On behalf of his Excellency the president of the university Dr. Abdullah Al-Othman, the Vice president of King Saud University of educational and academic affairs Dr. Abdullah Bin Salman Al-Salman signed a cooperation agreement between the university and the development center of the Saudi Association for Hearing Impairment and the Saudi Telecom Company STC. The agreement states the support of STC to the source and lecture rooms preparation program to be ready to accommodate deaf students and those with hearing difficulties. This is to enable those students to pursue their university level studies to be active members of the society and practice their rights as citizens in continuing their higher education studies.

The combined effort exhorted by the three parties was key in the success of this agreement which will benefit sons and daughters of this country. In addition, the admission of deaf students following a carefully constructed program is considered a leading trial both locally and on the Arab world level.

In this occasion, Dr. Al-Salman announced that:" The doors of the university are open to all male and female students regardless of their physical disabilities. Those dear students have unlimited ambitions and admitting them to the university is one of its obligations and part of its service to the community. Thus, following the guidance of our leadership in developing the skills of people with special needs."

On the other hand, Dr. Khaled Al-Suhaim of STC said: "I thank the university on its ongoing efforts in serving people with special needs. I am very proud of being one of the students of this distinguished university. Moreover, this is one of the social services that STC seeks to support."

Then, the vice dean of the college of education for academic affairs Dr. Tareq Bin Saleh Alryes commented that: "This is a historical and unforgettable agreement. In a short period of time, once word was out about this agreement, we received inquiring calls from many countries because the inclusion of deaf students and those with hearing difficulties in the university is the first of its kind in the Arab world. Furthermore, I thank all the contributors in this agreement."

Mr. Ali AlHazani the executive manager of the association added: "I consider the delay of admitting deaf students and those with hearing difficulties in the university may have been beneficial to reach this level of services and learn from experiences of other international leading universities such as (Delodate)."

The development manager of the association Mrs. Nada Al-Mukhdib also added: "On behalf of myself and all the deaf students I express my deepest happiness and appreciation for this first step in paving the way for my fellow male and female deaf students to enter the university. As they will be supported by STC in providing the necessary equipment of the source and lectures rooms. In addition, our deaf brothers and sisters expressed their great happiness of this blessed step as they were touched by the efforts of the university specialists and instructors headed by Dr. Abdullah Al-Othman and Dr. Tareq Alryes who has personally supervised and supported this unique program." She mentioned that: "from our experiences with people with hearing impairments and their constant need to develop themselves and their academic level, I call on all other colleges and universities in the Kingdom to follow King Saud University's lead." The development center also serves deaf students on all levels of education, employment, and training. In addition to qualifying assistants who will work with the deaf.

"The start of such a large scale program and admitting the male and female hearing impaired students to King Saud University is considered an outstanding achievement at the development center. We pray from Allah to enable them to continue their higher education and reach the highest levels and serve their dear country." Concluded Mrs. Lubna ALSunaidy the executive secretary in the development center.