JEDDAH: As final school exams come to a close, pupils are casting aside their textbooks on the sidewalks outside schools in happiness that tough school examinations are finally over.

School buildings across the Kingdom are littered with ripped textbooks and pages scattered everywhere. The perpetrators are not just boys, they also include girls.

“School buildings become very messy on account of pupils throwing away their books once exams come to an end. It happens every year. You can see textbooks and notes everywhere,” said Haya Al-Awad, an educator in Jeddah. “This isn’t civil. Students should respect their books,” she added.

Um Abdullah, a mother of a pupil, said this phenomenon is especially peculiar with schoolchildren of this generation.

“Even though it has been happening in past years, I feel this generation tends to disregard their books in a much more profane manner than previous generations,” she said.

“If you ask students why they’re throwing away and ripping up their books, they won’t have answers. I think it’s about time the Ministry of Education passed a law to get students to return their books in exchange for their school certificates,” she added. Explaining why pupils cast away their textbooks, Abdullah Khalid, a sixth grader at an elementary school in Jeddah, said, “After sitting my final exam I don’t want to see my books or anything that reminds me of school. My friends and I just throw our books in the air. We do not want anything to do with studying. We just feel relieved when we throw our books away.” He added, “It signifies the end of school and that exams are now over.” Schoolteachers, however, frown on the practice.

“These books contain Allah’s name and excerpts from the Qur’an and Hadith. These names should be treated with respect and not be thrown onto the streets or in trash containers like that,” said Hanan Saad, a schoolteacher.

“It, in fact, says a lot about the education our students receive,” she added. “Pupils, both boys and girls, should be taught to stop such things. Throwing textbooks and school notes is not civil. I think there ought to be more assertive measures to ensure textbooks are not thrown away like this,” said Shaker Saaed, an education supervisor in Jeddah.

“There could be a prize given by the Ministry of Education to the school that best handles the issue of schoolchildren throwing their books away,” he added.