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March 26, 2004 |
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THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES: EDUCATION MUST REACH EVERY HOUSE AND BE THE TORCH THAT ENLIGHTS THE WAY OF EACH CITIZEN. BUILDING HUMAN BEINGS IS FUNDAMENTAL AS NO DEVELOPMENT COULD BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT THE ERADICATION OF ILLITERACY. The spread and promotion of education has been an important cornerstone of the Kingdom's policy to accomplish overall progress in line with the latest advances in science and technology. Within this framework, the pioneer of education in the Kingdom, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz, since he was the Minister of Education until this day, has been keen to boost education and follow it up, step by step, to match the educational developments of advanced countries. In the light of this special patronage by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the educational sector has made great progress. In 1420/1421AH, the number of students at all educational levels, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education, totaled 2,228,397. There were 98,015 classrooms in 12,621 schools and 161,712 teachers assisted students in their educational pursuits. The number of students in elementary, intermediate and secondary levels, increased sharply, while, because of the success of the adult education programs, the number of adult students was reduced from 35,168 students in the year 1419/1420AH to 33,536 students in the year 1420/1421AH. The Ministry of Education has established thousands of schools and other supporting buildings. In 1420/1421AH, the number of schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Education reached 6,209 elementary schools with a total of 1,189,364 students and 89,800 teachers. At the same period, the number of intermediate schools was increased to 3,388 schools with 581,864 students and 43,121 teachers, while there were 1,719 secondary schools, with a total of 389,860 students and 24,761 teachers. The Ministry of Education is keen to develop services for students and establish a special sector for student's affairs. The Ministry of Education also encourages sports, scouting activities and other types of art and scientific activities. In this context, it has established playgrounds, in-door halls and swimming pools. It has also established 150 health care units to provide health services to students. The Ministry has also given attention to schools for Holy Quran Memorization. In this context, it established in the year 1367AH, the first school of this kind in Madinah. By the year 1420/1421AH, the number of Holy Quran Memorization schools reached 510, with a total of 52,049 students and 4,619 tutors. The Ministry also gives great attention to adult education and the elimination of illiteracy and has opened a number of special schools and centres for this purpose all over the Kingdom. In 1420/1421 AH, the number of schools to combat illiteracy and promote adult education totaled 1,107, with 2,152 classrooms and 33,536 students. There are also 180 special schools offering education to disabled boys and girls. On the other hand the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has realized, for many years, the importance of preparing qualified Saudis in order to build the nation. It believes that the cultural and scientific progress of any nation is closely dependent on qualified citizens who can take on the task of building the nation. This trend has been reflected in the successive development plans, which have emphasized the need to develop human resources (the nation's real wealth). The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz was the pioneer of education in the Kingdom. He laid the foundations for the Kingdom's educational system and since then has been following the progress of education with great interest. As a result of this official interest from the Saudi Government, the Kingdom has witnessed great advances in education. The Kingdom now has eight universities in all parts of the country. Each university is academically and administratively independent and has modern dormitories. The government provides all the financial support needed by the universities. These eight universities have 76 colleges, covering 400 specialized fields. These colleges have 10,000 staff and 239,000 students. The Kingdom also has 72 faculties affiliated to the General Presidency of Girls' Education, with an estimated 195,000 students. The Ministry of Education has 18 technical faculties, which have an estimated 22,500 students. There are also 5,000 students at health faculties and institutes. The Umm Al Qura University was the first university to be established in the Kingdom, in 1369 AH. The College of Shariah was the first modern higher education establishment. The Umm Al Qura University now has nine colleges that teach more than 50 specialized fields and have more than 31,000 male and female students. The second university is the Islamic University in Madinah Al Munawarah, established in 1381AH, in order to enhance the role of the Kingdom in serving Islam and Muslims all over the world. The University has allocated 58 per cent of its seats to non-Saudi students from more than 105 countries. It has five colleges that teach 16 specialized fields in various Islamic sciences and has more than 4,000 students. The third university is the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, established in 1373/1374AH. It started with two colleges of Shariah and Arabic Language. The University now has 12 colleges, with more than 51,000 male and female students. The university has affiliated institutes in the United Arab Emirates, Mauritania, Indonesia, Japan, Djibouti and the USA. The fourth university is the King Saud University, which was established in 1377/1378AH. It is considered as one of the largest universities in the world, in terms of diversity of specialized fields. It has 62,000 male and female students, studying at 17 colleges. The fifth university is the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, established in 1384 AH. It has more than 36,000 male and