His Excellency the Jazan University President, Prof. Dr. Mar’ei bin Hussein Al-Qahtani, confirmed the transformation of the University’s regular classroom teaching to e-learning, after the announcement of the Ministry of Education to suspend studies at Saudi universities. Dr. Al-Qahtani added that the University possesses modern technologies and advanced systems, along with distinct experience in the field of e-learning, as it has been previously applied in the University colleges in the governorates of Samtah and Al-Aardah, at the southern border, due to the launching of Operation Decisive Storm.

Dr. Al-Qahtani expressed his thanks and gratitude to the Kingdom’s wise leadership, may God protect him, for his support to the university and its employees. This enabled us to respond quickly and transform into online teaching, by harnessing the qualified human resources, advanced technological capabilities, and preparing technical support to implement the policies and directives of the Ministry. The President appreciated His Excellency the Minister of Education Dr. Hammad Al-Sheikh for his unfailing support and a direct follow-up to the procedures applied by the University for the prevention of coronavirus, for the transformation to online learning, that reflect the quality of educational practices in Saudi universities that are comparable with the rest of the world.

Dr. Mar’ei Al-Qahtani commended the quick and timely response of the University’s colleges and the efforts of the Deanship of E-Learning and Information Technology that started implementing its prepared plan for emergency situations to ensure the continuity of the educational and academic process in all colleges and institutes from the first day. He added that the University has strengthened the transformation plan for e-learning with a number of supporting educational programs and channels and utilizing the digital resources and libraries through the Deanship of Library Affairs and making it accessible for faculty and students.

For his part, the Dean of E-learning and Information Technology, Dr. Ibrahim Ghashim, stated that the Deanship has designed 16 training guides for students and faculty members, to qualify and support more than 23 e-learning units in the university colleges, which includes about 60 members who speak both Arabic and English. In addition, 67 training courses have been implemented to be taught through the system, stressing that the university’s e-learning system is capable of accommodating more than 50 thousand students.