This was one of the major recommendations of the three-day conference on teacher training that concluded at the College of Education at the Umm Al-Qura University.
Zayed Al-Harithy, rector of the college, while reading out the recommendations stressed the need to select outstanding applicants to be trained as teachers at institutes in order for the teachers of the next generation be of the best quality, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.
This required laying down strict guidelines for the selection of applicants. The training system should also underscore the importance of dialogue and social participation of teachers. They should also be trained in using the latest technology, Al-Harithy said in his statement.
Steps should be taken to guarantee the rights of both teachers and students. Teachers should be assured a dignified life apart from ensuring their loyalty to the profession. Teachers should also be trained in ways to be able to stamp out extremist thinking and violence in schools. They should also be skilled in undertaking student counseling, and he honed to be all-round educationists.
Leading educationists and officials of education department from different parts of the Kingdom attended the event.
The President of the Umm Al-Qura University Bakri Assas, who is also chairman of the higher supervisory committee for the conference, said the support and encouragement of the government to the conference reflected the concern of the higher authorities to promote education in the Kingdom.
“Since education is an effective means for the continual development of manpower, the university organized the conference where the issues of teacher training could be discussed and also the ways to produce ideal teachers so that they become capable of conveying the noble message of education to the society in the most perfect manner and at a pace compatible with the country’s contemporary educational revolution,” Assas said in a statement.
The recommendations also stressed the significance of the profession of teaching, which called for strict professional ethics. It also needed continuous development with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education in order to make the vision and message and unification become complementary on the one hand, while guaranteeing quality trainees.
They should also provide all material resources for an educational environment that lead to the completion of the government’s objectives. The recommendations also underscored the need for encouraging individual and organizational initiative to improve curricula and programs to train teachers during and before they become teachers.
Teachers should also be given the opportunity to participate in the preparation of the curricula planning and development and provide all the necessary books, buildings and technology in addition to providing the incentives for initiative and creativity and loyalty of teachers toward their profession.
The recommendations also stressed the need for laying down curricula that have the potential for engendering patriotism, culture of dialogue, tolerance and love for peace and security of the society, and acceptance of the differing views, abhorrence for violence and extremism, achieving the goals of the Islamic Shariah.
The recommendations also called for setting up school councils in each school with the membership of the school administration, students and some teachers and parents to discuss issues related to schools and the society. The conference also recommended setting up of schools in the education colleges to implement latest educational principles.
