The Amish are a group of people who live in one or two areas of America. They follow their own religious teachings and are allowed to do so.
The thing which characterizes them and sets them apart from the American mainstream is that they refuse most manifestations of modern civilization. They will not allow electricity or telephones in their houses nor do they own or drive cars. They use horses and buggies as people did before the days of automobiles. In general they lead very insular and self-sufficient lives.
Most societies have such groups which refuse the blessings, ideas and achievements of modern civilization. The groups mistakenly believe that those things will undermine religious faith, corrupt social values and push the world closer to total moral degradation and chaos.
A progressive society, however, cannot afford to listen to such people. Listening to them and their eccentric ideas means being left out of the modern world. The idea for students to learn English aims at helping them — and our society — keep abreast of technological progress and advances.
English is the language most used in modern science and technology and in order to make maximum use of both, English is required.
I wonder why the education authorities initially decided to teach English only from the fourth year in government primary schools instead of from the first. It is an established scientific fact that the younger children are, the easier it is for them to learn a foreign language; contrary to some opinions, there is no scientific evidence that learning a language in primary school is any kind of obstacle to learning other subjects.
Our experts have already identified a lack of proficiency in English as one factor which has led to unemployment among our young people.
We must teach our children English from the very first year of education so that the language can become firmly rooted in their minds. A sound knowledge of English will enable them to meet the educational and employment requirements of the present and future. It is the duty of the older generation to make the younger generation fully qualified to meet all future challenges; their futures should not be left to the mercy of people who lack both foresight and a genuine understanding of modern educational ideas and methods.
We therefore respectfully ask the Kingdom’s decision-makers to implement an educational plan for teaching English at every level in our schools. This will enable our young people to meet the challenges of advanced science and technology. If they fail to meet those challenges, their generation — and how many others after them? — will be backward.
