Saudi Minister of Education unveils elaborate plan for resuming offline classes

RIYADH — Minister of Education Dr. Hamad Al-Sheikh said that the ministry has made nearly 120,000 amendments in the content of curricula over the last two years.

Addressing the government communication conference here on Thursday, he revealed that there has been a comprehensive development of study plans with preparation of 34 new curricula and developing 89 existing curricula.

Al-Sheikh unveiled the elaborate plans and arrangements for the beginning of the new academic year, which is slated for Aug. 29.

“The next academic year will start with the offline attendance of students of intermediate and secondary levels of public education as well as students of university education and technical training institutions.

“Only those students who received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine will be allowed to attend the classes so as to protect their health and the safety of their families and society,” he said.

“In the event of any coronavirus infection being reported among male and female students or suspected infection in the classroom, the study will be suspended in the classroom for 10 days, and the education for these students will be switched to distance learning process through the ministry’s Madrasati platform.

“If two or more cases are detected in different classes at a school, then all classes at the school will be suspended, and all students will be transferred to remote learning,” he said.

The minister explained that students who have not taken the two doses of vaccine would not be allowed to attend the educational institutions so as to preserve the safety of everyone and their families.

For such students, the teacher shall upload the daily lessons on the Madrasati platform to pursue their educational journey, and provide educational alternatives on the platform. The timing of the remote study at Madrasati platform for the elementary students will be from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Al-Sheikh said that the ministry is starting an exceptional academic year by implementing new curricula for international series, new study plans through three semesters, and the implementation of the first common year for secondary school.

He announced the transformation of 50 community colleges into applied colleges to meet the needs of the labor market.

The minister noted that more than SR1 billion has been spent toward preparing and equipping school buildings in all education departments across the Kingdom, along with all the materials for applying precautionary measures to stem the spread of coronavirus.

As many as 671 rented buildings were dispensed with during the past two years.

Al-Sheikh said that the number of students who received one dose of coronavirus vaccine reached 93 percent in public education while those who have received two doses stood at 37 percent.

“Among university students, those who received one dose amounted to 85 percent and those who received two doses accounted for 59 percent, and we expect that these percentages would witness a steady increase in the future,” he added.

The minister emphasized that private and foreign education schools will not be excluded from the decision with regard to attending offline classes by primary and kindergarten students. There will be no distinction between public and private education.

The ministry announced earlier that starting offline classes for students of elementary schools and kindergartens will be linked either to achieving herd immunity by receiving two doses of vaccine by 70 percent of the Saudi population or on Oct. 30, 2021, whichever comes first.

Al-Sheikh instructed that curricular and co-curricular activities should be made in total compliance with coronavirus protocols by maintaining physical distancing and ensuring safety of students. There should be working teams at schools to ascertain this.

The minister revealed that more than 331,000 male and female teachers were provided with training during the summer vacation to optimally invest their abilities to serve the educational process.

He announced that a total of 1,497 classrooms will be added to kindergartens to accommodate an additional 34,500 boy and girl students for the next academic year, apart from 7,923 classes for elementary classes for boys to accommodate more than 205,000 boy and girl students whose teaching will be assigned to female teachers in early childhood schools, by raising the percentage of female teachers in early childhood schools to 40 percent.

For his part, Minister of Information Majed Al-Qasabi announced that 11 million people in Saudi Arabia have become completely immune to coronavirus with two doses of vaccine while 21 million people have been administered with a single dose.