JEDDAH, 8 September 2004 — The annual problem of a shortage in textbooks is almost certain to plague us again this year. Saturday is the first day of school and the revised curriculum has not yet been distributed to schools; for some subjects, the books are still being printed.
“We have not received copies of the new curriculum and neither have the storage nor distributing agents,” a source at the Education Development Administration for girls told Arab News.
The administration is one of the authorities that worked on revising some of the books, but since the final decisions are made by the Ministry of Education, they are not aware what changes there are or even if any have been made.
The administration was assigned the revision of the elementary mathematics curriculum and there was talk of revising both science and religion for all levels. In addition, English has been added to the 6th grade curriculum for the first time starting this school year.
The English teachers hired to teach the 6th graders have not yet seen the books or even been assigned to their schools. This is the sign of another major problem just waiting to upset the first few weeks of school.
At a recent press conference, Dr. Saleh Al-Dhobaiban, deputy minister of education, said 1,309 male English teachers are required for the elementary level and the ministry expects to hire 930 graduates from both Saudi universities and teachers’ colleges. Three hundred others from Arab countries have also been contracted, according to Okaz newspaper.
Dr. Muhammad Al-Ohaideb, English language project manager at the ministry, explained that two classes of English a week would be taught in 6th grade. He emphasized that the book was written by Saudis and that 500,000 copies for girls and boys are ready at the education administrations. At the same time, it is not yet clear how teachers will be distributed among the schools as there are not enough teachers despite the new contractees.
“It seems there was no planning or preparations made in advance to implement the decision to teach English in 6th grade,” a newly hired English teacher told Arab News. The dates for accepting the job were as recent as Aug. 14 to 18. “We are still waiting until the last minute before we know where and what we are going to teach,” she said.
There are several options possible — such as requiring each teacher to teach in more than one school. Another indication that the decision was perhaps a last-minute one is that the budget for the teachers’ salaries is temporary.
According to Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper, Dr. Al-Ohaideb said the salaries of 3,000 female teachers out of the 4,000 newly hired would be paid by the Ministry of Finance while the remaining 1,000 would receive salaries from the Ministry of Education on an annual contract basis. He was quoted as saying, “It was decided that a teacher’s salary, estimated at SR3,500, would be specified on a temporary basis for a year.”
