Cairo: Education authorities in Saudi Arabia have brought forward the end-of-the-school-year examinations in the holy city of Mecca by one week due to the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage season.
The Education Ministry has agreed to bring forward the final exams of the current academic year in schools of Mecca and related governorates of Bahra, Al Jamom and Al Kamil to start on the 22nd of the current Islamic month of Dhul Qadah instead of the 29th of the same month.
Accordingly, practical and oral exams will be held on the 17th of Dhul Qadah and the tests will end by 26th of the same month.
The annual Hajj season is due in the final week of June this year.
For the same reason, final exams at institutes and faculties of the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina have been brought forward too.
A relevant decision was taken by head of the General Presidency for Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques Abdulrahman Al Sudais.
“This comes as part of efforts made to facilitate matters from students and provide the best education circumstances for them. It is also part of current preparations for the Hajj season,” he said in media remarks.
Hajj is one of Islam’s five obligatory duties. Saudi Arabia has said there will be no limits on the numbers of pilgrims from around the world for the upcoming Hajj season, reversing earlier restrictions prompted by the global pandemic.
In the past two years, Saudi Arabia downsized the numbers of Muslims allowed to perform the Hajj rites to prevent spread of COVID-19.
Around 2.5 million Muslims used to attend Hajj annually in the pre-pandemic times.
