RIYADH, 9 April — The Ministry of Education has set up a four-member panel of volunteers to scrutinize books and materials currently being taught at foreign schools in the Kingdom.
The panel will read and review the textbooks to identify contents that go against Islam and the Arab heritage and culture. They will also be checking general educational standards.
“The panel, in which more volunteers will be inducted in the future, will comb the whole syllabus of the international schools to ensure that all books are in line with our religious values and social system,” said Aqeel Al-Onaizi, director of foreign education at the Ministry of Education, here yesterday.
Answering a question, Onaizi said “this is an independent decision taken by the foreign education department of the ministry, and it has nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks or their fallout.”
He said the challenge is how to preserve Arab Islamic identity of the region despite the fact that each foreign school teaches its own syllabus.
“On finding objectionable materials, the Ministry of Education will take some corrective measures as per the recommendations of the panel,” he said.
Riyadh region alone has 53 foreign schools with more than 46,000 students on their rolls.
