RIYADH: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has confirmed that the delivery of books in various regions will be completed by the middle or end of next week. In an announcement, the ministry said that about 80 to 85 percent of the books had been printed and these had been sent to various departments.

“This is a feat which had been accomplished for the children to have a continuous education. This is something that had not yet been done in previous years,” the ministry said.

A ministry spokesperson said that this had been achieved by striving hard to avoid the problems which had caused the delay in the delivery of books in the past.

The Education Ministry attributed this year's success to the program called “Ready”, which was organized to make things easier in all the MoE’s departments.

The ministry’s announcement was timely for schools in Taif, where schools recorded a lack of school books for primary and intermediate classes for the first time in 15 years.

This has resulted in many boys and girls not turning up for classes. A source said that that books for high school students have also not been made available at stores, particularly those for science and mathematics. English language books reached stores on time.

In a circular, the Education Ministry did announce that there would be a delay in the supply of books this year but did not provide any alternatives for students. Additionally, several towns in remote areas are not connected to the Internet, which makes this a particularly difficult issue.