From sandstorm to tweetstorm: Riyadh Education Director faces calls to resign

Published March 20th, 2017 - 02:22 GMT
Riyadh parents were not pleased when the Education Director said schools would operate as normal during a sandstorm. (Shutterstock)
Riyadh parents were not pleased when the Education Director said schools would operate as normal during a sandstorm. (Shutterstock)

With this sandstorm rolling into town, you might think it would be a good idea for your kids to stay home:

 

Parents in Riyadh,  the capital of Saudi Arabia, did, but were at odds with the city’s Education Director, who decreed schools should open as normal.

This led to incensed Twitter users in the country circulating pictures and videos of the sandy conditions in schools, with a hashtag calling for him to resign. (#نطالب_باعفاء_مدير_تعليم_الرياض - We demand the resignation of the Riyadh Director of Education):

Message of students to Riyah Director of Education… Thank you Director of Education!

This user highlighted the difference between what he said were the dusty classrooms of a school today and the offices of the education administration:

The failure of the Education Director to respond is due to two reasons: the first is stubbornness and the second is the difference between the office of administration and classrooms.

This video of an ambulance outside of what appeared to be a school was shared widely by Saudi Twitter users:

Earlier in the day, The Saudi Gazette had reported that the Saudi Civil Defence had asked parents to keep their children at home through the storm, which had already caused 13 hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses in Jeddah. 

 JB
 
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