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RIYADH, Feb 6: Saudi Arabia has initiated a process of evaluating and assessing its current school syllabi. The move comes after years of deliberations on the reasons behind the deterioration of the academic standards resulting in dearth of talented students.
Officials say this process has been initiated in order to maintain a balance between the current times and future requirements.
The educational syllabi in the kingdom has often been accused by educational experts as not in tune with the changes sweeping the world, and of failing to produce talented students.
The current syllabi, many accuse, was advancing the “promotion (from one class to the next) culture” among the students.
The Saudi Majlis-i-Shoura had recently formed a committee to work out the new school syllabi. The committee, comprising academicians, experts, government officials and intellectuals, has been assigned to develop the new syllabi in tune with the current times and ways to achieve the objectives behind the changes.
COMMITTEE FORMED: The General Establishment of Technical Education and Vocational Training has formed a committee of 1,200 experts to suggest changes in the curriculum of various vocational training institutes.
A 13 million riyal budget was earmarked for the committee assigned the task of overhauling the current vocational syllabi.
The amended syllabi were expected to be introduced during the next academic session.
In recent days the Kingdom has also been coming under increasing pressure from the US in particular to change its curricula considerably, which lays emphasis on inculcating Islamic principles among the students.
However, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud and the education minister had made it clear earlier that Saudi Arabia would not make any changes in its syllabi because of US pressure.
Changes to bring the curricula in line with the current times is a continuous process and whenever a need was felt to incorporate such changes in the syllabi, those will be made, the Saudi officials have been asserting in recent days.
