Around 2.2 million male and female students headed to their classrooms across various schools in the Kingdom on Sunday, marking the start of the 2026/2027 academic year according to the approved school calendar from the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development.
اضافة اعلان
Teaching faculties commenced work on August 16 to complete necessary preparations for receiving students. These measures included preparing classrooms and school facilities, organizing and distributing textbooks, compiling rosters and plans, assigning class sections, and registering transfer students.
Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development for Educational Affairs, Sahar Al-Shakhatreh, confirmed the completion of ministry preparations to welcome students and ensure the readiness of schools alongside teaching and administrative staff across various regions of the Kingdom. She highlighted that efforts focus on providing a suitable learning environment and maintaining regular educational operations from day one of the new academic year.
Al-Shakhatreh stated that educational statistics for the 2025/2026 academic year show the Kingdom's education system encompasses 7,818 schools—including private education, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and Military Culture schools—enrolling approximately 2,263,438 male and female students, served by 146,910 teachers.
Al-Shakhatreh called on students to begin their school year with seriousness and perseverance while benefiting from available educational opportunities. She affirmed that the ministry will continue field monitoring, addressing school and student needs, and resolving any observations that may arise during the educational process.
The start of the new academic year coincides with the new administrative structure of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, which relies on a clear distribution of roles and authority while enhancing specialization in managing educational affairs, schools, planning, and institutional support to raise performance efficiency and improve educational services.
Secretary-General of the Ministry, Nawaf Al-Ajarmeh, noted that starting student attendance on August 23 is not a new decision, but an established date maintained for three consecutive academic years. He explained that the school calendar was prepared in accordance with the Education and Human Resources Development Law, which mandates that actual school days must not fall below 200 days per year.
He added that advancing the start date of the academic year is part of a national program to support student learning, address learning loss, reinforce core skills, and raise academic achievement levels.
