Some 33,000 schools will offer preparatory programs for five million students who started their new academic year Saturday all over the Kingdom. Last Monday more than 500,000 teachers and 40,000 administrators joined schools and started preparations for the new academic year. Under the preparatory plan carried out by the Ministry of Education this year all schools have been provided with necessary furniture and stationery, said Muhammad Al-Dekhaini, the ministry's spokesman. “There are two kinds of preparatory programs and each one of them aims to prepare students psychologically before they begin their studies,” said Salem Al-Towairqi, former head of educational guidance department at Jeddah Education Directorate. The first program, which is titled ‘the preliminary week' is especially designed for new students in elementary school. Teachers at this sensitive stage should treat students like their own children, allowing them to leave school after two hours on the first day, gradually increasing the duration to three hours on the second day and so on, he added. In the following week, students can start attending classes after they have adapted to school environment. The second preparatory program called ‘students psychological preparation' is designed for higher class students. “In this program, teachers usually give guidelines to students and explain to them the main goal of their courses,” Al-Towairqi said. This year, the Ministry of Education continued to work during summer break to finish building new schools. “We have built 12 new schools for boys which cost SR53 million, and 23 new schools for girls at a cost of SR177 million,” said Bakr Basfar, Director General of Education in Makkah region. The ministry carried out maintenance in 89 schools, which cost SR50 million and included the installation of security tools and large umbrellas, painting and building sports halls, he added. This year, 4,000 elementary schools will also begin teaching English language. As a part of King Abdullah's program to develop the standard of public schools, Dr. Naif Al-Roomi, Undersecretary of Ministry of Education for Planning and Development distributed special curriculums in coordination with English language department at the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah started its first day of the new academic year by introducing students to facilities and services provided to them. “We have a three-day preparation program for preparatory year students which guides them to the right majors according to their skills and the nature of studies before they join the department,” said Professor Hana Jamjoom, undersecretary of students affairs deanship of ladies section at the university. __
