RIYADH, 23 April 2004 — In a controversial proposal, a Saudi educationalist has called for the integration of the six Islamic subjects in primary schools into one unified subject called Islamic studies.
Dr. Fawziah Al-Bakr’s presentation on Wednesday was interrupted for ten minutes when the terror attack here cut off the CCTV connection between the Women’s Center of King Saud University in Olaysha, from where she was speaking, and KSU headquarters in Al-Deriah.
Al-Bakr continued her presentation to a conference on the challenges and globalization once the connection was up again.
The paper, which looked at the readiness of the Saudi education system for the challenges of globalism, revealed that a massive 32 percent of the educational plan studied by primary students is allocated for Islamic studies, while Arabic studies take about 27 percent of student time. “The curriculum allocates six percent for science and 14 percent for mathematics,” she said.
The six separate Islamic subjects Saudi children study are Qur’an, Tafseer (interpretations of the Qur’an), Tajweed (phonetic rules of Qur’anic recitation), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet).
Al-Bakr has also called for bringing together the various Arabic subjects into one integrated subject called Arabic studies instead of the existing separate six subjects.
The Arabic subjects currently are grammar, reading, handwriting, composition, dictation, and literary texts.
Al-Bakr criticized texts used in Islamic studies that do not suit the age and interests of young learners. “Students are asked to memorize difficult texts that are written in an old-fashioned style,” she said.
Al-Bakr also criticized a new system for promoting students to higher grades recently implemented by the Ministry of Education. According to the new scheme, students in the first three elementary grades will pass on to the next grade without appearing for any formal tests. Students of the upper three grades at the primary stage and the subsequent intermediate and secondary stages are allowed to succeed to the next stage even if they fail mathematics and science.
“As long as they do not fail Islamic and Arabic studies, these students are allowed to move to the next stage,” Al-Bakr said.
The document also ignores the role of women in Saudi society, she said.
