OVER 65,000 higher secondary graduates, both girls and boys, who wish to continue their academic careers, will be denied enrollment in the Kingdom’s universities, colleges and other institutes of higher education. The number will increase when the results of students appearing for the supplementary examinations are announced later and many more will join those who failed to get admission last year. The only two options open to them are either to enroll in a private college or go abroad. An average Saudi will have to dismiss both options because each is very expensive.
The crisis in the higher education sector did not emerge overnight. Why was it not foreseen and the necessary steps taken? How is it that our national planners could not plan for the continuing education of the multitudes of secondary school graduates in advance? You need not be a genius to understand that eight universities cannot possibly satisfy the educational requirements of a population of more than 20 million.
It looks as though our higher education sector opens its gates only for outstandingly brilliant students. Even marks average of 80 percent does not guarantee a student admission to any of our universities, though the standard of university education is falling steadily. The only solution for this grave problem, as indicated by a senior official, is the opening of additional private colleges and universities.
I was therefore surprised by the statement of Dr. Khalid Al-Sultan, undersecretary for educational affairs at the Ministry of Higher Education, quoted by a local newspaper recently. He insists that the many thousand secondary graduates not finding places in universities are not the responsibility of the ministry. He justifies his argument by saying that opportunities abound in private institutions. I do not agree. It is the responsibility of the state to guarantee higher education to the students. Even in less prosperous countries with higher population density, such as Egypt and Jordan, students find ample facilities to continue their higher education in government institutions. Over 50 percent of the total students seeking higher education are accommodated in government institutions in these countries. Jordan with a population of 4.5 million has 12 government and 30 private universities.
The few existing private colleges in the Kingdom are not capable of accommodating all the students turned down by the government-run universities. The few who can afford to study abroad will, no doubt, choose one of the Arab or non-Arab foreign universities. The vast majority, however, will join the ranks of frustrated and jobless youths and remain a burden to their families and society.
Private educational institutions are a welcome option for those who look for special areas in their pursuit of knowledge. Most students in the two women’s colleges in Jeddah for example — the only women’s private colleges in the Kingdom — are from wealthy families. Many of them chose private colleges not because they could not get enrolled in the universities. Private colleges for women should be founded in other cities as well. Men’s private colleges, though with limited choice of subjects, are found in Riyadh, Abha and Baha.
The middle-income group — the majority group in the Kingdom — cannot afford to send its children to private colleges because these institutions are very expensive. The average annual tuition fee for a student can be as high as SR35,000 and this does not include the cost of lodging, food and other necessities. The burden is further increased by the unsympathetic attitude taken by Saudi Arabian Airlines, offering as they do concession rates to all students except those from the private colleges.
A friend of mine from Madinah said her son was registered for enrollment at the Prince Sultan College of Tourism and Hotel Sciences in Abha. A student has to pay SR10,000 for accommodation, which did not include food and other amenities, in addition to the annual tuition fee of SR35,000. The total yearly expenses would come to about SR65,000. Since the college did not provide medical insurance, students also have to meet all the medical care expenses if they fall sick.
My friend’s husband had only a monthly salary of SR6,000 without any raise or promotion for the past few years. The couple also has to think about their other children’s future as they are currently studying in a higher secondary school and will qualify for higher education after two years. The parents are worried, for they have no other resources to support the children’s education. Their son abandoned the idea of joining a vacation course when he learned that during the vacation season the room rents rose to SR300 for a single night. During the tourist season, the buildings rented by the college attract very high rents from holidaymakers.
Strangely, the principal argued that the college fees suited “ordinary” income groups. The figures argue a different case.
If every city has private colleges, students can avoid the expense of travel and living expenses. Poor families frequently wait for their children to win a place at university in the government sector so that they get a stipend, which will then be a source of income for the whole family.
Private colleges may have been an alternative in the “good old days” when employers used to hunt for employees and promotions and pay rises were both automatic and frequent. Not these days, when salaries have remained frozen for over a decade. In order to meet their regular financial needs, employees these days subscribe a major portion of their salaries to chit funds on payday and spend the rest of the month in great difficulty. There was a time when the university teachers were given a very high grade, when the telephone service was free, gasoline was only a few halalas a liter and when extra allowances were easy to come by. Those happier days have gone and will never return.
It is high time we pushed our dreams aside and grappled with the reality. The 65,000 plus secondary graduates are the responsibility of us all. If we fail them in their quest for achieving their academic ambitions and realizing their dreams we will lose them and their potential. If our younger generation is lost, we will also lose the brilliant future we have been looking forward to. These young boys are the pillars on which our future rests and is built upon.
