King Abdulaziz & His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba" is preparing to launch the third 5-year plan of its strategic plan: MAWHIBA3. The plan will begins in 2019 as part of Mawhiba's overall strategic plan for giftedness, creativity and innovation to achieve its vision "For the Gifted and Creative to become the most important contributors to the Nation and its Prosperity".
The third five-year plan is to be implemented from the years 2019 to 2023. Through its plan, projects and initiatives "Mawhiba" looks forward to offer gifted students excellence. Moreover, it seeks to empower gifted students to enrich the nation's workforce while at the same time enabling educational institutions to actively participate in nurturing these students in accordance with the best world practices.
His Excellency, Secretary-General of "Mawhiba", Dr. Saud Al-Mathami, clarified that "Mawhiba" through its the first and second phases of the strategic plan focused on establishing the organization, then consolidating and expanding its operations. In its third phase, however, it will focus on excellence and empowering existing plans and achievements, driving its goals and objectives in alignment with the Kingdom’s priorities in fulfillment of Vision 2030 and its various programs.
Phase three will witness an expansion of strategic partnerships with target sectors throughout the Kingdom. "Mawhiba" will also invest in its gifted and creative students through academic and professional guidance, linking them with the labor market and job creators, investing in a national gifted database to optimally utilize the talents "Mawhiba" had nurtured.
King Abdulaziz & His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity seeks to strengthen its presence on the international arena as an expert in the field of giftedness and creativity. It will do so through reinforcing its global presence in relevant conferences and events, and through strengthening its international partnerships with the best institutions for gifted students in the world.
His Excellency, the Secretary General confirmed that "Mawhiba" seeks to support the long-term vision for giftedness and creativity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mawhiba Foundation is considered a key participant in the current institutional system supporting gifted education in the Kingdom. By focusing on identifying and nurturing gifted students, "Mawhiba" delivers services to meet the cognitive, psychological and social needs of those high-potential students.
Dr. Al-Matahmi said that the Mawhiba strategic plan was developed after examining a number of available sources that included a comprehensive set of national plans, studying the best international practices, and evaluating the educational needs of gifted students in the Kingdom.
It is worth mentioning that King Abdulaziz & His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity is a non-profit foundation established by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 1999. The Foundation identifies and nurtures gifted students through motivation, empowerment and partnership with government and private sectors as well as non-government organizations (NGOs). Mawhiba's mission is to contribute to building a national framework for giftedness and creativity, to provide outstanding care to the gifted, and to promote passion for science and knowledge.
Even though "Mawhiba" believes one can be gifted in many ways, the Foundation prioritized investment in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in line with the priorities, projects and programs of Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
“Mawhiba” ensures that its strategy is reviewed according to environmental and national trends. It does so periodically and systematically. In its review, it enlists the expertise of its strategic partners and policy makers to ensure it complements and integrates with the national plans and to is inline with new trends and with Saudi Vision 2030 (VN2030).
Though its previous two strategy planning phases, King Abdulaziz & His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity "Mawhiba" had tested more than 300,000 male and female students through the National Project for Gifted Identification. Of that, 97,000 students were identified as gifted and 54,000 of them received intensive educational care. Moreover, it contributed to the enrollment of more than a thousand of its gifted students to international universities.
Further achievements are exemplified in having more than 300,000 students registered in national competitions organized by Mawhiba. About 145,000 students benefited from relevant training and presented more than 60,000 research projects.
The gifted students, for whom “Mawhiba” provided the appropriate educational environment, were able to win 342 international and regional awards.
"Mawhiba" also contributed in training about 30,000 educators, and around 8,000 Saudi schools benefited from its specialized programs and activities.
Furthermore, "Mawhiba" signed more than 100 national and international agreements and partnerships. It translated 35 scientific resources and designed more than 170 curricula in science, mathematics and technology. About 13,000 judges participated in Mawhiba's competitions.
