Not all schools in the Kingdom have received the soap, sterilizers and face masks to combat the spread of the swine flu (H1N1) virus that the Ministry of Education promised to provide them before the return of students to schools on Saturday. Early this week, principals of schools around the country met with teachers assuring them that the ministry had allocated millions of riyals to improve the hygiene of all the Kingdom's schools. Teachers were told that soap, tissues and masks would be available for students and teachers before the start of the new academic year. “They nominated some teachers from our school to have a nursing course. The nominated teachers were told that all schools would be provided with plenty of soap, tissues and sterilizers,” said Saleha Al-Ali, a primary girls school teacher in Jeddah. “Ironically, the principal told us a few days ago to insist that students bring their own soap from home,” she added. Sami, an intermediate school teacher in Bisha, said, “We had a meeting with the school staff and it was kind of a chatting and joking meeting. It wasn't serious at all. No one seemed to be educated enough about this disease.” He said that only one teacher in the school had attended a nursing course, and that the teachers had only heard about the promised soap and other supplies but had never seen them. – SG Mohammad Al-Ahmari, a teacher in Qunfudah, said, “We also heard about the soap, but I doubt if my school received any.” The Ministry of Health, however, has assured the public that there is no need to worry about the health of students even if the five million doses of swine flu vaccine have not yet reached the Kingdom.
