WHEN the Ministry of Education decided to replace textbooks by laptops in secondary schools, educationalists in the Kingdom never thought that the use of modern technology would increase the problem of students dropping out. But it has, according to some teachers in the south of the Kingdom. They are unhappy about the use of computers in the classroom.
“The use of modern technology in education has become the top cause of dropouts,” an educationalist, who did not want not to be named, told Arab News. The problem, he said, was that students were intimidated by the use of computers due to their inability to understand and use them. Terrified, many had become uncertain about their future after graduation from secondary school. “At least eight students drop out every school semester, especially in remote areas in the southern region,” he said.
Khadeeja Najie Al-Sumaili, a teacher at a girls’ school in Jazan, included in King Abdullah’s Program to Promote Education, said while dropping out of school was far from new it had now become much more serious because it had been caused by the use of modern technology introduced by the Education Ministry. Dropping out of school, she said, was now done deliberately and openly and it worsened an already existing problem. She explained that when some students fail to secure high grades to join prestigious courses at university such as medicine or engineering, they drop out planning to try again the following year or get a job and forget education altogether.
In other cases, she said, some parents consider the computer as an “immoral and forbidden object” which a girl should never have access to. So they move their daughter from the school to a different one with no computers and still using books. “But when all schools have computers, such parents will have to take out their daughters from schools and completely put an end to their education.”
She cited low-income families’ disregard for girls’ education as the second cause of school dropouts in Saudi Arabia.
Zahra Khamis, a teacher of psychology and sociology, does not agree. “Dropping out has been a problem facing education in the Kingdom for a long time. It is not a new issue that came with the use of computer,” she said, pointing out that the dropout rate from schools is higher among male than female students. Students used to leave school in search of jobs or to help their parents in agriculture or animal grazing, particularly in remote areas, she said. “Many institutions in the country specially the military establishments have opened their doors to high secondary students. So students who leave school can easily find jobs without the need to continue education until the university level,” she said.
Zahra said the presence of many children in one family, low income and the parents’ apathy toward education was also a cause for school dropout.
Some families who were not financially able to provide education to both their male and female siblings would usually prefer to provide it to their sons rather than their daughters. She explained that some of them would not even hesitate to say that “the girl will soon get married. She will be busy looking after her husband and children. So she does not need to continue education and we do not need to spend more money on her.”
Zahra said early marriage was also a reason for girls to leave schools and end their education. “The media being a means easily accessible by all can help find a solution to this problem,” she said.
One remedy is being put into effect in Asir region. According to the director of education there, Abdul Rahman Al-Faseel, the administration began to give incentives to students, especially in remote areas, to remain in schools. “We pay financial awards to students at the elementary and intermediate levels to let them continue education. We also provide them with free breakfast at the cost of SR200,000 per school,” he said.
Al-Faseel said a number of businessmen were helping his administration to bear the costs as well as providing transport for needy students. A special committee had been formed to study the causes of dropping out, he said. It followed up cases of students who did not attend classes and raised awareness among parents about the importance of education.
Another educationalist who does not see the computer as a danger is Ibrahim Al-Hamdan, director of girl’s education in Baha. He is firm in the view that both male and female teachers should be trained in the use of computers so that they can impart that knowledge to their students. According to him the reason why some students quit school early is because of a lack of job opportunities for graduates.