DAMMAM: The new Ambassador of Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia Shahidul Islam said he will support the expansion of Bangladesh schools as part of his priority program to address the increasing needs of the Bangladesh community in the Kingdom. He said he is fully aware of the problems faced by Bangladesh workers and that the embassy has as a priority the establishment of better infrastructure and facilities for Bangladesh schools. “Our workers in the Kingdom are increasing in number, families are continuously arriving, and therefore the education of our children is of the utmost concern to our government,” Islam said Tuesday during his meeting with a cross-section of the Bangladesh community in the Eastern Province and officials and teachers of the Bangladesh International School in Dammam (BIS). There are at present about 1.5 million Bangladesh workers in the Kingdom, according to Mohammed Mizanurraman, second secretary, labor department at the Bangladesh Embassy in Riyadh. He said that for the last three years, most Bangladeshis deployed in the Kingdom have been in the labor categories. Islam said there are at present five Bangladesh international schools in Saudi Arabia, including two each in Riyadh and Jeddah and one in Dammam. “Because the number of our professionals and workers is increasing, more schools for our children are expected to be established in other major cities,” the ambassador said. Wahiduzzman, the chairman of the BIS in Dammam, thanked the ambassador for his commitment in supporting Bangladesh schools in Saudi Arabia. Wahiduzzaman said BIS in Dammam urgently needed to shift its location to a better and more spacious location because of the increasing number of its students. “BIS is in urgent need of moving to a more spacious location because of the growing number of our students which has now reached nearly 1,200,” he told the ambassador. In his meeting with leaders of the Bangladesh community in Dammam, Islam urged them to work hard to develop the economy of both their own country and the Kingdom, explaining that as they are guest workers in this country, they must contribute to its development.
