Over the last two decades, Steven Summers, an STA swimming teacher who heads up Life Skills Management in the UAE, has dedicated his time to transforming the way swimming lessons and water safety education are perceived and delivered in Dubai schools, while also gaining government support for promoting the importance of teaching water safety skills to the wider community.

Steven is now using this experience to improve the quality of school swimming provision in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using STA’s School Swimming Academy programme.

Zoe Cooper, STA’s Commercial Director recently caught up with Steven to ask about his plans in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

• Based on your experience in the UAE, how do you plan to change things in Saudi?

  Twenty years ago in Dubai, times were very different, water safety education was minimal at best and relatively unheard of, but we helped to successfully change that, and now we are looking to achieve the same results in Saudi schools that operate under the umbrella of Maarif Education using STA’s School Swimming Academy programme.
  

• Why now in Saudi?
  The task in hand very much mirrors the initial ambitions of early Dubai, with Saudi wanting to improve the standards of education and sport in schools, in line with Vision 2030 – a government programme that aims “to create a vibrant society in which all citizens can thrive and pursue their passions”. With this, Saudi has huge ambitions and are now open to the experience and guidance of the best organisations in the world.

  For context as well, Maarif Education is also leading and driving the development of the K12 education sector based on international best practices and standards – this aligns with Vision 2030. K12 is the private sector, and the easiest way to explain is that it is open to international investment.

• What is Maarif Education?
  In Saudi, Maarif Education is best defined as ‘school management’, and it currently controls 10 educational campuses throughout the Kingdom, which include kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools for girls and boys. Together, they serve 20,000 students, and employ over 50 sports staff.
• What is your role?
  My role as Regional Sports Manager for Maarif, is to support the Maarif sports and PE curriculum and the sports staff, so that schools can benefit from the delivery of the new programmes being implemented, which are all based on international best practices. One of which is swimming, and I will be using STA’s internationally recognised teaching and learn to swim programmes, like we did in Dubai, to drive standards and increase participation.
• How important is sport and PE in the Kingdom?
  Prior to the development of the sports department (Maarif Sports Club), sport and PE was given very little attention on the national curriculum; and one of our many tasks is to implement a curriculum that fits in with the very loose guidelines set up by the Ministry of Education.
• What have been the first steps to achieving this in swimming?
  It’s early days, but the first stage was education, and standardising the sports staff using STA’s free School Swimming Academy CPD. By following a structured, proven programme in swimming (and we’ll do the same in each major sport), we will be able to create a standard that until now did not exist in the country.
• What has been the response so far, and what’s next?
  We have sent STA’s School Swimming Academy CPD to the sports staff that are involved with teaching swimming, and it was a great hit. I would like to evolve this further by offering regular CPD programmes and courses to the staff and introducing STA’s International Learn to Swim Programme (ILSP) to the students as part of the school curriculum.

  Next, I’m looking into having a ‘Regional Tutor’ for the sports staff, so that we can build them up to a standard that aligns with the Saudi Swimming Federation, with the aim of improving the quality of coaching over here.

• This is all very positive; do you perceive any challenges?
  The fact that Saudi has changed so much in such a short period is the biggest challenge and it’s about finding a way to develop school sports programmes alongside a very different culture. However, I experienced this all firsthand in the UAE, and this level of knowledge and involvement will definitely benefit me in my new role here.

  I also believe, the opening of Saudi to western world standards is very positive, and provides an opportunity for them to develop even beyond the levels we’ve seen achieved in the UAE.