Examinations held with annual fog, cold and book burning

SALEH SHABRAQ, ABDULLAH AL-SUQAIR, ABDULLAH MASHOUR, FOUZI AL-MUHAISIN & ABDUL KHALIQ NASSER AL-GHAMDI

JOUF/AL-BAHA: Students in Asir and Abha sat their end-of-term examinations over the last two days in cold temperatures and thick mist and fog, and as per custom carried out their ceremonial book-burnings in streets and other public places, sending millions of riyals-worth of school materials up in smoke.
School supervisors say there are ways to prevent such a waste, while some school pupils also expressed their dismay at the wanton loss on display outside examination halls and school premises by those who have finished their exams.
“The schools should collect the books at the end of examinations so that they can be used again,” said pupil Abdul Aziz and some of his friends. “They could also offer prizes or some sort of reward for people who keep their books in good condition and return them to the school when they have finished with them.”
Education supervisors Muhammad Muzaid and Shakir Najami said that school radio should share part of the responsibility in “making pupils aware of the damage done by throwing books away and wasting them in such an uncivilized fashion”, while others said that pupils' homes should “work more with the school”.
“Pupils should be made to sign a pledge when they take possession of their books to return them in good, usable condition, and if they don't they should not be given their school certificate,” they said.
In Al-Jouf, schools were trying not just to encourage their pupils to pass examinations but to pass them with high grades, and one secondary school sought to promote optimism by naming examination halls after successful former alumni to “provide motivation”.
In Jeddah over 300 examination invigilators assisted school staff in the process, and on the first day of examinations the head of the regional Education Administration, Abdullah Bin Ahmad Al-Thaqafi, made a tour to ensure that all operations proceeded smoothly.
In the south a wave of cold temperatures and fog hit Al-Mandaq, Baljurashi and other remote areas as pupils made their way to schools on examination days, and even though authorities permitted schools to delay examination start times by one hour until 8 AM, some pupils still struggled to make it on time due to poor visibility on the roads.
In Al-Makhwa and Qulwa over 7,000 pupils sat their examinations without a hitch.
“The exams were conducted properly and in an organized manner,” said, Turki Al-Zubairi, the regional Education Administration head.