Riyadh, September 21, 2021, SPA -- The Ministry of Education is preparing to apply Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) during the current school year with the aim of developing study plans according to scientific standards and international criteria, improving the results of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s students in international tests, assessing the level of students and comparing results among participating countries. This is to support policies, projects and programs that contribute to improving the level of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s results in international indicators and realizing Saudi Vision 2030 objectives. The Ministry is scheduled to apply PIRLS on fifth graders during November 8-17, 2021 with the aim of assessing reading comprehension levels of the students and comparing the results with the international performance level among participating countries in the tests that are held under the supervision of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is participating for the test for the third year after 2011 and 2016 that were applied on fourth graders, where this year the study will applied on fifth graders due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with full commitment to all accredited precautionary measures while conducting the test at schools. --SPA 14:02 LOCAL TIME 11:02 GMT 0013 www.spa.gov.sa/w1622835