ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, 17 May 2007 — The director of the women’s section and strategic planning of the King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for the Gifted is accompanying the Saudi students taking part in the International Science and Engineering Fair assisting with the guidance of the teenagers as well as networking with leading educators to get ideas for use in the Kingdom.

Dr. Amal Al-Hazza, a microbiologist from Riyadh who now plays a leadership role with the Foundation, took time out to discuss the Saudi science fair team and the future of education for gifted students in the Kingdom.

She said big things are on the horizon in Saudi education. “The king is very keen on improving the country’s education system, and he wants to get the students involved in science fairs and other competitions,” Al-Hazza told Arab News.

“We have been working on a strategic plan and at the end of May we are going to start implementation of it. The plan has many initiatives, and we hope to accomplish many, many things.”

She said the young Saudis representing the Kingdom at the ISEF were trailblazers. “This is the first year for Saudi Arabia participating in the science fair, and hopefully it will continue for many years to come,” she said. “The Saudi students have put in a lot of effort to reach here. It took us about 25 hours in the plane to get here, and they’re very excited. They were given a great opportunity, and of course they are hopeful to win one of the prizes to be awarded.”

She said the foundation soon would ramp out its plans to help improve the country’s education system. “We hope to start accrediting schools,” Al-Hazza said. “We want to improve our schools and put more emphasis on nurturing gifted students. In our plans we hope to nurture and foster gifted students from kindergarten through university. In universities, we have many initiatives for scholarships and young leader organizations. We plan to have many summer programs for students, and we even want to foster creativity in the work environment.”

She said all Saudis, particularly parents, could help the Kingdom reach its educational goals. “It’s very important to educate the parents and society about how important education and nurturing students are to the Kingdom’s future, not just gifted students but throughout the education system,” she said.

Al-Hazza gave special recognition to the Alkhobar-based Talents Center, which organized the Saudi Arabian Science Fair that qualified students to become ISEF finalists. The center was founded by Saudi Aramco electrical engineer Saeed A. Al-Saeed three years ago to teach youngsters about robotics, computers and related disciplines.

Two more Saudi Aramco employees, planning consultant Jamal Al-Dabal and engineer Amr Al-Madani, recently joined forces with Al-Saeed to move the center to the next level. Al-Madani and Al-Dabal accompanied the student finalists to Albuquerque; unforeseen circumstances prompted Al-Saeed to stay behind.

“The Talents Center is great,” Al-Hazza said. “Now we consider them as our local partners. In the foundation, we need international partners to help us implement our plans. Our local partners are doing a great job. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t think our students would be here today. At the foundation, we are only facilitators and motivators, enablers or coordinators, but we need partners to help us implement what we want to do.”

Al-Hazza said the foundation would seek the greatest benefits for all Saudi youths. “We want to reach out to everybody,” she said. “You just can’t think of the big cities. In rural areas there are a lot of children who, given the right facilities and environment, could do a lot. So we’re trying to get into the villages and even the disadvantaged areas because I think any kid given the right opportunities can accomplish a lot. There are a lot of students who are ready to have someone help them develop their skills.”

The doctor of biology also said she was extremely impressed by the two student teams of Saudi girls, who are demonstrating the important contributions that Saudi women can make to society.

Some of the ISEF officials were asking the girls what their projects were about, and they were amazed to hear them talking about such advanced technologies, Al-Hazza said. “They couldn’t believe that Saudi women had reached this level.”

Although Al-Hazza believes Saudi schools can be greatly improved, she says Saudis should take pride in their accomplishments so far. “When we talk about Saudi schools, we need to remember that the educational system is only a few decades old,” Al-Hazza said. “When you see the progress that we have achieved in a short time, it is really quite impressive, so I think we are doing a tremendous job.”