RIYADH, 2 October 2004 — The Ministry of Education has a shortage of 760 English language teachers to teach sixth grade male students, Al-Watan newspaper reported. According to Dr. Mohammad Al-Aheidib, the general supervisor for the English language project at the ministry, the ministry needs 1,300 English teachers as a first step toward integrating the subject in the elementary phase. The Ministry of Civil Services provided the Ministry of Education with only 540 teachers, leaving a shortfall of 760.
Aheidib said the Ministry of Education was collaborating with the Ministry of Civil Services in employing those who have a two-year English language diploma. Asked why the shortfall was not being made up by hiring teachers from abroad, he said that such a step would be difficult now — several weeks into the new academic year — because of the slowness of the recruitment process. He confirmed that the ministry might resort to having teachers teach at more than one school and be financially compensated for the extra classes.
