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JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved a number of new faculties and departments at various universities. The newly approved departments include a revamped department of communication skills at the College of Literature and Human sciences in King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, and a teaching techniques department at the College of Education in King Khaled University, Abha. Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari, in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency on Saturday, added that royal approval had been issued to establish new research centers at other universities.

They include the Pharmacology Sciences Research Center at the Institute of Scientific Research for Revival of Islamic Heritage at the Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, and a Population Studies Center at the College of Literature in the King Saud University, Riyadh. Other research centers will be established at the King Khaled and Najran universities.

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JEDDAH: A college to teach advertising will be established by a number of Saudi investors and academics.

This new college will enable both the Saudi and foreign youths to study advertising and obtain a university degree in this specialization, said Saddiq Abdullah Dahlan, chairman of the board of trustees of the college

The name of the school was not provided, but Dahlan said the college will begin classes in October and is located in the northern Asfan district of Jeddah. He added that 96 percent of the workers in the advertising industry are non-Saudis.

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Students during Saturdays entrance examination for Taiba University in Madina. Talal Abdullah Maloush, the universitys dean of admissions has said that the departments of Islamic Call, History and Geography have been closed as the university seeks to qualify students in subjects “compatible with the needs of the labor market.” The Arabic and English Language departments, however, remain open. Maloush said although the university is expected to admit this year 16,500 students, an increase of 5,000 on last year, many would still be rejected due to the increase in applicants reflecting the increase in local population. – Okaz photo

JEDDAH – A delegation of Saudi students and professionals will visit South Korea as part of a youth program that aims to strengthen the ties of friendship and cooperation between the Kingdom and South Korea.

A South Korean youth delegation visited the Kingdom from Apr. 29 to May 8 this year.

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RIYADH – The 3rd Saudi International Conference, sponsored by King Abdulaziz University (KAU), will take place at the University of Surrey (Guildford, UK) on Friday and Saturday. The conference is multi-disciplinary in outlook, and its papers cover subjects in humanities, applied sciences, biomedical & health sciences, engineering and information & communication technologies. The two-day conference, which is convened for the third consecutive year in the United Kingdom was previously held at universities of Newcastle and Leeds consecutively. – SPA

RIYADH – The Ministry of Education has initiated studies for the increased privatization of education in the Kingdom.

Head of the ministrys Private and Foreign Education Department Khaled Al-Suhaim said at a private schools gathering on Monday that committees had been formed from several bodies to study the issue and submit their findings to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Al-Suhaim said that the ministry was keen to work with the private sector to facilitate its development.

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RIYADH – Hammad Yusuf, a student of the International Indian School, Jeddah (IISJ) ranked first in the Kingdom with 95.4 percent in the 10th Grade Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) results declared on Friday.

Andrea Fernandes, a girl student from the International Indian School, Jubail (IISJub) secured second position with 95 percent while Khalidha Noordeen and Shalini Shashi Kumar Shankar of IISR shared third position with 94.8 percent.

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QUNFUDA: The Ministry of Education will launch a SR1 billion project to upgrade the mathematics and science syllabi in the Kingdoms schools, Al-Watan newspaper reported yesterday.

As part of the project starting next academic year new syllabi will be introduced in the first and fourth standards of primary schools and the first standard of intermediary schools. Secondary schools will get the new syllabus a year later, said Muhammad Asiri, secretary-general of the project.

Asiri was speaking at a meeting of teachers and other Education Depart- ment officials in Qunfuda. More than 400 maths and science teachers, including women, participated in the meeting.

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DAMMAM/JEDDAH/ RIYADH: The International Indian Schools in Dammam, Jeddah and Jubail produced a 100 percent successful result, according to the results of the Al-Indian Secondary Examination (Grade 10) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). All 642 IISD students who sat the Class 10 exams in March this year were successful. Of them eight were placed in compartment. This is for the tenth consecutive time that the Dammam school has produced 100 percent result.

Sreelakshmi Muraleedharan stood first in the Dammam school (IISD) with 94.2 percent. Muraleedharan Vishnu Prasad and Sheryl Nedumkallel Sani shared the second place with each scoring 93.8 percent. Ashwath Yegyan Kumar and Sruthy Shah shared the third spot with 93.6 percent.

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CANBERRA – Saudi Ambassador to Australia Hassan Bin Talaat Nazer has affirmed that all Saudi students on scholarships in Australia are well and have not been affected by the floods and storms recently hit the states of New South Wales and Queensland in Australia. The ambassador contacted the heads of Saudi student clubs at universities and institutes as soon as the floods swept parts of the two states to be reassured about Saudi Students situations, stressing the keenness of the Saudi Embassy and Cultural Department on the safety of Saudi students and citizens and on providing all facilities for them. – SPA