Launch of the First Education Website for Saudi Arabia
- Pipeline
- Saudi Arabia
Author: Mary Beardwood
Released 17 March 2004
A much needed source of information on Saudi Arabia came into being this week. Great excitement had built up over the proceeding few months that for the first time ever an educational site, www.exploresaudiarabia.com, directed towards young people, was being created. Using the most modern of techniques, the internet, to carry his message, HRH Prince Turki al Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to London, had instigated the website’s construction and March 15th was the occasion of its presentation to the public at the British Museum in London.
Mark Evans, an explorer and geographer who had previously made his reputation with an educational site about the Artic, devised the content of the new site on Saudi Arabia. Mark will be leading an expedition to the Empty Quarter in October and reports of its progress will be posted onto the website. In addition to important historical and geographical fact files about Saudi Arabia the website is packed with a wide range of topics on survival in a desert environment. Interest for children is heightened by a section on planning an expedition into the desert, and an essay writing competition with tempting prizes for all age groups.
A group of boys and girls were present at the launch. Some of them had been brought all the way from Jeddah where they attended AlAnjal school. Others came from a school in Stockport, the north of England, who were linked with the Saudi school. Although they had been in contact over the internet for some time, it was the first occasion that pupils from the two schools had met face to face. The reaction of the youngsters to the website was very positive. "Cool" they smiled, enthusiastically.
Mary Beardwood, whose book, The Children’s Encyclopaedia of Arabia is for sale in the “Suq” had contributed some of fact files for inclusion in the site. At the launch presentation a book on Saudi Arabia, 20 years old and written for adults, was shown as an example of the limited resources available for teachers about the Arab world. It is very fortunate for everyone interested in Saudi Arabia that they will have another source of information at their fingertips with the arrival of this magnificent website.