development and elevate the overall quality of education in the Northern Borders Province. In 2022, approximately 120 teachers benefited from this program, in addition to the teachers from the Schools of Excellence. The Schools freely share their strategies, operations, KPIs, and general best practices with the local Education Directorate and other schools in the community, uplifting the Northern Borders’ educational reporting standards.
To help prepare the community’s Middle Schools grade students to apply for the Schools of Excellence, the Schools conduct periodic reviews and diagnostic tests to identify areas of academic strengths and weaknesses. These students are then given remedy plans, which have a positive impact on their academic achievement.
Additionally, graduates from the Schools of Excellence frequently go on to study at Saudi universities, including the Northern Border University’s School of Medicine. This helps increase the annual intake at local universities and ensure their incoming classes include top-tier STEM talent.