However, although there are no instructions from the Ministry of Education advising schools to exclude expatriate children from such celebrations, some teachers prevent these students from participating.
Marah Marwan, an 11-year-old Syrian student who always participates in celebrations held at her private school in Jeddah, was prevented from participating in celebrations held to mark King Abdullah’s return to the Kingdom.
“Recently, the teacher who was making plans to mark the king’s return asked me to buy a number of Saudi flags, which I did. I also wore traditional Saudi dress thinking I would be allowed to participate in a dance,” said Marwan.
“One day before the celebration, the teacher told me that some other Egyptian students and I would not be allowed to dance with the other girls,” she added.
“Although this is a national event, we shouldn’t be prevented from celebrating. We live in this country and we share the sadness that Saudis felt at the king’s sickness. That’s why we should also share their happiness,” she added.
Noor Nujaim, an 18-year-old Lebanese student who is studying at a government school in Jeddah, was also prevented from celebrating in National Day celebrations because she is an expatriate.
“When I was in intermediate school, one of the teachers selected me to participate in the National Day celebrations. She asked me to wear a wedding dress and carry a map of the Kingdom. After she had selected me and I had done the rehearsals, she suddenly said I was to be excluded and a Saudi girl would take my place,” she said.
Hadir Hafeth, a 20-year-old Egyptian student, said she has bad memories about National Day celebrations when she was at school. “I was never allowed to participate in National Day celebrations along with other non-Saudis. I remembered that very well,” she said.
“The teachers used to organize the event with the Saudi students. They would ask them to wear traditional Saudi dress. We were allowed to attend and watch. We could bring flags and the stuff that they needed to celebrate. But we were never allowed to sing, dance or do anything else,” she added.
Hafeth said she loves the Kingdom and has been living here for many years. But she hates National Day because of the attitude of some teachers toward expatriate students.
“I was once at a National Day party. There were some girls distributing fliers of the king’s picture. The girl who was handing them out didn’t give me one. When I asked her to give me one, she said it was only for Saudis. I thought, what’s all this about. The flier only cost around SR2,” she said.
Marryam Al-Jihani, a government school teacher, said there are no Ministry of Education rules preventing expatriate students from celebrating Saudi National Day and similar events. “The Ministry of Education does not forbid expatriate students from participating in such events. However, some narrow-minded teachers refuse to allow expatriate children to participate in these events,” she said.
“This is an issue for individual schools. In the school that I manage, we allow expatriate children to participate in all events. I check with students to make sure of this. Some teachers prefer Saudi students, but I instruct them not to discriminate,” said Al-Jihani.
Hisa Al-Qurashi, a Saudi teacher who works at a government school in Jeddah, said expatriate students are unable to enjoy National Day and other celebrations such as those held to mark the king’s return in the same way Saudis do.
“I give priority to Saudi students who know their traditions and customs very well. This helps us organize parties quickly and ensures they are successful. Saudi students know about their country. They already have traditional Saudi dress at home and so don’t need to buy anything new. They also know the traditional Saudi dance. It’s because of this that we don’t give a chance to expatriate students,” she said.
“Organizing celebrations with expatriate students is difficult. They don’t have traditional Saudi dress and many don’t know Saudi customs. We also end up spending a lot of time teaching them how to dance the traditional Saudi dance,” she added.
Al-Qurashi said expatriate students can bring and wave flags, distribute gifts, prepare brochures and draw pictures to celebrate such events.
