Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector-General Prince Sultan bin

Abdulaziz today chaired the regular weekly session of the Council of Ministers, which reviewed a number

of domestic issues, including preparations by the Ministry of Education for the new academic year. To this

effect, Prince Sultan congratulated all students, boys and girls, and wished them every success.

Prince Sultan went on to confirm the great attention that the Saudi government pays to education as an

investment in human capital representing economic growth and social prosperity to which the current

State budget has appropriated SR 49.38 billion [U.S. $ 13.17 billion]. He quoted official reports that there

are currently almost 25,000 schools in public education, plus eight universities with hundreds of colleges

accommodating over five million students, both male and female, who are instructed by thousands of

efficient teachers. Focusing on the role of teachers, he stressed the importance of teacher training and the

updating of the educational system to cope with the requirements of economic and social development on

the one hand, and on the other, to keep up with the accelerating developments in the field of knowledge

worldwide.
The cabinet was then briefed on the outcome of the 76th conference of foreign ministers of the member

states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in Jeddah last Saturday. Praising its results, the cabinet

declared that the meeting had covered all issues of vital concern to Gulf, Arab and Islamic nations.
The cabinet passed a number of resolutions, including approval of a draft agreement on cooperation with

the Republic of Hungary in the field of youth and sports, and authorization for the Minister of Education to

discuss a draft agreement on cultural cooperation with the Republic of Venezuela.

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