Mutnabi Intermediate School in Hail have conducted elections for their school's Olympic Sports Council under the rules of the United Nations (UN) - the first time this has happened at a local school. Teacher Ibrahim Al-Hadhali said the school's elections were designed on the basis of the UN's electoral principles which advocate three major rights: the right of participation, right of candidacy and right of voting. He said that a student who knows his rights will make every effort to fulfill his duties. This was the first ever such election experience held under the auspices of the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom. The school's management held elections on Wednesday morning to elect the heads of the school's Olympic Sports Council in which 400 voters and 42 candidates participated. The candidates were competing for five key positions, including Head of the Sports Games Federation, Deputy Head of the Sport Games Federation, Head of the Referees Committee, Head of the Investment Committee and Head of the Media Committee. Two days before the elections, the Higher Elections Commission led by Al-Hadhali, who teaches physical education at the school, supervised the candidates' campaigns and rallies. A Higher Elections Commission committee earmarked Saturday for receiving appeals against the candidates list and Sunday for vote counting and announcement of results. Al-Hadhali said that before the elections he had lectured the students about the rules of the poll. He said he wanted to instill a culture of elections in the minds of his students. He said the exercise is part of the school's extra curricula activities which introduce principles that will benefit students in their future careers.
