NAJRAN: Educational institutes located along the southern border are gearing up to set up online distance education programs as an alternative to traditional lessons for students, but teachers have expressed concern due to the poor Internet connectivity in the region.

The methods of the new educational curriculum, announced by the Ministry of Education, have been labeled as “unclear” by teachers, and inefficient due to its online dependence.

The programs, “Taknity” and “Gosoor”, experienced temporary closure due to the poor Internet reception in the area thereby denying teachers access to the content.

Teachers in Jazan have requested in-person training courses by the ministry due to constant interruptions and the unavailability of access from the poor network.

The Director of Education in Jazan, Issa Al-Hakami, announced the establishment of a service and support center for border region schools, to provide all the necessary support to employees and affiliates in border-area schools. The Assistant for Academic Affairs, Yasser al-Douiri, will head the center.

The spokesman of the Education Department for the Sarat Obeida region in Asir, Mubarak Tarad, said there is close coordination with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology regarding the delivery of services to the suffering areas, noting that the service center aims to provide all the necessary support to employees and affiliates in border-area schools.

Tarad also stated the formation of a committee to study the situation in the border region schools, while linking the teachers with the National Center to attend educational sessions and receive training on how to provide distance education lessons from their homes. He confirmed that there is an ongoing coordination with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for the delivery of services to the affected areas including Alaab, al-Rabuah, al-Farasha, al-Mogazah, and al-Hajer.