The Ministry of Education is set to launch a new web-based communication forum that will allow students to raise any issues related to their schooling. The forum is still under construction and will be hosted on the ministry's website. The forum will be supervised by the General Administration of Guidance and Counseling, according to Abdul Aziz Al-Jarboa, the Director General of the Guidance and Counseling department. Al-Jarboa said last week that the ministry is interested in hearing the views of students and in improving their communications skills. Salem Al-Twairqi, the Director of the Guidance and Counseling Department in Jeddah, said the forum forms part of national efforts aimed at improving communication between all spheres of Saudi society. It is part of the strategy of the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue. He said the ministry aims to allow students to express their views and, with the help of the ministry, to find solutions to any problems they may have. Al-Twairqi said the forum targets young Saudi male and female students. All suggestions will be welcomed by officials, he said. “The forum is now under construction and over the coming few months students will be able to participate and discuss their issues,” he said. Meanwhile, Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah Bin Mohammed, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts, and Sheikh Saleh Bin Abdurrahman Al-Hussain, President of the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue, have signed a contract to promote dialogue in the boys scouts. The education minister said the dialogue with the center is aimed at guiding youth to invest their energy and ideas to “serve the King, their religion and their homeland.” Al-Hussain said that the contract is in line with the goal of the center, to promote “dialogue as a way of life.”
