Saudi National Day

Saudi Arabia achieves landmark leaps in education sector

1500 new schools for boys, girls built in various Saudi areas

More social education houses set up to care for Orphans

The Saudi Public education sector has witnessed distinguished leaps as a result of the excellent attention accorded by the prudent leadership to this sector as an important pillar of the pillars upon which the Kingdom depends in achieving progress and keeps pace with scientific and technical developments in the world.

So, the Ministry of Education was keen to provide schools in various stages throughout the Kingdom in addition to other complementary elements of the educational process such as teacher training and school supplies.

And since the importance given to education by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the state budget for fiscal year 1428 / 1429 included the adoption of the construction of (1500) new schools for boys and girls in all regions as well as schools being implemented and numbered (3240) school, and the completion of more than (1100), and the rehabilitation and provision of safety facilities for about (2000) school buildings for boys and girl.

The Ministry of education was also keen on adding new classrooms to existing schools, furnishing and equipping of schools with educational means and computers as well as the construction of administrative buildings for the public education sector.

Moreover, the Ministry of Education gave great interest to the sector of adult education and literacy.

It also was keen to provide special education for children with disabilities who are not able to join the public education schools.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud patronized the opening ceremony of King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal this evening in the attendance of their Majesties, Excellencies and Highnesses the leaders and representatives of a number of Arab, Islamic and friendly countries which also coincides with the 79th anniversary of the National Day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

At the venue, the monarch was received by Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, the Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, Prince Mishaal bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Jeddah Province, and a number of princes.

He was also received by Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, who is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of KAUST, Dr. Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education, Eng. Khalid Al-Faleh, President of Aramco, and a number of the university's senior officials.

Following this, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, received their Majesties, Excellencies and Highnesses, the leaders and representatives of Arab, Islamic and friendly countries who are the guests of honor.

Attending the ceremony were His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the Kingdom of Bahrain; His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait; His Majesty King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, King of the Kingdom of Malaysia; President Mohammad Rahman of the Republic of Bangladesh; President Ismail Omar Guelleh of the Republic of Djibouti; President General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of the Republic of Mauritania, President Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Republic of The Philippines; President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of the Somali Republic; President Omar Hassan Ahmed Al Bashir of the Republic The Sudan; President Abdullah Gul of the Republic of Turkey; President Ali Abdullah Saleh of the Republic of Yemen; President Dr. Bashar Al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic; the caretaker of the Lebanese government Fouad Siniora; His Royal Highness Prince Andrew, the representative of Her Majesty the Queen of Britain; His Highness Shihab bin Tariq bin Saeed, Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan of Oman and the representative of the Sultanate of Oman; His Highness Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior and representative of the President of the United Arab Emirates; Farooq H. Nuuk, Speaker of Pakistan's House of Representatives and Personal Representative of both the President and Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; Abdulaziz Belkhadem, Representative of the Algerian President; Yuri Sntoren, First Deputy Minister for Science and Education of the Federal Republic of Russia and representative of both Russia's President and Prime Minister; Aidabact Ahmed, Minister of State for Railways of India; Piment Arden, Director General of the National Academy for Science and representative of the U.S. President; and Claude Gueant, the Secretary General of the French Presidency and representative of the President of France.

Also attending were Ryan O'Keefe, Minister of Education and Science and Representative of the President of Ireland; Dr. Al-Azhar Bo Awni, Tunisia's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and representative of Tunisian President; Dr. Hyun Koo Lee, the Special Adviser to the Korean President for Science and Technology and representative of both the President and Prime Minister of Korea; Dr. Hani Helal, Egypt's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and representative of the Egyptian President; Saad Bin Ibrahim Al Mahmoud, Minister of Education and Higher Education of Qatar, the Secretary General of the Supreme Education Council of Qatar and Representative of the Emir of Qatar; Professor Michal Kleiber, President of the Academy of Science in Poland and the Special Representative of the Polish President; Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; and the ambassadors of Palestine Jamal Shobaki; The Netherlands Ron Stricair; Canada David Chatrson; Japan Shigeru Endo; Brazil Luiz Sergio Kanabs; and Mexico Arturo Trejo to the Kingdom who are representatives of their respective countries.

