RIYADH — Minister of Education Hamad Al-Sheikh sponsored on Thursday, the closing ceremony of the “Madrasati Coding” competition 2021 in its first phase, in which 15 education directorates, 32 schools, and 40 teachers were honored as competition winners. The General Supervisor of the General Administration of E-Learning and Distance Education in the Ministry of Education, Chairman of the "Madrasati Coding " competition committee, Dr. Ohoud Bint Abdullah Al-Faris, said: “We have completed the first phase of the competition, achieving the desired goals in an effort to achieve one of the goals of the Kingdom"s Vision 2030, and we aspire to see the name of our nation on the top of global competitions.” “The remarkable achievements that have been made raise the name of the Kingdom high at the regional and global levels," Al-Faris added. She noted that choosing the Kingdom among the best four global models in e-learning would not have been achieved without the support of the leadership for the education sector. Al-Fares pointed out that the competition comes within the tireless efforts of the Ministry of Education to spread and promote the culture of programming and open the way for the educational community in particular and the local community in general to discover and cultivate a passion for technology. Moreover, employing their skills in a positive manner and investing them in the industry of a multi-resource digital incubator in the near future. Dr. Al-Fares mentioned that the competition was based on teamwork, and targeted participants at the level of education directorates, schools, and teachers, indicating that diversity was taken into account in building standards to include activation, training, media and community participation, and grades were divided on the criteria according to their importance. The second phase of the competition will be launched at the beginning of the next academic year, which will target advanced skills in programming and innovative design at the local level for male and female students to prepare participants at the global level, and provide a fertile environment for promising student projects. — SG