WUNRN
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/723421
Saudi Arabia – Education Ministry to Open Nurseries at Girls’ Schools
26 March 2015 - Teachers have
welcomed the decision by Education Minister Azzam Al-Dakhil to open nurseries
at all government and private girls’ schools across the Saudi Arabia Kingdom.
The ministry wants to increase the productivity of women teachers and put their
minds at ease concerning the safety of their children during working hours, the
minister said on his Twitter account recently.
“We desperately want to boost the productivity of women teachers while assuring
them that their children are safe ... I just issued a decision to open
nurseries at all government, private and foreign girls’ schools in the
Kingdom.”
Many working women in the Kingdom have expressed concern about the safety of
their children after several incidents involving foreign housemaids killing
youngsters.
Latifa Abdulmohsin, a teacher, said the decision was long overdue and hoped it
would be implemented soon. However, she said many school buildings lack the
infrastructure for safe and healthy areas for their children.
“Taking my kids to school will help me do my work. The decision will reduce the
number of days that women take off to care for their children,” she was quoted
as saying in a local publication recently.
She said it was a pity that women working in far-flung areas would not benefit
because they would be afraid to take their children out on the country’s
dangerous roads.
Najla Al-Fahd, another teacher, said she was happy with the decision because it
would help ease her mind. “Unfortunately many schools lack adequate infrastructure
to establish nurseries,” she said.
Al-Fahd said she has already seen the benefits of a nursery at a school in
Riyadh. “There was a positive psychological impact on all the women teachers.
They were more committed to their work because they were assured their children
were safe,” she said.
Abdulrahman Al-Madairis, the director general of education in the Eastern
Province, said the new decision would ease the minds of teachers and increase
their productivity.
The decision would also help the children in terms of their education, social,
physical, cultural, and emotional development, and aid their shift to
kindergartens, he said.
Fawzia Barian, head of the early class division at the education department in
Jeddah, said the teachers would become more stable emotionally and
psychologically. It would also improve their performance.
Other women teachers said it would help prevent women from quitting the
profession.