NCSEE signs accreditation agreement with SAMIS

by Abdurahman Mohammed Ibrahim

The National Center for School Evaluation and Excellence (NCSEE), an Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) affiliate, signed a cooperation agreement with Shorouq Al Mamlakah International School (SAMIS) last October 21 to start implementing school evaluation and accreditation processes.

The agreement aims to promote a standard-based evaluation that ensures the school’s provision of quality education. It also measures the school’s performance in terms of fostering creativity and innovation, and its capacity to meet developmental and social needs.

This is part of the school’s constant effort to achieve its vision which is to be in the top 5 international schools in the kingdom. It also increases confidence in the school from all sides, especially potential enrollees and colleges.

“A lot of the parents that come here are doubtful and hesitant as it’s tough to tell whether a school is of good quality. This is the reason we went for this accreditation as it’ll make the parents feel confident in their school choice,” Mr. Badr Alsufyani, SAMIS Boys Section Principal, said.

The path to this accreditation is almost over, as the school has already completed most of the conditions needed. However, the school has not given full details yet as to what specific areas have been accomplished.

“I can only tell you one thing and that is they are very strict in evaluating. Despite that, we’re almost there, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before we get it,” Mr. Alsufyani said.

Although it makes the accreditation more difficult for the school, the standards set by NCSEE ensure that the SAMIS has the quality required to be accredited and gives the accreditation itself value and trustworthiness.

SAMISians from page 1

All four SAMIS teams achieved the top 10 ten ranking in the national contest, with the Girl’s Section's "Robo Power" and "SAMIS Robo GM" achieving 4th place and 6th place in the Junior Category, respectively. The Boys’ Section's "AI space" and "True AI" received 4th and 2nd place, respectively.

With the theme, “My Robot, My Friend”, more than 200 students participating from different parts of Saudi Arabia were able to showcase their creativity and problem-solving skills.

The school's faculty carefully chose the teams representing SAMIS to compete in this open robotics contest. They were given an all-expenses paid trip to Riyadh to compete in the competition where the students had to work under immense time pressure, pulling all-nighters to complete their assigned tasks.

Each team had to create a prototype and code it. Along with a presentation in which they explained their product and its practical uses to a band of judges. The teams were given five days to complete the projects before their trip to the capital. Upon their arrival, the groups were escorted to the hotel where they would stay for their visit.

On the first day, the contestants were shown their hotel and allowed to see the venue where they would present their outputs. That night, the participants had to fully prepare their project for the next day's mock presentation. "None of us slept, "we stayed up all night finishing the presentation and the code," Ijtihad Kilani, a member of SAMIS’ AI space team, said.

On the second day, the team waited a couple of hours before presenting the mock presentation to the judges and national television. The judges approached them with several revisions to further improve the production. The representatives returned, fixed the display, and practiced for the big day.

On the day of the actual contest, the teams did their best and presented for the final time before the panel of judges before breathing a sigh of relief and waiting for the results of their hard work.

"At that point, I was just glad for it to be over with, we did all we could, and the rest was for the judges," Ijtihad inquired about it.

Later that same day, the judges revealed the winners and proved that SAMIS was a rising star that could not be stopped.