Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Council of Ministers recently approved dividing the academic year into three semesters for all stages of general education, except for private schools belonging to foreign communities.

The organizing principles for the 1443H academic year permit universities and the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) colleges and institutes to implement the 3-semester system and open a program for studies during the summer.

The rules and principles allow private foreign schools for communities to continue implementing the academic calendar they have been following earlier. The rules have specified the period for each semester between 12 to 13 weeks, provided the vacation between semesters is for one or two weeks.

The rules allow the first semester to be preceded by a preparatory period not exceeding three weeks in the general education schools and for registration in the universities, provided this does not affect the minimum vacation for the teaching staff, in line with the regulations.

The number of days of actual study in the new 3-semester academic year is 183 days, when in the past years they did not exceed 155 days.