By Tommy Hilton

DUBAI — An image of a Saudi Arabian boy studying via his laptop in a remote area has surfaced on Twitter, showing the Kingdom’s distance learning program in action.

Saudi Arabia has closed schools due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected thousands of people in the Kingdom. The Ministry of Education has promoted a distance learning program in which students can continue to study via the internet, aimed at minimizing the disruption from the virus.

The latest image shows the program in practice, according to the Twitter user that posted it. A young boy is seen using his laptop on a rooftop balcony against a mountainous backdrop, with the original Arabic caption suggesting the photo was taken in the Kingdom's southwestern Tihamah area.

“A Saudi young boy in the Southwestern part of Saudi Arabia is connected to the online “distance” learning with his school.,” wrote Twitter user Abdulateef Al-Muheem, who shared the original Arabic post.

According to Education Minister Dr. Hamad Bin Mohammed Al-Asheikh, the Kingdom shifted toward a distance learning system only 10 hours after the suspension of regular education was announced, setting up a “virtual school” for more than six million Saudi Arabian students. -- Al Arabiya English