Cairo: A group of Chinese teachers have arrived in Saudi Arabia where they are acquainted with their mission during the current school year as part of efforts to enhance the teaching of the Chinese language in the kingdom’s public schools.
The Saudi Education Ministry said it had organised a familiarisation meeting for the teachers after their arrival as part of an integrated programme.
The week-long programme also features a set of workshop to familarise them with the Saudi education system and visits to landmarks in the kingdom.
The ministry had earlier said the Chinese language will be taught in schools in Riyadh, Yanbu, the Eastern Province, Jeddah, Jazan and Tabuk under a 2023 government decision that approved its teaching along with Arabic and English.
Some 175 Chinese language teachers are set to begin teaching in Saudi primary and middle schools as the first batch of Mandarin teachers to serve in the kingdom, China Daily reported earlier this month.
The teachers completed a pre-service training at Tianjin Normal University, it added. Saudi Education Ministry and the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation under China’s Ministry of Education co-organised the training with the university.
The programme is part of an agreement made between the two countries last year to bolster cooperation in Chinese language education.
In 2020, Saudi education authorities started teaching Chinese in eight high schools as part of efforts to boost links between the two countries.
Teaching the Chinese language is not limited to Saudi schools.It is booming in the kingdom universities as well. The College of Languages at the Riyadh-based Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University has recently celebrated the graduation of its first batch of 45 students who obtained a bachelor’s degree in the Chinese Language programme.
Saudi Arabia said it plans to expand teaching the language after Chinese President Xi Jinping made an official visit in late 2022 to the kingdom where he met King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed. Xi said in Riyadh that his country would offer thousands of opportunities to teach the Chinese language in the Gulf countries.
