Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: English will be taught from the fourth year in 284 elementary boys’ and girls’ schools in Makkah province from the next academic year, which begins Sept. 10, the local education officials announced Sunday.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Planning and Development Naif Al-Roumi said the ministry would seek the help of international firms to teach the language. He said the ministry has so far received offers from three of these firms.
“The ministry is determined to arm students with languages so that they take our culture to foreign societies, spread Islam and serve humanity,” he said.
The Ministry of Education has already chosen 30 boys’ and 30 girls’ schools to apply the project aimed at expanding the teaching of English from the first intermediate school year.
Eight intermediate schools have already implemented the project of expanding the teaching of English at the second year as part of a pilot program, bringing the total number of boys’ and girls’ schools in Makkah teaching the language to 352.
According to the Department of Education for Makkah province, English will be extensively taught to fourth-year elementary students and second-year intermediate students.
Al-Roumi said the ministry would do its utmost to ensure the perfection of the English language and would ask the Cabinet to approve the teaching of the language at an earlier stage than the sixth elementary year when it was ready for the step.
English was taught on experimental basis in the fourth and fifth elementary years during the past two years in selected government schools.
© Arab News
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