The Minister of Education, Dr. Muhammad Al-Rasheed, and his deputy, Dr. Khider Al-Qurashi, and everyone working in the educational sector should pay close attention to the recent words of Crown Prince Abdullah. The Ministry of Education should review its plans and methods because of education’s vital importance to all of us. Within the ministry, there is extremism and extravagance. All these are at odds with each other but are still included in the country’s political agenda. The country will not hesitate to adjust the situation for the benefit of the public and the country if the ministry cannot solve its own problems.
The Ministry of Education is not a small entity; it deals with more than 400,000 teachers and five million students. Officials within the ministry should take the warnings of the crown prince seriously. They should work to rebuild the ministry from the inside and evaluate its past performance. What steps should be taken to protect both students and the ministry itself from extremism?
Prince Abdullah’s warnings were clear and action must be taken by the minister and his deputies. The action will be a real test for them and they can either solve the problem or be honest and say that they cannot. In that case, the government must step in and remedy the defects which, as we have seen, may be linked to the problem of terrorism.
Dr. Muhammad Al-Zulfa, a former faculty member at King Saud University, said that education was controlled by a group of extremists who had altered the original aims of education established by King Abdul Aziz. Those familiar with the Ministry of Education will have noticed mismanagement in some administrative jobs, in teacher transfers and in the employment of new teachers. The minister and his deputies must begin at once to take the necessary action or the price we shall all pay will be very high indeed. Perhaps too high to be borne.
