A recent newspaper ad targeting female teachers did more harm than good. The least that could be said about it is that it was misleading. It concerned a housing project intended to provide shelter for female teachers who work away from their homes and families. The ad designers assumed that the problem of these teachers was eternal and that no matter what was done these teachers would have to face the reality of having to live permanently away from home. The solution, according to the ad, lies in teachers renting the rooms offered by the project so that they can live in peace and security.
For me and for many others who are teachers, this is not a safe and secure haven as the ad claimed. What is portrayed as a secure home is in fact a large prison. Taking the word "teacher" out of the text, the reader will be left with the impression that the ad was addressed to women prisoners rather than teachers.
Just have a look at some of the conditions to be followed: abiding by an Islamic code of dress both inside and outside the building, entering and leaving the building at fixed times determined by the management, strictly refraining from smoking both inside and outside the building, no VCRs allowed except for official functions such as lectures and finally, the matron has the right to inspect rooms and body search the occupants whenever she deems it necessary. Not only that, the ad speaks of allowing the occupant "full freedom" of movement within the building. Maybe they assume the occupants are required to confine themselves to their rooms and must thank them for offering the great favor of "free movement".
What is this utter and complete nonsense? Who is it aimed at and in what era? It is indeed a tragedy that after having spent years educating and training teachers, that they are then treated as if they could not be trusted to act properly. This indicates a serious flaw in both our system of education and the way we bring up our children.
Pressing issues facing us are not addressed like this. Even with all these regulations and restrictions, such a building would not prevent irresponsible individuals from behaving improperly. Has it not occurred to the rule makers that they are only endangering the reputation of teachers and of Saudi women? The ad presents a bad picture of women of this country portraying them as if they still live under total male guardianship. Such insulting and humiliating regulations should never have been published in our papers, especially at a time when the world’s attention is focused on Saudi women.
