Dr. Fahad Altuwaijry

In this story

1. From a classroom to an education system
2. Training connected to an employer
3. Turning strategy into shared work
4. A common model across different schools
5. Technology with a defined job
6. A partnership with a visible campus
7. Student development beyond the timetable
8. The business decisions behind provision
9. Recognition and personal influences

From a classroom to an education system

Dr. Fahad Altuwaijry's education career began with computer engineering, teaching and research. In his account to K12 Digest, the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation was where he began to look beyond the classroom towards the systems supporting it. He describes a move from working directly with students to shaping programmes, partnerships and standards. That earlier work provides a specific starting point for the chief executive who would later lead Ataa Educational Company: learning remained the purpose, but the organisation around learning became his field of responsibility.

The Business Year's biographical introduction records his doctorate in cryptography at the University of Bradford. It also identifies membership of the Saudi Computer Association and Saudi Council of Engineers, alongside an advisory-board role connected with Gartner's operating committee in the Gulf. That technical and professional background preceded his later account of secure digital learning at Ataa.

At TVTC, the published account links him to initiatives to establish the National Center for Evaluation and Professional Accreditation, create vocational examination systems and expand training connected with labour-market needs. These were different parts of the same professional territory. Programmes needed a route towards employment, examinations needed to assess capability, and accreditation needed to give those judgements a structure. His subsequent work at Colleges of Excellence continued that connection between training quality, collaboration and graduate readiness for industry. K12 Digest also identifies income diversification as part of his responsibility there.

Appointment reporting by Mubasher, carried by Zawya, places his move to Ataa after substantial service across public and private organisations. It records twelve years as a TVTC vice governor and further administrative experience. Ataa was already an established business when he became chief executive. His task was therefore to lead an existing organisation with schools, staff and families already depending on it.

Training connected to an employer

Altuwaijry's direct interview with The Business Year offers a closer view of his work at Colleges of Excellence. As its chief executive, he described a system built around different training models. International Technical Colleges used international operators. Strategic Partnerships brought together employers and the Human Resources Development Fund. The Capability Building Contract programme placed international providers alongside existing TVTC units to help improve their performance. He also discussed customised training for employment, with programme length adjusted to the requirements of employers rather than fixed around a single standard duration.

In his explanation of the Strategic Partnerships model, trainees signed employment contracts with a particular employer when entering the programme. The fund contributed towards employers' training costs. He described quality assurance across curricula, teaching methods and administrative policies, including third-party review through Saudi Skills Standards and other bodies. His account of CoE's value proposition brought those standards together with flexibility in specialisations, training duration and geographic coverage. It was an institutional approach to connecting training provision with a defined demand for skills.

The aviation college near King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was a concrete example. Altuwaijry described earlier TVTC work with Boeing, BAE Systems, Airbus and Saudi Airlines to identify the skills and numbers of technicians the sector required. CoE then worked with TVTC and other partners on the college and its curriculum. He explained that Australian Aviation College received the operating and maintenance contract through tendering. Employers sponsored trainees, with the Royal Saudi Air Force identified as the largest sponsor in his account. The project he described joined industry requirements, curriculum design, an international training operator and sponsored places within one training institution.

Turning strategy into shared work

In The Enterprise World's account, Altuwaijry identifies the introduction of a multi-year strategic plan as a demanding exercise in bringing different teams together. Those teams had their own goals and established ways of working. He describes clear strategy and open communication as lessons from that process. In his account, staff needed to understand the reasons for new systems and changed processes, rather than simply receive instructions to adopt them. His stated approach was to build shared purpose across the organisation.

The published plan brings together academic excellence, operational efficiency, digital development and sustainable growth. Within that structure, the academic work includes curriculum development, professional learning for educators and measurable outcomes. The operational work concerns governance and school processes. Digital work extends to teaching, administration and communication with families, while growth includes partnerships and new educational offerings. These are the responsibilities Altuwaijry groups together in his published explanation of Ataa's direction.

