RIYADH — Minister of Education Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has assigned Tatweer Education Holding to devise a comprehensive plan ensuring the safety and security of teachers while transporting them to and from their workplaces, Al-Hayat reported on Sunday. The plan is to be implemented by the beginning of the next academic year. The minister wanted all measures to be taken to reduce the rate of road accidents and increase safety precautions for teachers. The minister has allowed teachers working in rural areas to work three days a week instead of five to decrease the number of commutes. He also advised Tatweer to correspond with various transportation companies to ensure that trips are carried out in the shortest distance possible. The company stated on Saturday that it is ready to implement the first stage of the plan, which is to offer safe and secure transportation services to 24,872 teachers from various areas in the Kingdom. Meanwhile, the ministry said in tribute to the services teachers offer, it would give 25,000 teachers the opportunity to attend one of the biggest training programs in the world. It has also spent SR35 million on 2,000 new teacher lounges equipped with recreational facilities. The latter initiative is part of the second stage of the ministry's plan to provide teacher lounges in all public sector schools. The minister has sponsored the Fifth Teachers Excellence Awards Ceremony to be held on Tuesday in Riyadh's King Fahd Cultural Center.
