The Ministry of Education intends to meet the expense of Saudis sending their children to private kindergarten schools to promote early education of Saudi children.
“The ministry is considering buying vouchers from private kindergartens and distribute them free of charge among Saudi parents, if they can’t find seats in public kindergartens,” said Muhammad Saad Al-Shathri, an undersecretary at the ministry.
He said his ministry would take up the matter with the Finance Ministry so that the state could meet the cost of enrolling children in kindergartens on a yearly basis.
The move is in line with the Ministry of Education’s strategic plans to promote early childhood education. It will also encourage Saudi women to seek employment.
“This is expected to increase the rate of admission by 50 percent through partnership between the private and public sectors,” he said, adding that a database of children seeking kindergarten admission would be prepared.
“It will also propose a mechanism to offer easy loans to investors, as well as facilitating procedures for licensing and establishment of private kindergartens,” said Al-Shathri.
The ministry has already adopted three specialized curricula for kindergarten that are in line with the values, traditions, characteristics’ and culture of Saudi children. King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Public Education Development Project (Tatweer) for Riyadh city has selected Bawakeer, Montessori curriculum and the Creative Curriculum to be applied in kindergartens.
All three curricula contain the most important values, learning and basic life skills that need to be taught to children. Tatweer sought the help of many local and international educational institutions that are specialized in early childhood learning to benefit from its experience, know their educational approach and the mechanisms they use to train teachers for this level of education.
State to pay for kindergarten education
