Saudi Gazette They may have more privileges, but they also have far more responsibilities and obligations. To get a first hand glimpse of his busy schedule, Okaz newspaper was honored to spend a working day with the Head of the General Directorate of Education in Jeddah, Abdullah Ahmad Al-Thaqafi. Abdullah Al-Thaqafi's day starts early in the morning when he wakes up for his Fajr prayer. An ardent believer in health he goes for a walk everyday. After returning from his walk, he has breakfast with his family, gives a few words of advice to his children and leaves for work. His office is in the General Directorate for Education building. He ensures that all his co-workers and colleagues arrive at work on time. He starts work by looking into all pressing issues, problems, and complaints brought to his attention by those in the field of education. The issues are then studied, worked on and solved. He is flexible and easy to communicate with. He receives guests, students, parents, teachers, and school administrators. Al-Thaqafi welcomes whoever shows up at his door because he strongly believes that each person who took the time to reach him is important and may have a problem or need assistance. His top priority is addressing the concerns of students' parents in Jeddah, such as fire safety and providing schools in residential districts close to their families who lack means of transportation. In addition to dealing with important student and parent concerns, Al-Thaqafi also administrates functions of the Directorate of Education. He holds weekly meetings with administrators and key leaders in education to learn about their plan, and get an update on developmental projects in Jeddah. The meeting is held at the same time with administrators from the Directorate of Girls' Education via live satellite networking to facilitate communication and input between the important male and female educators. He believes in holding a 60 minute meeting because he feels that if meetings extend longer then they become repetitive, boring, and time consuming. The meeting is wrapped up with a list of decisions, steps for action, and tasks expected to be accomplished by the next meeting. However, he is not only confined to his desk all day, he often participates in school ceremonies, conferences, contests, and exhibitions. Some of his trips to schools are scheduled for appointments and interviews with the administrators, and others are sudden, random visits to inspect the school assembly or classroom teaching or extracurricular activities. “So far, I have not been disappointed by what I have seen at various schools I visited. The men behind our schools' education system are devoted to protecting our students' physical, intellectual, and emotional health. Teachers are being trained in developing their communication and open dialogue skills with students,” said Al-Thaqafi. He further added, “The Directorate supports and encourages a never ending list of extracurricular school activities because we are serving, educating, and working for an age group that is booming with energy, activity, and vitality. Schools in Jeddah are especially keen on enrolling their students in programs that will help develop their skills and talents. The Kingdom honors students who display outstanding skills. Jeddah's students make up a huge share of winners in national and international competitions in scientific inventions, creativity, art, and Arabic calligraphy. We make sure that these students receive appreciation and recognition that they deserve,” Al-Thaqafi's demanding day comes to an end in the afternoon. His evenings from Saturday through Wednesday are filled with attending and/or hosting lectures, conferences, and workshops on education, and how to improve the schools and the teaching process. __
