Madinah Gov. Prince Abdul Aziz bin Majed has urged Saudi youth to make the most of their school summer vacation to do useful things and be involved in fruitful activities.

He also asked all government departments concerned to keep in top condition and even upgrade all the places students might frequent in their leisure time, including public parks, walkways and playgrounds.

A report carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said all the other governors of the regions have done the same so as to provide enough places for the students to frequent during the summer vacation.

Many areas in the Kingdom have been busy gearing up for the holidays. In Jeddah, about 40 clubs and 28 summer centers in a number of government and private schools have been prepared for the students to use.

During a meeting with the committees involved in the summer activities, Director of the department of education in Jeddah Abdullah Al-Thaqafi said his department had gone beyond the matter of fulfilling leisure time for students to actually designing educational and cultural programs that would benefit the students. "Parents should rest assured that their sons and daughters will be safe and sound in the educational incubators where they will be spending part of their summer vacation," he said.

The department of education in Riyadh has opened 13 centers in various districts of the capital city for girls to spend their vacation. The centers will open today and will provide entertainment and educational programs free of charge to all participating girl students for six weeks.

Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh has also prepared summer programs aimed at further honing the talents of the students. The programs were designed in collaboration with King Abdul Aziz and his Men Foundation for Talent and Creativity.

"This is a national program to realize the Kingdom's vision in preparing young Saudi leaders and in making the Saudi society one that caters to sustainable knowledge," said Abdullah bin Thani, the director of the program. He said a number of specialists in talent and creativity will be supervising the students.

The summer festival titled: "Sports for All" will open late next week at the headquarters of the Saudi Football Federation and will continue for a month. The students will have enough facilities to play various games including soccer, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, billiards and other sports.

Director of sports activities at the Presidency of Youth Welfare and Sports Fahd Al-Qimaisi asked all students to make use of these facilities during their summer holidays.

In Baha, the Culture and Arts Society is hosting the activities of the cultural festival at its own theater and also at the theater of the department of education as well.

The society announced that the branch of the Ministry of Culture and Information would organize artistic and cultural shows in public parks all over the city of Al-Baha for its visitors from June 25 to July 5.

The director of the society, Ali bin Khamis Al-Baidhani, said the festival would include poetry nights and special theatrical shows for women, a play for children and folk dances and songs. The department of education in Al-Makhwah, near Baha, will launch its summer programs today. The programs, according to the director of the department Ali Al-Zahrani, are designed to hone students’ skills while also simultaneously building their characters. He said there would be five summer clubs for the students.

The police in the Qassim region will enter into dialogue with the youth at Al-Hajib park in Onaiza to create traffic awareness. They will discuss with the students the impact of careless driving and negative traffic practices with a view to enlightening them about the seriousness of irresponsible driving.

In the city of Umluj, in the Tabuk region, the summer festival was launched at Prince Naif Club last week. Club Manager Anwar Al-Faydi said the festival would include entertainment, sport and cultural programs. He asked students to make use of the rich programs that are on offer.

In Dammam, the 10 intensive Qur'an Memorization sessions started Thursday and will continue for three weeks at Al-Hamra Mosque. Supervisor of the session Qazi Khaled Al-Saeed said the session is divided into five main levels and that 10 teachers would be teaching the Qur'an to the students.

Saudi-Aramco will open three evening centers for girls in Dammam, Qatif and Dhahran in collaboration with the department of education in the Eastern Province. The centers would remain open for five weeks and accommodate about 600 girls. They will offer various religious, cultural, social and scientific programs.

In Jubail Industrial City, the female committee for naval safety of the Border Guards of the Eastern Region is also preparing entertainment programs for girl students. The programs will be carried out at the headquarters of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.

The Mawhiba (talent) program for girls was also launched in a private school in the region under the title "Towards the Summit." The program is aimed at sponsoring talented students, boosting national capabilities to generate innovative ideas and discovering gifted girls in the fields of science and technology. The program will enable participating students to maximize their talent as distinctive innovators to contribute to the advancement of the country.

Asir Province Gov. Prince Faisal bin Khaled, who is the chairman of the tourism development council, gave the go ahead yesterday to the cultural activities within Abha summer tourist festival.

Sheikh Ayed Al-Qarni delivered a lecture at King Faisal Mosque in Khalidiyyah district. The culture and arts society in Abha will participate in the cultural days being implemented by the Ministry of Culture and Information. Director of the society Ahmed Al-Sirouri said theatrical shows would be organized for children and adults. He said a gallery of art exhibitions will also be held.

In Jazan, in the extreme south of the Kingdom, students were attending summer programs being organized by the department of education. Director of the division of students' activities in the department Osman Hakami said the summer clubs will present educational programs aimed at further cementing Islamic, national and social values in addition to boosting scientific and artistic skills.

The ninth summer scientific convention for talented students also started at Prince Muhammad bin Nasser Center for Gifted Students at the Saudi elementary school in the airport district in Jazan. Director of the department of talented students Muhammad Haddadi said the convention would continue for four weeks to develop the creative talents of the students.