The spread of swine flu (H1N1) throughout Saudi Arabia and the world has led to rumors that schools in the Kingdom will not open as scheduled on Oct. 3. As a result of these rumors, which have been denied by the Ministry of Education, and because this year the opening of school follows Ramadan and Eid, which have their own financial requirements, parents are delaying the purchase of school supplies for their children. “We want to make sure that the schools will open on time, so we can buy supplies for our children without worrying that they will not need them,” said Khawla Al-Arifi, a Saudi housewife. With the rapid spread of the swine flu virus, media and health sector officials have been expressing their fear that the school year will begin without the proper safety procedures being in place. This has also resulted in discouraging parents from buying school supplies. “We have been hearing and reading a lot about swine flu and that it is especially dangerous for young people. We are not ready to think about buying school supplies until we are sure that the Ministry of Health and the school management have taken proper safety measures to protect our children,” said Hind Muhammed, a Syrian housewife. The Ministry of Health and Health Affairs Management have announced several plans to ensure the safety of students. “We are cooperating with Health Affairs Management in all parts of the Kingdom, and especially in the cities which have large numbers of expatriates and foreign visitors. We have launched awareness campaigns and distributed booklets to educate people about this virus and have arranged for doctors to visit schools to provide medical checkups for students,” said Dr. Khalid Marghlani, spokesman of the Ministry of Health. According to Marghlani, large quantities of flu vaccine will be made available to both students and teachers. Another reason why parents are not eager to start buying school supplies is the financial burden they are facing because schools are meant to open after Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr. “We faced the same dilemma last year. We need to find money for Ramadan, Eid clothes, and school supplies all at the same time. It is hard to know how to spend my money and satisfy my family's needs,” said Sha'ban Khalil, an Egyptian shopkeeper. Shopkeepers told Saudi Gazette that parents have not yet started buying school supplies. “We have a large number of school supplies in stock, such as school bags, uniforms, notebooks and study aids, but people are showing little interest in buying them,” said Emam Hamdan, a shopkeeper in a well
