Culture & Education | Saturday 4 March, 2017 8:41 am |

Saudi Arabia is planning to establish Arabic-language institutions in the three major Indonesian cities of Makassar, Medan and Surabaya, said Saudi Ambassador Osama Mohammed Abdullah Al-Shuaibi.
The envoy said the goal is to help Indonesians improve their Arabic-language skills, and the institutions would have no radical influences.
“They will only deliver Arabic-language instruction. We will not allow any party to make use of the institutions for other purposes or interests,” he said on Tuesday.
“There is already the Islamic and Arabic College of Indonesia in Jakarta, which is a branch of the Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh,” the envoy told Arab News. “This branch includes a two-year Arabic-language course first, then the student can get a bachelor degree in Islamic studies.”
An Arabic-language institution was recently opened on Sumatra island. The three forthcoming institutions are on Sulawesi island in Makassar city, on Java island in Surabaya city, and on Sumatra island in Medan city. “The three institutions will be opened in the coming two or three weeks, since we got King Salman’s approval,” Al-Shuaibi said, adding that they should have been opened at the start of the second semester, but were delayed due to technical issues.
King Salman arrived in Indonesia yesterday with a 1,500-member delegation.