Saudi Arabia welcomes six million students to school as 2026‑27 academic year begins

More than six million students across Saudi Arabia returned to classrooms on Monday as the new academic year began, including over 1.6 million in the Riyadh region.

Authorities have stepped up preparations nationwide to ensure a smooth start to the 2026‑27 academic year, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The Riyadh General Administration of Education said schools in the region have mobilized human, technical and maintenance resources ahead of the students’ return.

The administration outlined the new daily schedules: morning assembly starts at 6:15 a.m., with classes beginning at 6:30 a.m.; winter assembly begins at 6:45 a.m. with classes at 7:00 a.m.; during Ramadan, classes will start at 9:00 a.m.

The Ministry of Education has launched a nationwide back‑to‑school communication campaign to prepare students, families and staff for the new academic year.

The campaign stresses readiness, commitment and participation from day one, highlighting teachers’ role in fostering a positive learning environment and families as essential partners in student support and school communication.

According to the ministry, the campaign will use media, digital platforms, social networks and partner organizations to reach communities across the Kingdom, showcasing schools’ upgrades to digital systems, curricula development and new educational programs.

Separately, the Ministry of Commerce conducted 2,259 inspection tours of bookstores, stationery shops and other school‑supply outlets to ensure compliance with regulations, SPA said.

The inspections were aimed at securing the availability of school supplies, monitoring price stability and enforcing price‑display and discount rules.

At the start of the previous school year, SPA reported that over six million students were enrolled in 32,000 schools nationwide, supported by roughly half a million teachers.

Education is a cornerstone of Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to boost educational quality, expand modern teaching practices and better align students with the Kingdom’s evolving economic and social needs.

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