The decision by the Ministry of Education to hire teachers from various countries to teach English and computer at our elementary schools has been extensively debated over the past months. Countries involved include India, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, New Zealand and others.
Critics, including specialists who taught English at public schools, argue that some countries sending teachers have a problem with the language, especially when it comes to pronunciation. Others voiced fears over the future effect of such move on the country’s religion and the Arabic language.
Apart from being an economic burden on the state, such move was ill timed because it contravenes the general government trend to provide jobs for Saudis at a time when youth unemployment is high.
Critics also said the money spent on hiring foreign teachers should have been used to train and qualify young Saudis to do the job. One writer called for the project to be postponed until the training is completed and for the operation to be implemented gradually and phase-by-phase.
The ministry, however, brushed aside all appeals insisting the decision would proceed as planned. It argued the move was intended to provide future generations with necessary technical skills to enable them to respond to the needs of the time. Practical steps are already under way with the ministry organizing crash courses both inside and outside the country for supervisors who will oversee the implementation of the program.
The ministry has completely sidestepped public opinion and embarked on an extensive campaign to promote the English language at the expense of Arabic. We wished if such concern was directed at promoting Arabic at a time when the mother language is experiencing a dangerous slide at many levels. The ministry is well aware of this deterioration and possesses documents that substantiate it. The deterioration is especially evident among our college students where writing, speaking and expressing oneself in Arabic is a real problem for many.
Now which is more important; advancing Arabic by caring for the language from the very early stages of education or teaching English at the hands of instructors from Bangladesh and South Africa?
29 July 2002
