Implementing Rules of Licensing Regulations for eLearning Programs

Article I: (Purpose of The Rules and Scope of Implementation)

The purpose of the rules is to elaborate the provisions and procedures for issuing licenses for providing eLearning. These rules have been issued based on Article XI of the Licensing Regulations by a decision of the Board of Directors of the National eLearning Center. These rules apply to all government and private institutions that provide eLearning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Article II: (The Center Mandate)

The National eLearning Center is to receive licensing applications for providing eLearning or blended (Synchronous\Asynchronous) programs in accordance with the regulations of these rules. In addition, The Center is to conduct periodic quality assurance and compliance reviews to govern and enhance the quality of eLearning for licensed services and programs as per its mandate and authority.

Article III: (Types of Licences)

The Center grants two types of licenses:

Institution License: aims to ensure the readiness and ability of the institution to provide eLearning.
Program License: aims to ensure the readiness of educational, training, and development programs, to be provided in eLearning mode, that ends with the learner obtaining a certificate or by completion of an educational level.:

Distance Learning Program License: It is granted when all courses included in the program plan are delivered in distance learning mode.
Blended Learning Program License: It is granted when a specific number of courses included in the program plan are delivered in distance learning mode.
Course License: It is granted when the institution is providing a core shared distance or blended course.

Article IV: (Licensing Procedures)

To obtain a license, compliance with the controls mentioned in article V of Licensing Regulations for eLearning and Training Programs is required. In addition, following the predefined procedures in these rules.

I. Procedures for Obtaining Institution License:

Institution representative Registration: the institution representative is responsible for filling the online form on the licensing platform and attaching a certified official authorization from the Chamber of Commerce (for private institutions) or the competent authority (for government institutions), as well as attaching all required documents.
Account activation The Center’s specialists will activate the institution’s account after validating the provided information and upon completion of all the required documents.
License application: The representative shall upload all requirements on the platform based on the standards (K12, Higher Education, and Training).
Payment of fees: The representative shall pay the license fees specified in the licences services manual.
Arbitration:

The Center's experts will review the application to ensure that all mandatory standards are fulfilled.
The application will be returned to the institution for modification when the standards are not fulfilled.
The application can be resubmitted for arbitration by up to 3 times without incurring an additional fee. Also, the institution may resubmit the application 2 additional times for a fee in accordance with the licences services manual.
The application shall be revoked if the modifications are not resolved and submitted to the Center within (30) days.
The application shall be revoked if the mandatory standards are not fulfilled after the application has been resubmitted for the fifth time, and the institutions may then submit a new application.

6. License issuance: The Center issues a certificate attesting to the acquisition of the institution license.

7.The Center is to issue a temporary institution license valid for 90 days during the final license issuance procedures.

II. Procedures for Obtaining Program License:

License application: The representative shall upload all requirements on the platform based on the required license’s standards (K12, Higher Education, and Training).
Payment of fees: The representative shall pay the license fees specified in the licences services manual.
Arbitration:

The Center's experts will review the application to ensure that all mandatory standards are fulfilled.
The Center is to issue a temporary program license valid for 90 days during the final license issuance procedures.
The application is returned to the institution if the standards are not fulfilled.
The application can be resubmitted for arbitration by up to 3 times without incurring an additional fee. Also, the institution may resubmit the application 2 additional times for a fee in accordance with the licences services manual, prior to the expiration of the temporary license.
The temporary license shall be revoked if the application is not resubmitted to the Center within 15 days.
The temporary license shall be revoked if the mandatory standards are not fulfilled after the application has been resubmitted for the fifth time, and the institutions may then submit a new application.

4. License issuance: The Center issues a certificate attesting to the acquisition of the program license.

Article V: (Licensing Provisions)

