BURAIDAH, 8 December 2003 — The new English textbook for both boys and girls in the first year of intermediate school was written exclusively by Saudi women. Some male teachers are unhappy about this.
“We are asking for equal opportunities,” Said Al-Zaid, an English teacher in an intermediate school, told Arab News. “Female teachers have no experience whatsoever in boys’ education. It is completely different from that of girls.”
He said it was inappropriate to teach the same book to both boys and girls. “Surely it’s necessary that textbook writers have experience of what actually goes on in the classroom.” Given that, he added, at least half the writing committee should have been men.
Other male teachers, however, do not object to a book written by women. “Gender is not a problem here. Quality is what matters,” said Abdul Kareem Saji Al-Tuwaijri, an English teacher in Qassim.
Another problem were the delays. The new book was made available to schools a month after the start of the academic year. “It is very hard on a teacher to start late teaching a new book,” said one teacher.
The accompanying audiocassettes and the books themselves have still not reached some schools.
The new book, “Say It in English,” consists of two parts, the student’s book and a workbook. There are 20 units, with each unit divided into four 45-minute lessons. “The book is based on language functions in which grammar is carefully controlled,” the writers say in their introduction.
“The skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed gradually with revision and recycling integrated into the course to facilitate learning,” they add.
The authors include Hanan Al-Suruji, Hanan Al-Rayyis, Sahar Al-Athamah and Hana Majdali. Those who revised and evaluated the work were Anfal Saber and Zakerah Mirza. The team supervisor was Jawaher Mahdi.
