Company executives and employers in the private sector are not the only ones
complaining about the low quality of public education in Saudi Arabia. The
disappointment of university professors is even greater. They face the
challenging and nearly impossible task of having to deliver a university
level education and lecture to students who lack the very basic study skills
and the skills of reading, writing and comprehension, students who have no
background whatsoever in elementary science and mathematics. You present
them with a rational argument based on logical principles and scientific
method and backed by scientific facts, but they retort with citations from
the Quran and religious sayings to prove to you that among the ancients a
man lived to a thousand years and was so tall that he crossed the river in
one long stride and that he dipped his hand in the bottom of the ocean to
catch fish which he lifted to the sun to roast!
But
all this is about to change. The Saudi national income last year was the
highest in the history of the kingdom due to high oil prices. Public
spending for public projects rocketed. This leads to unprecedented economic
boom. This had a tremendous impact on the private sector and business in
general. However, when the entrepreneurs and business executives turned to
the local market for labor, they woke up to the dismal fact that there was a
dire lack of qualified Saudis with the proper training needed to handle
technical, managerial and administrative jobs. It was at this point that
local voices were raised in clamor demanding educational reform and warning
of a very bleak future for the kingdom if no drastic measures are taken to
remedy the situation. Three or four years ago we used to hear that all this
talk about curriculum reform was a capitulation to American pressure. In
2001 complaints against Saudi public education were actually coming mainly
from the outside claiming that it was run and dominated by fundamentalists
who were turning Saudi public schools into a breeding ground for terrorists.
But when terrorists turned their terror against the Saudi society itself and
when it was suddenly realized that poor education would foil any hope of
implementing serious plans for soci-economic development, demands for
educational reform were heard from every corner of Saudi society. It became
a burning issue and a beaten track trodden daily by editorialists and
columnists in the local newspapers.
The
Saudi government is on its way to launch the biggest and most drastic
overhaul of its educational system. Last month, the government announced
that it has earmarked 3.3 billion dollars to be spent on improving the
quality of the Saudi educational system. Of this sum, about 3.5 million
dollars will be spent on building new universities and colleges in nine
cities throughout the kingdom to make higher education available to young
Saudis everywhere in the kingdom. The Minister of higher education announced
a new drive to invest in human resources pointing out that investment in
human minds is the first and most crucial step towards building and
developing Saudi society.
But
the greater sum of money will go towards improving public education in
elementary and secondary schools. For many years public schools consisted
mainly of rented building not equipped or suited for the purpose. Above
that, the emphasis in the curricula was on religious studies which does not
qualify students neither for higher education nor for the job market. Public
school teachers are poorly qualified and most of them are indoctrinated in a
strict and narrowly defined interpretation of the Wahhabi dogma. To change
all this, the government will spend over one billion dollars to improve the
educational environment. This means building new schools fully equipped with
up to date laboratories and classrooms with computers and other advanced
teaching aids. The emphasis will be on information and communication
technology ICT in order to make education more self fulfilling and the
educational environment more conducive to creative learning and the
development of individual skills and talents. In addition, more than one
billion dollars will be spent on extra curriculum activity to help the
students to improve their individual hobbies and develop them into
constructive and productive pursuits. About 800 million dollars will be
spent on the upgrading and rehabilitation of teachers. Over 200 million
dollars are to be spent on developing school curricula.
To
draw this educational development plan, which is now under preparation and
supposed to be implemented during the coming five years, a committee was
formed of high profile technocrats, including ministers of education, labor,
finance, and economics and planning. Another subcommittee of specialists
toured several countries to benefit from their experiences in the
educational field. Countries visited included USA, Britain, Ireland,
Austria, Switzerland, Canada, France, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore,
South Korea, China and Japan. I do not agree with the senecs who
characterize the tour of the committee as a free ride, a God sent
opportunity to take a free first class tour around the world. I think the
choice of these countries is rather significant. It shows a new mood and a
new willingness to open up towards the West and benefit from Western
experience. This is a relaxation of the ideology of al-khusousiyya
which has been the dominant thinking in Saudi Arabia. Al-khusousiyya
means uniqueness and distinctiveness and it verges on phobia and hostility
to other cultures and other people. It closes the door against searching for
any meeting grounds or commonalities with others, as if we wanted to
insulate ourselves and be happy and proud with our khusousiyyah and
will not interact or deal with the outside world except on our own terms and
conditions.
This
much money, much work and much attention being paid to educational reform is
an unmistakable signal that the Saudi government has finally realized and
admitted that its educational system has failed and that it needs to be
reinvented. Population explosion and demographic shifts are ticking bombs
that will explode in everybody’s face if not addressed through educational
reforms. These planned reforms are the silver lining surrounding the cloud
of terrorist attacks or, as the Arab saying goes: a good thing might come
out of a harmful happening. This educational reform program is launched
under the auspices of King Abdulah himself. This is a clear signal that the
King refuses to continue to be a hostage to the religious establishment and
their dicta. The new educational policy means that the traditional religious
subjects will have to be drastically curtailed and watered down to make room
for new subjects in science and mathematics. Gradually, the scientific
conceptions and natural explanations of the universe will take the place of
religious ones.
Another new and important development of real significance in the field of
higher education happened last week when the university council of King Saud
University announced that for the first time in its history the university
will accept private donations from individuals and business establishments
for the setting up of academic chairs and research grants in various
subjects, with emphasis on medicine and science. The importance of this move
lies not only in the bringing of extra funds to the university budgets,
which are expected to be substantial, but, of no less importance, it will
loosen the grip of official and direct government interference into and
control over higher education. In the past, even when the Saudi economy was
at its lowest ebb, as in the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991, the Saudi
government adamantly refused to allow the private sector to make
contributions towards financing higher education. The perception was that
such contributions would undermine the grip of the government on both public
and higher education, which are used, more or less, mainly as instruments of
political and religious indoctrination. Scientific facts that run counter to
this purpose are suppressed or denied altogether. Logic, philosophy,
evolution and similar subjects are taboo. Until recently, master and Ph. D.
dissertations in some departments, like sociology and political science,
must be approved by the ministry of interior. It is unlikely that such
practices, which comprise educational quality, will be tolerated by private
donors.
The
steps taken by the Saudi government to upgrade the quality of education are
commendable indeed. If the strategy is implemented according to plan, I am
sure we will notice the difference in five years time. Yet, it should be
pointed out that fancy buildings, expensive equipments, and teaching aids
are just that, teaching aids. This is all very essential, of course. But
even more important is the fostering of tolerance, free speech and freedom
of thought. True quality education can thrive and flourish only in an
atmosphere of freedom and liberty.
