Arab News, Monday, Sep 26, 2022 | Safar 30, 1444
Saudi education minister signs MoU to support English-language teaching
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Minister of Education Hamad Al-Sheikh recently signed a memorandum with a
US group specializing in providing language teaching books, materials and
services.
The agreement, signed with CEO of MM American
Publishing Group, Giannis Malkogiannis, is to support English-language teaching
and learning, and is part of Al-Sheikh’s tour of American universities and
research centers.
The meeting touched on cooperation between the
Saudi Ministry of Education and the MM Group in providing English-language
curricula. The group has previously provided English language curricula for the
Kingdom’s schools, from the fourth grade to the twelfth grade. The group also
owns a “binary logic” company that provides digital skills curricula and
engineering curricula.
The two parties discussed supporting cooperation
between the ministry and the MM Group in providing a vision for adding a
specific course for languages or the STEM track, in line with best international
practices.
The cooperation aims to advance the work between
the English Language Center at the Agency of General Education and the group,
conducted last year as a part of a project to implement a sample of language
curricula in 50 Saudi primary schools.
“What the ministry strives to achieve in learning
and teaching English is one of the successful steps in utilizing global
expertise in this area,” Ahmed Asiri, an educational consultant and former
director of the educational supervision department at the ministry in Taif, told
Arab News.
“The US specialists in this field are familiar
with and have very high experience in dealing with these age groups. They also
have the needed requirements to pass their knowledge on through digital and
intensive programs, creating a beautiful learning environment,” he said.
He added that the path taken by the ministry was
in compliance with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
“Mastering English will be a helpful instrument to
maintain the communication between societies. For instance, all international,
cultural and economic relations in various aspects of life all share the same
main tool, which is the English language,” he said.
Abdul Rahman Surti, educational supervisor at the
ministry, told Arab News that the curricula by MM Publishing Group was
considered one of the best educational series. “They were able to serve
students, teachers and the entire educational process, and facilitated
communication with parents through interactive CDs,” he said.
Surti, who is the author of “Creative Ideas for
Teaching English Language,” said that more real-life examples were needed for
Saudi students to boost learning.