Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — After a nearly 4-month long break, thousands of students across the Kingdom are gearing up to get back to school. While some are excited to begin school with renewed enthusiasm after the ‘refreshing' long break, others are not too keen, as they got a bit too comfortable with their routine without school. "I'm really looking forward to start school this week. The summer break was long and refreshing and I'm so excited to meet my friends," said Fatima Saeed, a student of Grade 9 at a private international school in Jeddah. But 12-year old Ali Mazhar argued that a break is never too long and he was quite comfortable with his routine without school. "It's going to take a while for many students like me to get used to school routine because we've lost the habit of waking up so early during the break," he said. "The break was so long, I nearly forgot how to write," exclaimed a high school student at Al- Wadi International School. "It's the first time we were given a 4-month long break and while long breaks are fun, schools start conducting tests and exams soon after re-opening and it gets very difficult to get back to the ‘studying mode' after such a long break," she said. While some students feel the strain of getting back to school, parents, especially mothers are overjoyed that the break is finally over. "Of the 4 months, we spent 2 months on a family vacation in our home country and when we got back, it seemed there was nothing left to do. With all due respect to the long summer break, keeping kids entertained and avoiding sibling fights gets draining and I'm glad it's time for schools to reopen," said Asma, mother of three, all of whom are going to school. Leena Hasan, teacher at a primary school in Riyadh, said one of the primary concerns of a prolonged summer break is the ‘forgetfulness' factor, especially for primary school students. She explained that some academic skills such as reading and math need constant repetition and failure to do so by parents during the break causes young minds to forget core concepts and ultimately teachers have to spend extra hours re-teaching and reinforcing core concepts. Farah Masood, vice principal of International Indian School, Jeddah, is enthusiastically looking forward to a fruitful academic year with students. "After a long vacation, I feel refreshed with my mind full of ideas new ideas and plans for the next few challenging months. When I received my staff after vacation, I was overwhelmed, and ready to pass on the positive vibes I had to all of them," she told Saudi Gazette.