The Center is committed to maintain the confidentiality of the information provided by the licensee.
The licensee is obliged to use the license by itself and not to use the license for any other purpose than of which it was issued.
Obtaining an "Institution License” does not mean that the institution can provide its program in eLearning mode, but rather requires a “Program License” to be issued for each program that the licensee would like to provide in the eLearning mode
The license issued by the Center does not serve as an intellectual property document for the program and learning or training content. The Center does not assume responsibility for the content provided by the institution. Instead, the licensee should adhere to online publishing rules and respect intellectual property rights.
The licensee shall comply with the laws in force in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and be bound to obtain and renew the required licenses from other institutions.
The licensee must comply with the “Institution License” standards and the “Program License” for the entire duration of the license’s validity.
The licensee shall be obliged to take actions that preserve the rights of the beneficiaries when the license is revoked, not renewed, or taken action against by the Center, such as transferring the beneficiaries to licensed counterpart programs or returning the fees paid by beneficiaries , etc., and the licensee shall be prohibited from announcing new programs or accepting beneficiaries after being warned, except after the issuance of a statement that the warning is no longer effective by the Center. If the licensee is in violation of this, the licensee shall bear all the consequences before the Center and the beneficiaries .
The validation of the program license is 4 years, and this period applies to all courses that comprise it (including courses added after 1 or 2 years after obtaining the license),and the license for new courses is considered expired with the expiry of the program license.
The institution can use the courses that were previously arbitrated in another program licensed to the same institution, and then it is sufficient to pay the compliance and quality assurance fees for these courses upon each use, noting that the possibility of using them ends with the expiry of the license of the main program, and in the event of a violation of the course will be applied to the violating program.
The online course license can be used in the institution’s licensed programs.
The fees are non-refundable, and the licensee is not entitled to claim any refunds from the Center.
The licensee shall not use the Center's logo except for the licensed programs while adhering to the rules of using the logo.

Article VI: (Quality and Compliance)

The Center’s specialists will perform the periodic review to ensure that the institutions and programs comply with the licencing standards and that all relevant data and reports are available to the Center to carry out its functions as required, and the licenses is obliged to disclose any update or change to the institution or program that may affect the fulfilment of the standards during the validity of the license. The review will be carried out according to the Quality and Compliance Manual..

Article VII: (Renewal, Revocation and Reactivation)

The licensee shall apply for renewal before the expiry of the institutions’ license, or programs’ license for a period of at least 6 months, after meeting all the requirements and paying the fees as stated in the licenses services manual, provided that is not possible to apply for a program license, If the institution license expires within less than 6 months. If the institution license expires and the institution does not apply for renewal, all program licenses issued associated with the institution shall be revoked.
The licensee may apply for the revocation of its licenses, but the licensee is not entitled to claim any refunds from the Center and is also obliged not to prejudice those enrolled in the programs from the revocation of the license.
If the institution wishes to reactivate the license after being suspended, it shall pay the reactivation fees indicated in the licenses services manual.

Article VIII: (Penalties/Procedures)

If the licensed institution violates the Licensing Regulations for eLearning and Training Programs, these rules or one of the mandatory standards, the institution is committed to make corrective actions within 15 days. If the institution fails to respond, the Center has the right to take the following measures against it: suspension of the program license, suspension of the institution license, revocation of the program and institution license, without prejudice to the rights of the beneficiaries.
If a national or international institution provides eLearning activities to the beneficiaries within the kingdom without obtaining the required licenses, the institution will be warned, and if corrective action is not taken within 15 days, the Center has the right to suspend the institution eLearning activity by coordinating with the relevant competent authorities.
The violations of eLearning activities are listed in the table below, Read more:

eLearning Activities Violations:

Provide eLearning activates without obtaining (program, institution license) for national and international institutions.
Failure to pay the quality assurance and compliance fees.
Announce programs delivered in eLearning mode without obtaining a license.
Non-compliance to the standards of institutions and programs licenses during the validity of the license.
Provide eLearning activities with expired program\institution license.

Article IX: (Grievance Review Mechanism)

Institutions applying for a license or those who have been issued a license from the Center may object to the Director-General of the National eLearning Center in the following cases:

Failure or delay in issuing the license.
Failure to renew the license.
The amount of the fees.
Resolution on the action against the institution in respect of the violation.

A committee shall be formed at the Center to consider grievance from individuals other than those who have already considered the matter. The committee may include a specialist from outside the Center in the field of eLearning or in the legal field. The committee shall consider and decide on the application within a period that does not exceed 30 days, on the understanding that the objector is responsible for providing all the possessed proofs, and to pay the fees of the objection defined in the license services manual if the Center’s resolution is valid.

Article X: (Implementation of the Rules and the Center’s Right of Modification and Updates)

These rules shall be published on the Center’s website of the and shall be applied immediately upon the entry into force of the provisions of the Licensing Regulations. The Center has the competence to review, modify and update them as it deems appropriate, without prejudice to the rights that have arisen to the licensee prior to any modification.