K12 Digest adds that the strategy was developed with an international consultancy and supported by indicators at both strategic and operational levels. Altuwaijry describes the plan as a working tool for quality and competitiveness. Its intended audiences include students, parents, employees and investors. The Enterprise World similarly describes performance tracking across academic, operational and strategic work. Across the two accounts, his management method combines a stated direction with repeated assessment, alongside the communication needed to keep departments working towards that direction.

A common model across different schools

Altuwaijry's published description of Ataa's operating model combines common expectations with room for local needs. K12 Digest describes a unified approach to curriculum, with adaptations for particular communities, alongside continuous training for teachers and staff. Ataa's mix of national and international programmes makes that distinction relevant to his responsibilities. The model he describes does not turn every school into the same programme; it seeks consistency in how schools are supported, monitored and improved across different educational offerings.

The account identifies several mechanisms behind that model. Monitoring systems assess educational outcomes and identify areas requiring attention. Feedback comes from students, parents and teachers, while resources include technology, teaching materials and school facilities. A dedicated supervisory centre brings academic expertise into reviews of teaching strategies, enrichment materials and programmes. Altuwaijry also describes preparation for local and international standardised tests.

Both K12 Digest and The Enterprise World refer to ETEC-based quality frameworks. The latter describes audits, classroom observation and feedback sessions alongside regular performance reviews. In that published account, school quality is assessed through more than a single examination result: teachers' work, the learning environment and feedback from the school community are also part of the process. Altuwaijry places professional development within that system. Staff training is presented as continuing support for the teaching model, connected with what reviews identify, rather than an activity completed once a new process is introduced.

Technology with a defined job

His background in cryptography and information security appears directly in his explanation of education leadership to K12 Digest. He connects data-informed decisions with security protocols and the protection of educational information. Secure e-learning platforms form part of that account. For Altuwaijry, the technical background is therefore connected to trust in the institution as well as to classroom innovation. He describes an intention to combine technical precision with engaging learning, while protecting information used by students, educators and the wider organisation.

The tools named in his published profiles give that digital programme a more specific shape. Aanaab and Oracle Cloud appear alongside learning platforms, STEAM activity and fabrication laboratories. He describes technology supporting personalised learning, teacher preparation and administration. The Enterprise World also records the use of data analysis to monitor student progress and support timely intervention.

K12 Digest explains the change in teachers' roles as part of this programme. Altuwaijry describes educators guiding students through digital platforms, supported by training rather than expected to adapt unaided. Smart screens and digital learning resources are part of the transition he outlines. His discussion also includes virtual and augmented reality and the conversion of textbook content into interactive experiences. The corresponding staff responsibility is to manage those tools towards learning outcomes. In The Enterprise World's account, he returns to a limiting principle: technology should support the human connection in education, rather than replace it.

Ataa's own presentation separates digital learning, parent engagement and internal operations. Classera, interactive displays, robotics labs, Bravo Bravo and Chromebooks sit within its classroom programme. Parent-facing services include Ataa Voice, an e-services application, student-affairs management, automated pick-up and real-time bus tracking. Internal operations include accounting linked with ZATCA, electronic settlement, resource management and customer relationship management. Quality@ is identified for planning and quality management. These categories show the range of systems behind the digital programme Altuwaijry discusses: teaching is one part, but the surrounding administrative and family-facing work is also explicitly included.

A partnership with a visible campus

The Buckswood partnership provides a named example of the international collaboration in Altuwaijry's published strategy. The Royal Commission for Riyadh City independently records the inauguration of Buckswood British School in Al-Izdihar and identifies the partnership as one between Ataa Educational Company and Buckswood Global. Its account describes provision from kindergarten through secondary school. The British ambassador attended the inauguration, alongside commission officials and representatives of the education and investment ministries. This establishes a specific institutional project beyond the general intention to build international relationships.

The commission's description joins internationally recognised curricula with Saudi values, national identity and Arabic-language instruction. That combination matches the responsibility Altuwaijry describes for Ataa: introduce educational variety while retaining a clear local context. The Enterprise World places Buckswood alongside the strategic plan as an important part of his leadership account. It also records interest in further international and bilingual opportunities.

