JEDDAH: The Ministry of Education ordered 45 education departments across the Kingdom to form senior committees to draw a plan, described by the ministry as “urgent,” to face propaganda directed at Saudi youth and curtail the criminal and terrorist dangers threatening Saudi society.

The committees will comprise the directors of education, directors of Islamic awareness programs for boys and girls, directors of guidance and counseling for boys and girls, directors of student activities, and educational media directors.

The committees will work on encouraging positive dialogue built on moderation when discussing different points of view in order to protect male and female students from extremist thoughts and deviant attitudes.

The committees will embark on implementing awareness and preventive programs that should maintain national solidarity and entrench national loyalty among different segments of society and cut off extremist trends.

The emergency senior committee held a meeting under the chairmanship of the director of education in Hail and emphasized the need to confront extremism threatening Saudi youths.

Hail Education General Director Yousef Al-Thuwaini said his department is intent on encouraging positive dialogue built on moderation in discussing variant thoughts of male and female students.

“We all must be aware of the responsibility the education staff carries in their educational institutions, and the roles expected of them to protect our children from devastating extremist and deviant thoughts, and to implement preventive and awareness programs on the role of families to reject all forms of extremism and terrorism,” said Al-Thuwaini.

He stressed the importance of investing in neighborhood clubs to realize such objectives and to hold workshops in this regard.

“The plan must involve a number of training portfolios concerning the development of behavioral and intellectual skills for both boys and girls such as the value of citizenship initiative, and the ‘May Allah keep our country safe’ project, which were developed by the Department of Islamic Awareness,” he said.