Schools to celebrate National Day next week pils of all ages started school Saturday across the Kingdom. Half a million male and female teachers had already started work a week ago. Jeddah?s schools for boys received more than 260,000 pupils on the first day. Abdullah Bin Ahmad Al-Thaqafi, Jeddah?s Director of Education, carried out a field inspection on Saturday. ?Everything is going as planned,? Al-Thaqafi said, adding that there was a marked reduction in the number of pupils, teachers and principals absent on the first day this year compared to previous years. He noted that more than 300 educational supervisors and heads of departments are monitoring and supporting back-to-school progress. Jeddah schools will celebrate National Day next week, he added. On the first day, the Jeddah girls? schools held a reception for primary first grade pupils. This included handing out leaflets for parents informing them how to deal with pupils at this stage. The Girls? Education Department said intermediate and secondary schools? first grade students will also have a welcome program over one or two days, according to the needs of each individual school. Other activities to be implemented at girls? schools during class and extra-curricular periods, are the ?Home of Love and Peace? activities aimed at deepening the principle of belonging to a homeland and protecting them from deviant thought. All girls? schools will celebrate the National Day as directed by the Minister of Education, said Ahmad Bin Ali Al-Zahrani, the Director of Jeddah?s Girls? Education Department.? Najah Al-Akhtar, the Director of Pupils? Extra- Curricular Activities Administration at Jeddah Girls? Education Department, said the second week?s National Day celebration program includes three contests for all three educational stages: the national drawing contest for primary school pupils, the artistic creativity contest for intermediate pupils, the ?Story of Home? contest for secondary pupils, and poetry contests for secondary and intermediate pupils. She said that a lecture titled ?Security is Wealth? will be delivered at every school by the school?s Islamic Education teacher. She added that mothers will also be participating in the celebrations to get the family involved in the schools? message of supporting the love for home. Pupils who have a gift for literature will be expressing their love for their country through writing exercises during the week.? In Najran region, more than 65,000 pupils attended school on Saturday. All requirements were in place for the start of the school year, said Ali Bin Jaber Al-Shamrani, Director of Najran Boys?? Education Department. Najran has 32,435 primary pupils this year, and 17,910 and 15,232 intermediate and secondary school pupils respectively, he said. He added that 88 educational supervisors are monitoring the start of the school, while 1,380 new teachers were sent to the schools where they were appointed. Al-Shamrani also carried out inspections of a number of schools.? In Qassim, 90,000 girl students attended 850 schools. The region?s Girls? Education Department completed its preparations to celebrate the National Day during the second week of study, with extra-curricular activities including theatre performances and the distribution of leaflets and booklets on the country?s accomplishments. Qassim education projects this year include 95 projects worth SR1.2 billion. This year the department established 13 schools and kindergartens, renovated five buildings and built 13 multi-purpose halls costing more than SR25 million. Additionally the department equipped and furnished 109 computer rooms and laboratories. In Tabuk, universities, institutes and schools received more than 200,000 pupils on Saturday. Male and female supervisors monitored progress on the first day. ? Okaz/SG __
