A senior official here has denied plans to extend school holidays in view of the growing number of swine flu cases in various parts of the Kingdom. Educational institutes will reopen Oct. 3 as scheduled, Mohammed Al-Dukhaini, spokesman of the Ministry of Education, has said. The Ministry of Education will stick to the plan of opening schools on Oct. 3. Dukhaini said adding that the ministry is studying several plans to control the danger of swine flu. The clarification puts at rest reports in some quarters that the government plans to extend the holidays till after the Haj as a precautionary measure to arrest the spread of this contagious disease. Reports appearing on the net and other media tools have suggested that students will be able to enjoy a long vacation as the schools would only reopen from the start of the new lunar year (Dec. 18). Al-Dukhaini's comments came after officials from education and health ministries held a coordination meeting Monday in Riyadh to discuss ways to face swine flu and plans to focus on the need of having anti-virus vaccine before the next Haj season, especially for students in Makkah and Madina. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ziyad Maimash, Assistant Undersecretary for Preventive Medicine, and Dr. Sulamin Al-Shehri, Director of Medical Services in Ministry of Education. Al-Dukhaini said the details of the cooperation between both the ministries will be divulged at a press conference soon. Dr. Hassan Ismael, professor of community medicine at King Abdulaziz University, said swine flu can spread easily at schools. “Children at early ages are difficult to control especially when it comes to personal hygiene for example covering their mouth while sneezing,” said Ismael. “Parents must be aware of the early symptoms appearing in their children in order to prevent the disease,” he added.
