Riyadh- SPA

Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, chaired the Cabinet's session held at Al-Yamamah Palace in Riyadh on Monday afternoon.

At the outset of the session, the Crown Prince and ministers praised Allah Almighty for the successful surgery which King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has recently undergone, and prayed to Allah Almighty to preserve the King and bestow upon him good health and recovery. The Cabinet expressed its thanks and appreciation of the leaders of brotherly and friendly countries, and the citizens and residents of the Kingdom for their noble feelings on the occasion of the successful surgery.

The Cabinet expressed the Kingdom's pride over the inauguration of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna, and expressed its appreciation of the Republic of Austria for hosting the Center and for the Kingdom of Spain for its cooperation and for all those who participated in this effort and contributed to the development and support of this human vision.

The Council of Ministers welcomed the decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations adopting Palestine as observer state at the United Nations, and expressed congratulations of the Kingdom to the government and people of Palestine for this historic achievement which embodies the international community's awareness of the justness of the Palestinian cause, stressing the continued support of the Kingdom for all efforts aimed to get the Palestinian people their legitimate rights, particularly the establishment of their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital.

The cabinet also expressed the Kingdom's hope that the UN Security Council will consider positively the decision of the international majority as a driver for and not a hinderance to international peace.

The Council also welcomed the statement issued by the 5th session of the Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum, which was held in Istanbul, and in which emphasis was put on the importance of the Arab-Turkish strategic cooperation for both sides. This was confirmed by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in his speech to the participants in the session.

The Council, then, discussed to a number of scientific, cultural and religious conferences and activities held in the Kingdom during these days, welcoming in this regard the establishment of King Abdulaziz International competition for the Holy Quran Memorization, Intonation and Interpretation at its 34th session in Makkah and the convening of the General Conference of the Organization of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( ISESCO) at its 11th session in Riyadh.

The Council continued discussion of its agenda and issued the following decisions:

Firstly:
After reviewing the forty eighth minutes of the Higher Committee for Administrative Organization to study the situation and determine the appropriate organizational position for school health sector, the Council of Ministers approved a number of measures including:

Firstly:
1 - The General Administration of school health and school health units of the Ministry of Education in areas which have the service, shall be moved from the Ministry of Education to the Ministry of Health. Provision of school health services shall be carried out by the organs of the Ministry of Health (hospitals and centers) throughout the Kingdom. An administrative unit called the 'Department of School Health Affairs' shall remain in the Ministry of Education. A department shall also remain in the education departments in the regions and provinces. The two departments shall be responsible for the educational aspects and coordination in the field of school health with the concerned authorities in the Ministry of Health and facilitate the implementation of school health activity in schools.

2 - Tasks of school health activity which will remain in the Ministry of Education will include the following health services:

A - Health and Physical Education, examination of fitness and health promotion.
B - Environmental sanitation and occupational health of workers at the school.
C - Nutrition education.
D - provision of first aid inside the school.
E - Mental health and counseling.

Secondly:
School health services (referred to in item First) shall be provided according to a number of measures including:

1 - Health services shall be directly provided in the school by a nurse who specializes in school health and shall be linked to the organizational management of school health at the Directorate General of Health Affairs in the region or the province. The nurse shall provide these services in a maximum of five schools.

2 - A doctor shall supervise a number of nurses. He shall be linked to the organizational management of school health at the Directorate General of Health Affairs in the region or province.

3 - Ministry of Education shall name two teachers at each school with students numbering 100 students or more and one teacher at schools with students of less than 100 students to help the nurse in the implementation of the tasks of school health. The teacher charged with the tasks of school health shall be granted at least 8 weekly courses reduction of the weekly course quota.

Secondly:
The Cabinet authorized Minister of Agriculture - or his deputy - to take the necessary measures for the approval of the draft Statute of the International Council of Dates, as attached to the decision.