The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has directed all public and private secondary schools in the Kingdom to implement the Chinese language, Mandarin, teaching program at a rate of two classes per week, local media reported. According to the directive of the Saudi Ministry of Education, the fourth period of Sunday and Monday is allocated to facilitators to teach this language during the current academic year. As per a report by Arabic daily Okaz, the decision comes at a time when the Kingdom is making necessary preparations to implement a Mandarin enrichment program for second-grade students within the proficiency classes. more than seven million male and female students across the Kingdom returned to schools and universities on the first day of the new academic year. In March, the Saudi Council of Ministers approved a memorandum of cooperation to teach Mandarin between the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom and the Ministry of Education in China. It is worth noting that the decision to teach Mandarin in Saudi schools came during the visit of Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to the Chinese capital, Beijing in February 2019. Various initiatives have been launched with different organizations in the education and training sectors to introduce the language to the public.
