Saudi- Jeddah schools record 98% attendance rate

(MENAFN- Arab News) Jeddah schools recorded a collective attendance of more than 700,000 students on Sunday, the first day of the academic year. This was confirmed by Abdullah Althagafi, director-general of Education in Jeddah, who conducted field trips to a number of schools on Tuesday and noted that student attendance reached 98 percent. According to Althagafi, reports received from more than 800 principles and school directors showed an overall low absence rate of two percent. The reports did not account for teacher absenteeism. Althagafi announced that 7 new projects for the expansion of schools in northeast Jeddah have been put forward. The plan, which consists of three phases, includes the opening of schools for boys and girls at different levels during the current school year. It also includes the introduction of 17 new classrooms at both boys' and girls' schools in northeast Jeddah, particularly in the neighborhoods of Hamdania, Teeba, Asalah and Alkawthar. Hussein Al-Zahrani, director of Yarmouk Middle School in Jeddah, also confirmed a 98-percent attendance rate.