Traffic departments all over the Kingdom have mobilized their full potentials on the eve of the new academic year, which has been named as the “Teachers' Year” by the Ministry of Education. Traffic rush in the morning and afternoon is expected as more than five million general education students will begin their first day in schools Saturday. In an address marking the beginning of the new academic year, Education Minister Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad said in Riyadh Friday that his ministry has adopted short- and long-term plans focusing on teachers who are the nucleus of the education process. This academic year has been named as the “Teachers' Year” in appreciation for the role teachers play in nurturing the future generation, he said. “In this academic year named after you in which students and officials are participating to celebrate your remarkable achievements, we find a unique opportunity to thank you for these efforts and pray to Allah to enable you to carry out this noble responsibility,” he said, addressing the teachers. Prince Faisal said that his ministry has finalized a strategy for the development of general education so as to meet the present and future requirements of the Kingdom. The strategy is based on making the student the focus of the education process. Referring to the measures the ministry adopted to develop school curricula, he said that one of the most important characteristics of this plan was the development of the syllabi linked to the teaching of the Holy Qur'an besides developing the pedagogy of the teaching of the Arabic language. He said that his ministry is also working on developing secondary education to cope with the needs of the labor market, stressing that education is not only the responsibility of the educational institutes but a partnership between society and these institutes. Colonel Badr Al-Ottaibi, Director of Traffic in Hail region, said that 150 security men have been deployed on main roads leading to schools. Hundreds of plainclothes policemen will also help maintain security and safety of students, teachers and parents. In Makkah, Colonel Meshal Bin Massad Al-Meghrabi said the traffic police have drawn an integrated plan under which 170 officers and commissioned staff will be deployed early in the morning on the main streets, roads interjections. Several traffic patrols will be stationed around school complexes. Similar measures have been taken in the capital and the main cities of Jeddah and Dammam. – SG/Okaz reporters contributed to this report __
