RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National e-Learning Center on Monday announced that it had launched a set of globally approved excellence standards. The quality measures were co-developed and reviewed by international organizations and more than 40 experts from around the world. The center’s board of directors adopted the e-education and e-training standards at its seventh meeting chaired by Saudi education minister and center chairman, Dr. Hamad bin Mohammed Al-Asheikh. The Online Learning Consortium, one of the leading organizations in the field of e-learning, was among the bodies that worked with the center to prepare and develop the standards. Experts from South Korea, China, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and a number of European countries, as well as a UNESCO committee, collaborated in the reviewing and arbitration process after making a comprehensive benchmarking assessment of global standards. The standards cover all key sectors of public, higher and vocational education in addition to lifelong learning, focusing on the aspects of design and implementation of educational and training e-programs. They also deal with integrated education, electronic course design, virtual classes, e-teaching, e-learning program management, standards of excellence for massive open online courses and e-learning platforms, educational video production, and e-learning management.  National e-Learning Center director general, Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammad Al-Walidi, said the new structure was aimed at promoting excellence and leadership in educational and training e-practices while raising competitiveness in terms of quality of services. “Individuals wishing to access all the details related to these standards, the entities providing educational e-activities, and the related educational and training e-programs, can visit the center’s website,” he added. The center recently launched basic criteria for obtaining the necessary licenses to enable entities and programs to provide e-education and e-training.