MADINAH – English language will now be taught from fourth grade in all schools in the Kingdom, Minister of Education Prince Khalid Al-Faisal was quoted as saying by Al-Watan Arabic language daily on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah approved a five-year plan worth more than SR80 billion ($21.33 billion) to develop the education sector.

The plan includes building 1,500 nurseries, providing training for about 25,000 teachers and establishing educational centers and other related projects.

The SR80 billion are in addition to what is being allocated annually to the Education Ministry.

The minister said in an earlier statement that the new SR80 billion program focuses on training teachers, developing talents of students, upgrading school administrations, and school infrastructure.

It also focuses on children with special needs and the talented ones. It will end the problem of rented buildings used as schools, most of which are not appropriate for any educational activity and lack basic safety and health requirements.

Prince Khaled said 3,200 schools serving over 1.5 million students in all regions will be built. They will be linked with the Internet, and e-learning will be introduced in all of them. Over 250,000 smart classes will be provided.

He said SR5 billion has been earmarked to train teachers over the next five years. Some 25,000 male and female teachers will be sent to advanced countries to get acquainted with and trained on the latest developments in the field of teaching.

The minister said 1,500 kindergartens serving 150,000 male and female students will be built while 3,500 job opportunities will be created for female teachers over the next five years.

Priority will be given to small cities, highly-populated neighborhoods, and those with limited income.

[wpResize]