RIYADH/JEDDAH: The Ministry of Education has said that public and private schools will take a national holiday tomorrow, Saturday, to celebrate the return to the Kingdom of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Abdul Rahman Al-Barrak, Deputy Minister of Education, said the royal decree granting the nationwide day off includes “all boys and girls schools pertaining to the Ministry of Education as well as private schools, foreign schools, and foreign community schools”. “The Ministry of Education has drawn up a program for celebrations of the King's return to the country following successful medical treatment abroad, and it consists of a host of activities and competitions which will take place at public education schools to give pupils the chance to express their love and loyalty to their King,” Al-Barrak said. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor is leaving the decision to grant private sector employees a day off on Saturday up to the firms that employ them. Sources at the ministry told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that it does not oblige the private sector to give holidays for any occasion and that companies are at liberty to grant staff a day off or extra pay if they are required to work. The sources said, however, that the “ministry expects the private sector to respond on all national occasions by giving staff the day off”. Saturday has been declared a nationwide holiday to celebrate Wednesday's return of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to the Kingdom in good health following surgery in the United States, and the sources said that the private sector firms and institutes that have given staff the day off showed that they were “sharing in the joy at the King's good health and his return to his country”. Flood committees work on Officials from the flood damage compensation committees in Jeddah, meanwhile, have said that out of their “joy at the return of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” they will waive the national day off and continue their work in alleviating the difficulties faced by the victims of the recent floods in the city. Sa'ad Al-Otaibi, Chairman of the Ministry of Finance's Compensation Payment Committees, said the committee officials were “dedicated to their work” and are “resolved to continue Saturday as an expression of their joy at the King's safe return in good health”. “This is in recognition of the King's orders to strive in the interest of all sections of the public. The people forever in the King's mind, and he spent his period of recuperation dedicated to the service of the people and addressing their needs,” Al-Otaibi said. “We decided to continue with our work tomorrow, and this is just one example of the many we have taken from the leadership.” Al-Otaibi added that the officials working on the committees took a “great deal of satisfaction from their work” which “brings to bear the aspirations of the leader and his wishes, for he is the dear father who is concerned for the care of his people.”
