Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR) Monday announced the launch of Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Program for Learning Disability, a research project for students with learning disabilities (LD) under the slogan “Yes I can achieve.” Dr. Ahmad Baker, Director, Academic and Training Affairs, PSCDR said “Yes I can achieve” would form an integral part of the initiative decreed by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, entailing a modern educational system which prepares Saudi citizens into productive and capable individuals and train them to face the challenges in the 21st century. The PSCDR, a non-profit organization based in the capital, conducts and funds high quality laboratory and field research studies on all aspects and ages of disability. Quoting 2010 figures from Ministry of Education, Dr. Baker said the number of students at all levels enrolled in the Saudi school system is approximately five million. Based on international estimates the prevalence rate of LD students in a given population would be around five to 10 percent, he said. Dr. Baker said in the Kingdom, with the available statistics however suggests that only a small percentage of students would have been identified to have learning disabilities. He said considering international estimates the Saudi schools would probably enroll about 25,000 to 500,000 students out of total five million with learning disabilities, he said. Although there are more than 28,000 schools in the Kingdom, less than five percent (4.5 percent) offer some sort of programs that meet the requirement for LD students, he said. These programs are staffed by slightly more than 1,500 teachers. Based on the expected conservative prevalence (five percent of school population) that enrolled LD students in the Kingdom, there exists a shortage of approximately 18,000 to 20,000 teachers specialized in LD training, “if we wish to serve every LD student in the country,” he said. Students afflicted with learning disability would not only be at risk of not achieving academically at potential level, but LD also renders him/her vulnerable to psychosocial disorders and other difficulties in life, he explained. Partners in the ambitious program include Ministry of Education, McGraw-Hill Publishing Landmark College (Vermont, USA), Center for Child Evaluation and Teaching (Kuwait), Consortium of International Experts from Harvard University (USA) and Canterbury University (New Zealand), and Landmark College and experts from King Abdulaziz University, King Faisal University, and King Saud University.
