JEDDAH, 12 July — Faced with an acute shortage of teachers in foreign languages and science subjects, the Ministry of Education has decided to recruit foreigners to work in government-run schools. The ministry has already sent selection committees to a number of Arab countries including Egypt, Sudan and Syria to hire teachers in English language, mathematics and special education.
The move follows an earlier decision to terminate services of 2,000 expatriate teachers in other specializations and replace them with Saudi nationals.
Officials say government schools continue to face shortage of teachers in English language, mathematics and science. Saudi students entering college have been repeatedly asked to choose their specialization taking the job market needs into account. “They (the students) should bear in mind such important aspects as aptitude, interest and market demand. The ministry would like to see a large number of Saudis taking up these subjects for specialization,” Dr. Khidr Al-Qureshi, deputy minister of education, said.
The recruitment committees dispatched to Egypt, Sudan and Syria are made up of 15 to 20 delegates each with the number of teachers sought ranging from 2,000 to 3,000. The new all-male recruits will be assigned to different levels of general education.
Last week the government announced that more than 80,000 Saudi teachers working on temporary basis would be absorbed as permanent teachers by early next year. The Ministry of Civil Service said salaries of these teachers, including women working under the General Presidency of Girls Education, will be fixed in the next general budget. The Ministry of Finance has already approved 3,000 new teaching posts.
Under the current Seventh Five-Year Development Plan (2000-2005), the target set for development of the human resources sector provides for an increase in the number of students in general education from 4.4 million in 1999 to 4.52 million by 2004. The total number of students in technical education system will increase from about 33,000 to 55,000. The plan also envisages construction of 1,111 primary schools, 819 intermediate schools, 905 high schools, and opening of 10 technological colleges.
The Kingdom allocated about one-fifth of its general budget, or SR49.38 billion, for the education sector. At present, there are 11,856 government schools of which 6,011 are primary schools with 58,758 classrooms, 1,165,378 students and 86,000 teachers. There are 3,063 intermediate schools with 20,620 classrooms, 537,331 students and 40,337 teachers, and 1,475 secondary schools with 11,230 classrooms and 334,567 students. The Presidency for Girls Education runs 13,598 schools, institutes and colleges with 2.22 million students and 214,262 female teachers and administrators.
Saudi Arabia ranks among countries with the lowest rate — 8.7 percent — of adult male illiteracy, according to figures released last year. Resources are being mobilized to root out illiteracy and some 1,100 adult education centers have been set up in different parts of the country.
