- SPA
Mecca – Recently more than 28,000 high school students in Saudi Arabia have started learning the Chinese language as part of a nationwide plan.
Starting this semester, second-grade students in public and private secondary schools in Saudi Arabia were introduced to the Chinese language under an enriching linguistic program.
A total of 28,903 students in 257 secondary schools in Mecca attended two proficiency classes per week for learning Chinese during the first semester of the academic year that began last week.
The program features educational shows and interactive lessons aimed to enhance the student’s ability to learn the Chinese language with the engagement of facilitators encouraging group thinking and self-learning.
Presiden China Xi Jinping berjabat tangan dengan Raja Salman di Riyadh Arab Saud
- SPA
Saudi education authorities on last August unveiled a package of incentives for students who will distinguish themselves in learning the Chinese language.
As part of these incentives, students’ attendance in the Chinese language classes will be considered a sort of engagement in voluntary work.
The student, who completes the course, will get a 10-hour voluntary work added up to his/her cooperative education.
Moreover, the five best learners will be honored by their respective education departments, with the final number of top students to reach 16 boys and 16 girls, who will be feted by the Education Ministry.
Those students will also be given access to knowledge-orientated programs and trips as a reward.
Saudi Arabia said it plans to expand teaching the Chinese language after Chinese President Xi Jinping made an official visit last December to the Kingdom where he met King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
President Xi said in Riyadh that his country would offer thousands of opportunities to teach the Chinese language.
Last March, the first batch of students majoring in the Chinese language in Saudi Arabia graduated from the University of Jeddah’s Faculty of Languages and Translation.
In 2020, Saudi education authorities started teaching the Chinese language in eight high schools as part of efforts to boost links between the two countries.
Earlier that year, the Saudi Crown Prince visited China where it was agreed to work out a plan for introducing the Chinese language into the curricula of schools and universities in the kingdom.
