JEDDAH, 18 June 2003 — The Higher Committee on Education Policy met here yesterday and discussed a program to introduce English language studies at primary schools in the Kingdom.
“The meeting, chaired by Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, adopted recommendations on the topic,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
Education Minister Dr. Muhammad Al-Rasheed, Higher Education Minister Dr. Khaled Al-Anqari, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Dr. Ali Al-Namlah, Information Minister Dr. Fouad Al-Farsy, Haj Minister Iyad Madani and State Minister Dr. Mutlab Al-Nafeesa attended the meeting.
The agency did not say when the program would be introduced. But an education official expressed his doubt whether the program would be implemented next year.
“We have not received any information on implementing this program in the next academic year,” Dr. Abdul Ilah Al-Mushrif, director of curricula at the Education Ministry, told Al-Watan.
The ministry had recruited 935 English teachers from abroad to implement the program but the Cabinet decided to postpone it until further studies are completed.
Education officials have said that the introduction of English from Class IV of 5,837 primary schools in the country would have no negative effects. They emphasized that English would not be taught at the expense of other subjects such as Arabic and Islamic sciences.
The Education Ministry has decided to stop recruitment of foreign teachers for all subjects except mathematics and physics next academic year as part of the government’s efforts to create jobs for Saudis.
Dr. Khaled Al-Awad, deputy minister for education, said efforts were under way to meet the shortage of Saudi mathematics and physics teachers. “If we succeed in these efforts, then there will not be any need to recruit any foreign teachers in the future,” Al-Awad told Arab News.
He said the teachers who were contracted recently by the ministry would continue in their jobs until the end of their contract period.
Al-Awad also disclosed the ministry’s plan to terminate the contracts of a number of teachers for various subjects this year under the Civil Service Law, which stipulates ending the contracts of expatriates who have completed 10 years in government service.
But he did not say how many foreign teachers would be affected by the decision. However, he pointed out that the ministry was in the process of identifying the teachers whose service is likely to be terminated.
Al-Awad said the decision to terminate the contracts of foreign teachers was taken to create more jobs for Saudis and appoint Saudi teachers at all educational levels.
“We will not cancel the contract of any teacher before it ends,” he stressed.
