RIYADH — The attendance of male and female students in intermediate and secondary schools at the start of the new academic year has reached more than 87 percent, according to the Ministry of Education sources. There has been a steady increase in the number of fully vaccinated students attending classes on Tuesday, the third day of the new academic year. The boy and girl students returned to school after a hiatus of more than one and a half years since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic with full of hope and optimism that they can have a fruitful pandemic-free academic year. They look forward to a return to the normal school days with long-awaited physical interaction and activities together with their classmates and teachers. The Ministry of Education has set aside part of the time of the first class in the beginning of the school day to educate and make aware to boy and girl students about the importance of implementing precautionary measures by male and female teachers, and emphasizing the use of smartphones to verify their health status on the Tawakkalna application. The ministry stressed that teachers should educate male and female students about the importance of benefiting from all educational channels and means made available by the ministry. It also underscored the need to continue activate the mechanisms of distance education and e-learning such as the "Madrasati" platform and its applications for public education, the "Rawdati" platform for kindergarten, and the "Ain" educational channels, as well as e-learning tools, educational alternatives, interactive tools and programs for synchronous and asynchronous education suitable for each school phase in order to increase their knowledge acquisition. The educational authorities have instructed school principals, in cooperation and partnership with families and parents, to follow up on male and female students who have not received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, and urge them to complete immunization to ensure their speedy return to their schools. This directive coincides with an increasing demand from the part of public education students to take the two doses of the vaccine. Meanwhile, senior officials of the education departments in various regions and governorates started inspection tours of schools in their jurisdiction to monitor their total compliance to precautionary measures and preventive protocols against coronavirus as well as to evaluate their preparedness for the smooth running of schools. The number of field visits by senior officials and supervisors in schools across the Kingdom reached more than 12,193 visits. The model operational performance of schools reached low-grade level of 49 percent while the average level is 44 percent, the high level is seven percent, and the very high level is less than one percent. Since the first day of the academic year with the in-person attendance of students, the educational supervision offices have been working on following up on the roles of teachers, and evaluating their performance in all public and private schools. The offices are also reviewing their work, following up on their performance on an ongoing basis, in accordance with the nature of the subject, phases and grades, and submitting reports to the education office regarding this with the aim of continuing the educational process, and contributing to improving learning outcomes.
