All governmental and private schools will celebrate the Kingdom's National Day on Saturday, Oct. 11. The National Day celebrations were held throughout the Kingdom on Sept. 23 but since all schools were closed then due to the Ramadan holidays, the celebrations will now be held at the beginning of the new academic year. “National Day has a special meaning for the Saudi community including teachers and students. That is why many teachers have planned to celebrate the National Day with their students,” said Rajallah Al-Sulami, Member in the Media Office in the Ministry of Education. The first part of each class will be set aside for giving information about the Kingdom's history, and how King Abdul Aziz unified all the regions of the Kingdom, Al-Sulami said. “Our aim is to teach the Kingdom's history to all the students. We have asked all schools to assign their teachers to talk about the Kingdom's history during the first part of each class,” he added. Teachers giving classes in history, national education and writing skills have been advised to ask students to write about the importance of National Day through essays and poems. There is a need to enhance the nationalistic feelings in every student and such celebrations will help in achieving that aim, Al-Sulami said. “Enhancing these sentiments is one of our main aims. It will make them ready to fight terrorist attacks by loving their country and believing in its rulers,” said Waleed Ibrahim, head of the Jeddah Secondary School. Mriam Al-Jehani, head of a government girls primary school, said students in her school celebrate the National Day differently: by dressing themselves in green clothes, and drawing pictures on their faces that express their love for the Kingdom. Several students wave the national flag all through the day. “Since ours is a primary school, students observe the day innocently. We ask teachers to give them short and simple stories about the Kingdom's history,” added Al-Jehani. Secondary schools have different ways to celebrate the National Day. “Starting from the first week we are going to construct booklets that explain the Kingdom's history and the difficulties faced by King Abdul Aziz in achieving unity,” said Jeddah Secondary School's Ibrahim. Every teacher and student is required to give a speech about the Kingdom's history, and to write and recite poems eulogizing the Kingdom and King Abdul Aziz's enthusiasm to unify the Kingdom. They are also required to talk about King Abdullah's efforts to develop the Kingdom's economy, politics and education. __
