Ministry increases non-classroom activities in different grade levels

BOOSTING PERFORMANCE: The director of the school will be responsible for exercising powers that help ensure community participation with the private sector as per the adopted regulations.

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Education has allocated four hours per week for non-classroom activities in schools. This will begin with an average of two hours per week in the coming school year. A timeline and framework for implementation will be determined in accordance with school performance indicators, and the hours will be increased by one hour each year.
Deputy Minister of Education Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Barak said in a press statement on Tuesday that the decision would offer a chance to increase non-classroom activities in different grade levels which in turn would positively impact students by developing their skills and giving them more time to apply what they learn in class.
He said the decision includes creating a document regarding non-classroom activities and having it among curriculum documents. The decision also includes forming a committee of activities at each school and reorganizing the operating budget of the school to include spending on non-classroom activities. The director of the school will be responsible for exercising powers that help ensure community participation with the private sector as per the adopted regulations.
The education sector this year will take necessary measures to implement the decision, he said, in coordination with the curriculum and educational programs sector, the school affairs sector, the general department for administrative and financial affairs, the office for national transformation program initiatives, and other concerned entities.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Education Minister Ahmed Al-Essa launched the Saudi Landmarks Electronic Competition, which aims at both female and male public education students.
Mohammed Al-Harthi, deputy minister for curriculums and educational programs, said the competition was one of the summer educational programs aimed at using information technology as a tool for learning during the remainder of the summer term. The ministry launched many other programs at the beginning of the summer, such as the Ijazati program, he said.
The competition relies on using design and construction games to design landmarks of the Kingdom, and requires reading about the landmarks thoroughly in order to be able to design them.