RIYADH — More than six million male and female students across Saudi Arabia returned to their schools and universities on Sunday, marking the commencement of the new academic year 1446 AH. The schools welcomed the students in the most suitable educational atmosphere and environment featuring joy and reunion of their mates and teachers. Students, especially tiny tots in the elementary classes, were received with flowers, gifts and souvenirs, amidst a warm welcome from their teachers, supervisors and school administrators. This was part of an academic program to raise their level of passion and readiness to adapt to the school atmosphere, away from homes, at the end of the summer vacation. This also intends to increase awareness and education about the values of seriousness, dedication and commitment, in addition to activating psychological, social and educational preparation programs for students in the school environment. The Ministry of Education's plan for the start of the new academic year depends on working within a specific and integrated strategic and governance plan with all sectors, departments and education offices in the regions and governorates all over the Kingdom. Keeping this in mind, the ministry formed committees and departments specialized in the supervision, implementation and operation process, within an integrated work system that includes educational and administrative staff and field teams. Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan urged students to arm themselves with knowledge, determination and perseverance to serve their religion and country, so as to be the pulse of its future. He urged them to work hard and do their utmost to advance and compete with the world in all branches of sciences and fields of knowledge. The Saudi Grand Mufti, Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars and Head of the General Presidency for Scientific Research and Ifta Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh urged boy and girl students for prudent use of their time, and sit with their teachers and benefit from them in order to ensure academic excellence, which is their weapon in this time when chances for distractions and temptations have multiplied. Meanwhile, the Saudi security authorities have mobilized their capabilities and efforts with the start of the new school year to ensure smooth return of students to their educational institutions. Col. Mansour Al-Shakra, spokesman of General Traffic Department, said that the department started implementing traffic plans from Sunday early morning to manage traffic on all roads, streets and the tunnel network in all regions of the Kingdom. The traffic police managed intersections in front of schools and universities to ensure the safety and security of road users, as well as the smooth flow of traffic after reducing congestion. The spokesman for the Security Operations Center (911) said in a statement to Al-Ekhbariya channel that the center has prepared for the new academic year by equipping a developed human cadre to receive reports in several languages and respond to them in less than two seconds and then pass them on to the relevant authorities within just 45 seconds. Hussein Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the National Center of Meteorology, said that temperatures will continue to rise in the Eastern Province and Riyadh on the first day of school on Sunday. About 500,000 teachers working in over 30,000 public, private, international, and foreign schools across the Kingdom had resumed duty a few days ago in preparation for the beginning of the new academic year. The return to school coincides with the start of the second-round exams for students who did not pass certain subjects in the first round, as well as the distribution of new textbooks to students. This year also sees the introduction of Chinese language classes in a select number of intermediate schools, carefully chosen to ensure the success of this initiative. The program aims to evaluate progress at the end of each academic year, with plans to gradually extend Chinese language instruction to third-year high school students by 2029. For her part, Director General of the Education Department in Jeddah Governorate Manal Al-Lahibi revealed that the Chinese language curriculum will be implemented in 41 intermediate schools in Jeddah, as the schools received the educational curricula for the Chinese language course.
