MAKKAH: The National Olympiad for Programming and Artificial Intelligence for middle and high school students is to take place in the Kingdom.

The announcement was made by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, and the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity.

About 300,000 students will be selected from 3 million in the Kingdom for training in programming and AI. 

Registrations for the olympiad close on Nov. 28 and there will be two rounds of tests — Jan. 26-27 and April 23-27.

Mawhiba’s Secretary-General Dr. Amal Al-Hazzaa told Arab News: “Our children, the Kingdom’s students of all educational levels, have become competitive and are keen to register in the various competitions and olympiads, as witnessed in recent years.

“There are several stages to the competition, during which our creative students will participate in great numbers. During the final stage, which is the Scientific Creativity Olympiad, 35 students from the Kingdom will be selected to represent their country internationally and in ISEF (the International Science and Engineering Fair).”

Those wishing to participate can register through the following link: https://www.mawhiba.org/NOPAI/Pages/default.aspx