Saudi Arabia ranked 9th globally in technical education and vocational training in Global Knowledge Index 2021

03 April 2022- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been ranked 9^th globally in the Technical Education and Vocational Training Index of the Global Knowledge Index 2021, issued by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program. The index aims to measure global cognitive development as a comprehensive concept that is closely related to sustainable development and the various aspects of modern human life, building knowledge societies and economies, and setting development policies to anticipate future.

The Global Knowledge Index measures the cognitive development in 154 countries worldwide, based on seven composite sub-indices that highlight the performance of six vital sectors: Pre-university education, technical education and vocational training, higher education, R&D, ICT, innovation, and economics, as well as a sub-index for the enabling environment to assess the social, political, economic, health and environmental context incubating these sectors.

The technical education and vocational training indicator has several sub-axes where KSA excelled in, to emerge number one globally in the proportion of students enrolled in non-university post-secondary education in vocational and technical programs. It also ranked 2^nd in the world in quality and qualifications in technical education and vocational training, 4^th in the technical education and vocational training components and 4^th globally in terms of the average income of technical education and vocational training professions that require intermediate skills. Besides, the country was 6^th in the world in percentage of weak employment.

The Global Knowledge Index 2021, which was widely reviewed during the Knowledge Summit 2022 held recently at Expo 2020 Dubai, highlighted KSA’s strong performance in the area of cognitive infrastructure. The Index pointed out that the country has five major strengths such as the volume of cultural exports’ share in total exports, mobile broadband internet usage per subscription, households with internet access, individuals with standard ICT skills, and median income for intermediate skill TVET occupations.

The fifth edition of the Global Knowledge Index 2021 included 155 variables that were selected from more than 40 international sources and databases, including that of UNESCO, the World Bank, the International Telecommunication Union, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Labor Organization among others. Switzerland was ranked 1^st globally for the fifth year in a row, followed by Sweden, United States of America, Finland and the Netherlands.