Ataa's own investor presentation places Buckswood within a wider portfolio of national and international schools and describes the network's range of curricula. It also gives separate attention to the physical capacity of its complexes. Read beside the commission's account, this shows the two sides of the project that Altuwaijry's role brings together: an educational proposition for families and an operating campus within a larger business.

Student development beyond the timetable

In K12 Digest, Altuwaijry describes a student-guidance programme that follows individual development across academic levels. Each student's file records performance, interests and areas for improvement, with updates intended to support continuity as the student progresses. The account connects that record with tailored advice about future pathways. It is a more specific expression of his interest in personalised education than a general promise to treat every child differently: the proposed continuity rests on information that follows the student through school.

The same account includes career guidance, communication, teamwork and problem-solving, alongside entrepreneurship and volunteering. Scientific, artistic and athletic activities provide different routes for participation. It also names online safety and support for students facing particular difficulties. Altuwaijry describes educational, psychological and moral development as connected concerns, with conferences and dedicated resources included in the school's response. His stated ambition is for students to develop confidence, social understanding and responsibility alongside academic capability.

Gifted-student support is another defined part of the programme he describes. The approach includes identifying areas of creativity, designing specialised activities and working with relevant organisations through structured plans and evaluation measures. Ataa's investor materials separately describe a specialised team for gifted and talented students, early-identification tools, tailored support plans and parent involvement. They also list school-counsellor links to external specialists and guidance for teachers and parents. Those company descriptions give additional operational detail to the student-support priorities in Altuwaijry's published account.

The company presentation divides this work into distinct areas. Its guidance and counselling programme begins with identifying common student challenges and support needs. It then includes educational, psychological and social assistance, with advice for both teachers and parents. Family-school communication is treated as a recurring activity. A separate values framework has an implementation plan, and a dedicated Student Guidance Day is listed as a way to build awareness and participation. For gifted students, the company describes facilities, equipment and resources alongside the specialist team and tailored plans.

The business decisions behind provision

Altuwaijry's interviews with Argaam show another part of his responsibility: the use of buildings and the performance of subsidiaries. Speaking at the EFG Hermes Saudi Forum in London, he discussed making educational premises useful outside ordinary school hours. He named theatres, playgrounds, classrooms and halls, as well as summer use. The opportunity followed regulatory permission, according to his account. His explanation connected the educational estate with additional uses and revenue opportunities, without reducing the school to its normal daily timetable.

In the same interview, he described following up on subsidiaries, improving their performance and using buildings and facilities more effectively. He also discussed classroom density and student numbers while maintaining education and service quality. In a separate Argaam interview, he named Al Yasmin, Al-Alson and Glory Generation when explaining the effect of minority-rights acquisitions on the business. He identified Izdihar as an important contributor to revenue. These interviews show him discussing individual assets and transactions as well as company-wide ambition, with specific operating decisions behind the expansion narrative.

Ataa's investor presentation provides a company-level continuation of those themes. It distinguishes selective expansion from modernisation of existing schools and describes phased capital spending, specialist learning spaces and preventive maintenance. The presentation ties those activities to asset use, maintenance costs and the student experience.

Recognition and personal influences

In an Ataa statement announcing his recognition in Argaam's Top CEOs list, Altuwaijry thanks the board, chaired by Eng. Tareq Al-Qasabi, for its support. He presents the recognition as the result of collaboration across the company and its schools. The statement itself credits the board, executive management and employees collectively. Its list of stakeholders extends from shareholders to parents, students and the wider community. Altuwaijry's response treats the recognition as encouragement for further work, consistent with his published emphasis on teams rather than a leadership account built around individual credit alone.

Among Altuwaijry's personal recommendations in The Enterprise World is Ghazi Al-Gosaibi's A Life in Administration. He also recommends an AI-supported blended-learning platform connected with a student information system. In the same account, he advises aspiring education leaders to remain curious and listen carefully.