aired Students which provide elementary and vocational intermediate instruction with vocational training preparing students for the work force in the occupations of typewriting, secretarial work, decoration, computer technology, electricity, and photography.
2. Institutions for Mentally Retarded Students which provide preliminary and elementary instruction for students with IQs of 50 to 75. The admission age for entry into these institutions is 6 to 14 years. Institutions housing the mild to moderately mentally impaired provide some vocational, cultural and rehabilitation programs. Students whose IQs are below this range are housed in segregated special institutions.
3. Institutions for the Blind which provide educational and rehabilitation services along with a general eduction curricula.
In addition to the just mention institutions, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs also provides some educational services to handicapped students through centers for the physically disabled, social care centers and vocational centers. Further, there are a number of private organizations which subsidize educational services for disabled students.
The adoption of inclusive education in Saudi Arabia could be an important and profitable step for the country for several reasons. First, inclusive schooling will allow disabled students to go to their home school instead of attending another school far away from their families. Second, students now attending special schools commonly find themselves in segregated, non-age appropriate environments; for these students, inclusive education would perhaps for the first time place them in age-appropriate classrooms.
Another reason why inclusive education would benefit Saudi children is that it will open the door to unique programs for students with disabilities such as transition programs, supported employment programs, and community-based programs. Further, since most Saudi Arabian public ...