Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – Education authorities across the Kingdom are geared to receive more than five million male and female students who will return to school on Sunday after the summer holidays. Some 34,000 schools in all provinces and governorates are well equipped to receive the students on the first day of the new academic year. Qualified teachers have been appointed to all schools and necessary security measures are in place, education official said. All schools have also been provided with modern tools and teaching aids to guarantee a smooth beginning for the 2013/2014 school year. Citing the latest statistics, Secretary General of the Education Administration at the Ministry of Education Rashed Ghayyadh Al-Ghayyadh said the number of general education students in the Kingdom has reached 5,187,498. Of these, 2,628,319 are male students and 2,559,179 are female students. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency, Al-Ghayyadh said 141,422 male and female students were enrolled in kindergartens across the Kingdom, 2,530,744 in the primary schools, 1,212,029 students in intermediate schools and 1,226,205 students in secondary schools. He said 27,439 male and female students were enrolled in special education programs and a further 49,659 students in the adult education program. Al-Ghayyadh said 501,111 male and female teachers will receive students for the new academic year. Of these, 236,655 are male while 264,456 are female. The teachers are distributed across 18,710 are girls schools and 16,039 boys' schools. The authorities have been making constant efforts to improve the standard of school education in the Kingdom. Huge allocations have been made in the annual budget to construct and equip new schools across the Kingdom.
