JEDDAH, 7 January 2007 — Education is the key to development, there is no argument over that. But what kind of education?
Ask any person, whether it is a parent, a teacher or a student and they would give a list of problems with our education system. The curriculum is too condensed and outdated. The teachers are ineffective. The buildings are unsuitable. The parents are uncooperative. The students are unmotivated. The ministry is inefficient. And on and on.
On the other hand, there is concern and desire to change. This flawed education system is blamed for the high unemployment of youth, for the extremist ideology and for our inability to compete in today’s global market.
The Shoura Council and last year’s National Dialogue discussed education critically and made valid recommendations. In a November 2005 session the Shoura Council addressed the inadequacy of higher education in producing skilled and knowledgeable graduates and meeting future demands for development. They blamed administrative and financial restrictions as well as lack of academic incentives.
A comment by a Shoura member lamenting on why not a single Saudi university was among the Top 500 list of universities in the world sparked a debate from the minister of higher education. However, looking at the huge number of students who applied to the ministry’s scholarships early last year to study in the US and other countries only proves their awareness of the difference between universities abroad and local universities. Some people argued that when the ministry halted scholarships to study abroad during the past years, the country suffered from unqualified and mediocre graduates. The minister of higher education said at the National Dialogue that his ministry has a strategic plan to develop higher education and upgrade standards.
On a positive note, the government has approved establishing new universities in several regions. Most of these facilities focus on science, technology and medicine. There is increased attention to these fields and to facilitating research centers and modern technologies institutes. The government is also opening and establishing technical and vocational training centers to meet the demand for such skills.
At the school level, the debate is still on-going about introducing English at early elementary grades at public schools. There is also concern over the lack of information and communication technology in public schools not to mention lack of adequate laboratories and libraries. The obvious difference between public and private schools has created a gap in the students’ quality to the advantage of those graduating from private schools, which has disturbing consequences.
Criticisms are also made regarding religious discrimination and a culture of intolerance in the public schools. There is also a difference between boys’ public schools and girls’ in the science, math and extracurricular activities. This issue will be addressed as there is a project to unify the curriculum and policies of the two sectors in the ministry and create a job description guide, but no mention was made of introducing physical education in girls’ schools that is still a controversial issue.
The ministry is also in the process of putting a code of ethics for the teaching profession that covers the teachers but also parents, school environment, curriculum and everything related to the education process. Some lingering issues with no immediate solutions yet is that of female teachers posted to schools in remote locations from their homes and the hazards they face daily on their journey as well as the issue of rented school buildings most of which being old or unsuitable.
In August last year just before the new school year began in September, the ministry announced changes to examination procedures that aimed at moving away from exams that test students’ memory to evaluations that measure their skills and knowledge. The minister of education, in a meeting with teachers and administrators, said that a comprehensive education development project keeps being postponed year after year because the foundations and process is not ready. Perhaps the trip by educators to Japan in October 2005 for training to improve the education system will bear fruit some time soon.
Meanwhile, it seems that the ministry is trying to make changes piecemeal. The teachers and administrators themselves had a list of requests for the minister that included health insurance, a proper performance evaluation and promotion system and a teacher’s association.
This year also saw attention given to gifted students. The first Gifted Kids Conference was held in August that aimed at integrating thinking skills in the curriculum, developing creative thinking and discovering gifted preschoolers and their social and psychological needs. There was also an initiative to send exceptional secondary students in the summer of 2007 to participate in a six-week program at Johns Hopkins and the Massachusetts Institute for Technology in the US as part of collaboration efforts between King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation and universities worldwide to identify gifted Saudi students and nurture their talents.
The recommendations made at the National Dialogue at the end of November summarized the shortcomings and the way forward in the education system. For primary education, the recommendations include reviewing the syllabus and curriculum, modernizing the system, improving teachers’ skills and providing well-designed government buildings. For higher education, the recommendations called for the university’s financial and administrative independence, implementation of an academic-accreditation system that accommodates a broader compliance with universities abroad, and the development and expansion of research studies with increased participation of the private sector. And for technical education, the recommendations are for developing technical education with the cooperation of the private sector and increasing technical institutes and start new specializations.
