6th Grade English May Now Become Extracurricular Activity

JEDDAH, 25 October 2004 — The Ministry of Education might change English for 6th Grade elementary from a required subject to an extracurricular activity, reported Al-Watan newspaper.

Due to the shortage of Saudi teachers for English, “the ministry is seeking to contract with foreign teachers,” a source was quoted. This despite the fact that there are hundreds of unemployed Saudis who graduated from private colleges and institutions with a diploma in English but were not hired for various reasons.

The source also said that some teachers are refusing to take the jobs that are on a yearly contract basis especially if they are in remote areas. “I don’t think that’s true because many of my colleagues have taken a yearly contract for SR1,200 just to have a job,” Laila, a newly hired teacher, told Arab News. “The ministry would not be able to solve this problem this year and the solution is to create new jobs next year or be forced to change the subject from a requirement to an extracurricular activity,” said the source.

“I have not been officially informed of any such change,” Jawaher Mahdi, director of curriculum development unit at the Education Development Administration in Jeddah, told Arab News. She said perhaps because of the shortage of English teachers this change is being considered, but so far nothing official has been announced.

A similar situation arose two years ago when computer classes were introduced and there was a shortage of teachers and equipment. It was changed to an extracurricular activity and remains so, “but we were officially informed of that when the decision was made,” she said.

English has been added as a subject to be taught in 6th Grade for the first time starting this school year. During the first few weeks of school, many schools were short on English books and teachers. Some schools are still short on English teachers. To make up for the shortage, some teachers are required to teach in more than one school including those already teaching at intermediary schools to take on classes for 6th Grade.