Saudi students, parents and educators are preparing for the new academic year, which begins September 1st.
Shaher al-Jeddawi, programme director at a public school in Jeddah, said introducing English language courses in fourth grade is a major step “towards raising the level of education in general”.
“The project this year applies to 4,200 schools out of the kingdom’s 33,000 existing schools,” he said, adding that preparations began two years ago when English classes were introduced in the fifth grade.
Next year, English will be introduced in all schools, al-Jeddawi said.
He said the “Schools of the Future” initiative will also begin this year with the opening of 300 “model schools” throughout the kingdom. According to al-Jeddawi, educators in these schools will emphasise the use of laboratories and modern teaching methods in line with technological advancements.