Then the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his senior guests saw a replica of the university and were briefed by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Ali Al-Naimi, who is also the university's Chairman of Board of Trustees, on its facilities.

Then they toured a special exhibition on the occasion and watched a brief film on the university.

A speech ceremony was held to mark the inauguration of the university.

Then the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud delivered the following speech:

"In the name of God, the most graceful, most merciful

Your Majesties, Your Excellencies, Your Highnesses, Distinguished guests,

The idea of this university has been a dream of mine for more than 25 years. It has been a persistent desire that has lived with me ever since. And I thank God, the Great, the Merciful, that he enabled us to embody it as a reality that stands mightily, with God's will, on our soil today. On behalf of the Saudi people, I would like to express our deepest thanks for your presence and your participation in the birth of our dream.

The Islamic civilization historically has played an enormous role in serving humanity. After God, the great Islamic scholars have contributed to many areas of scholarship, such as the role played by Ibn Al-Nafees in medicine, the impact Jaber bin Hayyan had on chemistry, and Al-Khawarizmi's pivotal role in algebra. Similarly, the study of sociology benefited immensely from the genius of Ibn Khaldoon.

For all of that, the university, whose inauguration we celebrate today, did not emerge from nowhere. It is a contribution of what distinguished our civilization in its golden age. This is, first of all, what the university stands for.

Throughout history, power has attached itself, after God, to science. And the Islamic nation knows too well that it will not be powerful unless it depends on, after God, science. For science and faith cannot compete except in unhealthy souls.

And God has graced us with our minds, which we use to understand and recognize God's laws of nature. For He, the Almighty, said, "Of his faithful, God is feared by scientists." And this is the second meaning of the university.

Brothers and sisters,

Humanity has been the target of vicious attacks from extremists, who speak the language of hatred, fear dialogue, and pursue destruction. We cannot fight them unless we lean to coexist without conflict - with love instead of hatred and with friendship instead of confrontation. Undoubtedly, scientific centers that embrace all peoples are the first line of defense against extremists. And today this university will become a House of Wisdom to all its peers around the world, a beacon of tolerance. This is the third meaning of the university.

Finally, I would like to thank Saudi Aramco, which supervised the development of this university in an extraordinarily short period of time, and I wish the entire university community continued success.

May God bless you all".

Addressing the gathering, Professor Choon Fong Shih, the President of KAUST, said the facility would become a new Dar Al-Hikma, vowing that it would also be the first choice of the world's renowned researchers and scientists.

He expected that the university would realize, within a single generation, the dream of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to become an upstream of science and research for the coming generations, wishing KAUST every success.

Taking the podium, the university's Chairman of the Board of Trustees Eng. Al-Naimi said the university has realized the King's dream to see students from different parts of the world taking lessons and making researches in the Kingdom, citing that so far some 800 students and researchers have been enrolled.

It augers well that the newly-born university has received world-wide recognition and cooperation from the world's renowned research centers and universities, he said.

Al-Naimi added that the third vision which became a reality is that the university was seen as a pioneer of a number of aspects of economic and industrial development.

For his part, Dr. Al-Anqari said there are 24 government and eight private universities in the Kingdom today and that more than 70,000 students are studying on government scholarships abroad.

He described the vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to establish KAUST as the ideal national initiative to enable the Kingdom cope with the educational changes at the international levels.

Then, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud pressed an electronic ribbon to announce the inauguration of KAUST.

The guests, then, had dinner with the King. Afterwards, the monarch bade them farewell, thanking them for coming and wishing them safe travel.

The opening ceremony and the royal banquet were attended by Prince Bandar bin Mohammed bin Abdulrahman; Prince Badr bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Commander of the National Guard; Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior; Prince Faisal bin Turki bin Abdulaziz Al Saud; Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz; Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Governor of Makkah Region; Prince Abdul-Ilah bin Abdulaziz, Advisor to the King; Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Minister of Interior; Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence; other princes, ministers, senior civil and military officials, and ambassadors accredited to the Kingdom.