female students, studying at eleven colleges, which have more than 87 specialized fields. The sixth university is the King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals, which started as a Faculty for Petroleum and Minerals in 1383AH and turned into a university in 1395AH. The University has six scientific colleges and more than 9,000 students. The seventh university is the King Faisal University, which started in 1395AH. It has seven colleges and more than 15,000 male and female students. The eighth university is the King Khaled University, which started in Abha, in the Asir region in 1419/1420AH. It comprises four colleges and nearly 13,000 male and female students, studying medicine, education and science. As for the fields of scientific research and foreign participation, more than 700 professors participated in a number of scientific conferences and meetings at a number of academic centers all over the world in the academic year 1418/1419AH. Moreover, a Royal approval was issued on the decision of the Council of Higher Education to establish four colleges in various regions, as well as a college of technology in Najran. Recently, an organizational regulation was issued to set up non-profitable private colleges in various regions of the Kingdom to be an extension of the role of universities. Also according to statistics published by the General Presidency of Girls' Education, in 1420 AH, there were more than 2 million female students and 200,000 female teachers and administrators at more than 13,000 educational institutions. The statistics showed that there were 6,206 primary schools, with more than 1 million students and 177,000 teachers. There were 1,716 intermediate schools, with 491,000 students and 43,565 teachers. The number of secondary schools reached 1,571 with 365,560 students and 30,516 teachers. According to the statistics, the number of colleges of the General Presidency for Girls' Education amounted to 73 with 162,246 students and 4,868 teachers. Meanwhile, the number of secondary teacher training institutes reached 75 with 3,650 students. With regard to the Holy Quran Memorization Schools, their number reached 523 with 58,366 students and 5,860 teachers. The General Presidency for Girls' Education provides a transportation service for students through its fleet of governmental and rented buses. Five hundred thousand students benefit from this service. The General Presidency also gives special care to the health of female students, through its health units in various parts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These health units are provided with all required medical equipment. The General Presidency has also given top priority to adult education and eradication of illiteracy. In this respect, the number of schools of illiteracy eradication reached 2,204 with 74,780 students. The General Presidency for Girls' Education has been undertaking supervision of 1,553 schools at the Ministry of Defence and Aviation, the National Guard, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Special Education sector. The number of students in the schools of this sector reached 218,000 students, while the number of teachers reached 19,917. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz interest in Education has been extended to engulf Muslim countries lately the King Fahd Forum for Saudi Universities of South East Asian graduates, organized by the Riyadh-based Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, had been launched in Kuala Lumpur. In a speech before the gathering, the Rector of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Saad Al Salim, stressed that the Forum aims is to extend bridges of amicability and cooperation among Muslims, strengthen Islamic relations, and get acquainted with their needs, notably of those who have studied at universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The gathering included more than 3,000 sons of Muslims all over the world have graduated from Saudi universities. The Saudi universities, upon instructions from the Saudi prudent leadership, have offered precious opportunities for the sons of Muslims all over the world to undertake their university and post-graduate studies in them. "These universities were keen to offer more and more scholarships to Muslims from all Islamic countries, as well as Islamic communities, a practice yielding a large number of Muslim graduates, exceeding 30,000 from different countries," the Minister of Education said at the opening of the King Fahd Forum. He added that the Saudi universities were organizing religious, Arabic language and educational courses in different parts of the world for the sons of Muslims there. The Minister said the Forum, the first of its kind, was aiming to strengthen ties between Saudi universities and their graduates in different fields and to look for new potentials of cooperation and enhance scientific ties with its graduates, including solving the problems that might face them during their residence abroad. Also he Special Education Department of the Ministry of Education operates schools for the blind, deaf and the physically and mentally handicapped. Currently, more than 1,000 teachers and support staff provide training for nearly 5,000 students at more than 30 such schools. Several institutes for handicapped children have been established and more are under construction. Other institutes care for older handicapped people. The special schools are part of the Kingdom's effort to encourage every individual to reach his or her full potential. Another important sector of Saudi Arabia's educational program is adult education. With its commitment to making education available to all and eradicating illiteracy, the Kingdom established a large number of adult education centers. In isolated rural areas, the government conducts intensive three-month adult education courses during the summer. The Kingdom's literacy rate is 90.9 percent for men, and 70.2 percent for women. The Ministry of Education now runs about 1,500 adult education centers for male students at various levels, and the General Presidency for Girls' Education has over 2,000. |
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