UK university includes Saudi mass wedding in curriculum

Middlesex University, London, has included the Jeddah mass wedding as the best festival and event management model in the curriculum of master’s degree course in global tourism and hospitality management. Aroub Zahran, who was sent to the university under the scholarship program of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), made an impressive presentation of the mass wedding festival conducted by the Jeddah Charity Society for Marriage and Family Counseling this year, and this prompted the university authorities to take a landmark decision to make the festival as part of the curriculum. Adrian Guachalla, tutor of Zahran and member of the academic faculty at the university, congratulated Zahran for her outstanding performance that helped her to secure excellent grade in the subject. While describing mass wedding festival as a pioneering experiment, Guachalla said such programs would encourage youth to hold their marriages through such simple ceremonies in addition to spreading this culture among members of the society. “The tremendous response of young men and women to choose their life partners through these festivals is a positive index for promoting such pioneering social activities,” he said.   Speaking to Arab News, Zahran expressed her delight at this great achievement. She also thanked the Jeddah charity society for its support that enabled her to make an impressive presentation. “I have chosen the festival for my presentation because of the significance of such an event, which is very popular among Jeddawis since several years. The society had supplied me with all the necessary information and feedback that contributed substantially in making a highly professional presentation,” she said. Several of Zahran's classmates at Middlesex University, who are from various countries, such as Greece, Thailand and Taiwan, congratulated her on her presentation and achievement. While expressing their excitement at the resounding success of mass wedding festivals in the Kingdom with the support of the authorities and all segments of society, they underlined the need for emulating the Saudi model by other countries too.