Students launch Saudi Arabia’s Founding Day celebrations

Cairo: Starting from Sunday, around 1.2 million students in schools across Saudi Arabia will start celebrations marking the anniversary of the kingdom’s Founding Day, a main national event that was first commemorated last year.

A series of five-day school events will be launched to celebrate the Founding Day annually marked on February 22.

The event features allocating the morning school broadcasts and the first five minutes of the classes to highlighting the significance of the Founding Day and Saudi Arabia’s history, an education official has said.

Spokesman for the Riyadh Education directorate Abdulsalam Al Thameri added that a theatrical piece will be launched recounting the founding story as well as a show on costumes in the era of the first Saudi state. Journeys will, moreover, be organised for students to historical sites.

“The Ministry of Education’s celebration of the Founding Day anniversary comes out of its belief in the value of this occasion and its importance in consolidating youngsters’ awareness and knowledge about depth of the Saudi state’s history,” the official was quoted by Saudi news portal Ajel as saying.

Last year, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz declared February 22 every year as the kingdom’s Founding Day and an official holiday.

The day commemorates the founding of the first Saudi state in 1727 by Imam Mohammed bin Saud.

Public and private sector workers in Saudi Arabia will get an official holiday on February 22 to mark the occasion.

Public sector employees covered by human resources bylaws in civil service will also obtain as a holiday February 23, which follows the Founding Day.

Last year’s anniversary of the occasion featured festivities showcasing the kingdom’s rich heritage and history of the past three centuries.