Cairo: Chinese teachers arriving in a Saudi city on Friday to promote their mother tongue received a warm welcome.
Upon their arrival at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Airport in Tabuk, located in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the teachers were greeted with Saudi coffee, a popular national drink, and flowers.
The warm reception impressed the teachers, who are set to teach the Chinese language mandarin in public middle schools during the current academic year as part of a Saudi government initiative.
The Saudi Ministry of Education has announced the introduction of Chinese in middle schools in select regions, including Tabuk, as part of the first phase of the program.
The ministry added that the mandarin 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 alongside Arabic and English.
The ministry said it had organised a familiarisation meeting for the first group of Chinese teachers after their arrival in the kingdom.
According to China Daily, around 175 Chinese language teachers are set to begin teaching in Saudi primary and middle schools, marking the first batch of Mandarin teachers to serve in the kingdom.
The teachers completed pre-service training at Tianjin Normal University. The Saudi Ministry of Education and the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation under China’s Ministry of Education co-organised the training with the university.
This program is part of an agreement made between the two countries last year to enhance cooperation in Chinese language education.
In 2020, Saudi education authorities began teaching Chinese in eight high schools as part of efforts to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Saudi Arabia announced plans to expand Chinese language education following Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to the kingdom in late 2022, where he met with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed.
