Saudi Arabia brought in 175 Chinese teachers to teach Mandarin
The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia has officially announced that Mandarin Chinese courses will be included in the country's primary and secondary school curriculum, and Chinese will be one of the main teaching languages, aiming to optimize the educational process, provide comprehensive education, and teach students a new language to help develop their skills. It is reported that the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia has begun taking necessary measures to adjust the curriculum and class hours, and to equip professional teachers to adapt to the new teaching system.
The teaching aims to teach students basic skills in Mandarin reading, writing, and conversation, for example, first-year students will have three Mandarin classes per week, while the corresponding class hours of other subjects will be adjusted, such as English classes will be reduced from four per week to three.
To strengthen cooperation in Chinese education, a Memorandum of Understanding on Chinese Language Education Cooperation was signed by the leaders of the two countries at the end of 2022. According to the subsequent signed executive agreements, China will send 800 Mandarin teachers to Saudi Arabia.
The Okaz newspaper in Saudi Arabia reported that 175 Chinese teachers will teach Mandarin in Saudi primary and secondary schools in August this year. Recently, these 175 Chinese teachers have completed pre-service training in Tianjin Normal University, jointly organized by the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia and the Ministry of Education in China. Saudi media reported that the decision to offer Chinese language courses in Saudi schools was made by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to China. At that time, the two countries agreed to develop a plan to include Chinese language in the curriculum of schools and universities in Saudi Arabia.
The news that Chinese language classes will be offered in Saudi primary and secondary schools has sparked heated discussion among Saudi netizens. Mahmoud, a Saudi businessman who has studied Chinese for many years, commented that although Chinese is difficult to learn, his life has changed greatly after mastering it, and Chinese has opened many doors of opportunities for him.
