Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is going to include the Chinese language in the curriculum at all stages of education in Saudi schools and universities, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
As part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s new vision for the education sector in Saudi Arabia, vision 2030, the ministry of education plans to teach Mandarin Chinese as an elective program in eight public high schools in the upcoming academic year 2021-2022.
Mandarin will be taught at four schools in Riyadh, two in Jeddah, and two in the Eastern Province, including two girls’ schools, at the first stage.
The agreement was finalized during the Saudi Crown Prince’s visit to Beijing in February 2019, between the two countries to enhance bilateral relationship and cooperation.
Several initiatives have been launched with different organizations in the education and training sectors to introduce the language to the public.
One of the largest initiatives was in collaboration with the Arab Open University and the Nabegh Education Center to educate more than 3,500 teachers and education sector employees in 12 cities across the country.