Regional Forums to ‘Broaden Base for National Dialogue’

RIYADH, 4 November 2006 — The King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue will organize this week meetings in Riyadh and in Dhahran in preparation for the sixth national dialogue forum to be held at the end of the year in the northern town of Al-Jouf. Educational reform will be the main theme of the forum.

According to Faisal ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Muammar, the secretary-general of the center, many intellectuals and educators from both sexes are expected to take part.

The first meeting will be held at Dhahran International Hotel today and tomorrow while the Riyadh meeting will be held on Monday and Tuesday at the Marriott Hotel.

Ibn Muammar said the two gatherings represent the final stage of preparations for the forum. He expressed hope that the meetings would go a long way toward broadening the base of participation in the latest national forum to be organized by the center. By the time it opens the sixth dialogue forum will bring together intellectuals and educators from all over the country, he pointed out.

Ibn Muammar added that the participants would exchange views on a wide range of issues relating to educational reform programs. Among others they will discuss the aims and objectives of the national educational policy, education planning, school buildings, better ways for equipping schools, upgrading school administration, better teacher training programs and the latest methods in evaluating students.

The meetings will also discuss putting in place a mechanism for ensuring partnership between the nation’s educational system and society. The meetings will also discuss the requirements of socio-economic development and the ways and means for further strengthening relations between schools and civic societies.

Ibn Muammar also disclosed that, as part of the overall activities of the preparatory meetings, the center would organize in collaboration with the Ministry of Education separate gatherings for teachers.

The theme of the open gatherings will be “The Role of the Teacher in Propagating the Dialogue Culture.” The participants will be briefed on the efforts exerted by the center in propagating the dialogue culture among various sections of society.

The first and second stages of the preparatory meetings were held in Al-Jouf, Tabuk, the Northern Frontier Region, Qasim, Hail, Najran, Asir, Baha, Jizan, Makkah, Madinah and Taif.