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Najran Education Department Starts Teaching Chinese at Public, Private Schools

General view in the city of Najran, Saudi Arabia - AP
General view in the city of Najran, Saudi Arabia - AP
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Najran Education Department Starts Teaching Chinese at Public, Private Schools

General view in the city of Najran, Saudi Arabia - AP
General view in the city of Najran, Saudi Arabia - AP

The Department of Education in Najran launched a program to teach the enriching Chinese language in the region's public and private secondary schools.
The department said that the program targets 1,506 students from the second secondary grade by including the program of teaching the enriching Chinese language for students with one class per week in public and private secondary schools, SPA reported.
The Assistant of Educational Affairs at the Department, Hussein Al Muammar, noted that the program aims to develop students' skills, grant them self-learning skills based on activities and encourage students to explore the Chinese language at an early date to enroll for the Chinese language class in the third secondary grade in the optional field.
The Department of Education in Najran seeks to achieve national goals and keep pace with the development of Saudi-Chinese relations in various fields through the optimal investment of available human resources in the field of education by entrusting them with supervising enrichment programs and diversifying the practices of adopting the Chinese language in public and private schools.

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Greek Potter Keeps Ancient Ways Alive, Wins UNESCO Recognition

A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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Greek Potter Keeps Ancient Ways Alive, Wins UNESCO Recognition

A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)

In his seaside workshop on the Greek island of Lesbos, Nikos Kouvdis uses ancient techniques to create pottery pieces that have recently been honored with inclusion in UNESCO's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Kouvdis, 70, and his family have kept an old technique alive near the once humming pottery hub of Mandamados, just as the slow and careful methods of the past have been largely eclipsed by factory machines.

Their pottery is among the last in the Mediterranean to be produced from clay in local soil, using a traditional kiln with olive pits as fuel, with the pieces painted with natural lime.

"It's an honor for me," Kouvdis said with regard to the UNESCO recognition of his work.

He said a mechanized press can work at 10 times the speed of an individual potter. "There’s no continuity. There’s no space for (our) method to continue."

Still, he continues to produce individual pots on an outcrop of land overlooking the Aegean Sea.

"Above all, it’s a passion - trying to create something that fulfils you," he said.