The decision to look East as well as West for education and substantially increase the number of Saudi students studying in countries such as India, China, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea is a welcome one. First of all, in the same way that the Kingdom needs to diversify and widen its trade links, it should do similar things with education. To put most eggs in American and British educational baskets — the two countries where the overwhelming number of Saudi students have gone in the past — is dangerous. That was seen after 9/11 when so many Saudi students had to leave the US and return home, half way through their courses. The US has now reopened its doors, but we must refuse to be held hostage in such a manner again.
Cost is another good reason for turning East. Higher education is much cheaper in countries such as India and Malaysia than in the US or the UK. And most importantly, that no longer comes with lower standards attached. The quality of higher education in the Far East is just as good in most cases as in the West — indeed in some instances actually better. By sheer coincidence the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday released a damning report saying that Europe, notably France and Germany, is falling behind Asia in terms of education and skills. The countries praised for delivering low-cost, high-quality education were India, China and South Korea — the very countries that our Ministry of Education wants to strengthen education links with. Countries that invest in education win economic prizes. South Korea’s economic miracle, the OECD report points out, is very much due to its having the highest number of students with a high school education of any industrial economy in the world: 98 percent.
It is no secret that we desperately need a larger pool of trained talent than is presently the case. Without it, what chance is there of developing into a high-tech, world-class economy? The present situation in which one percent of Saudi university students study medicine and one percent engineering, compared to 65 percent in religious studies, is a major challenge. We need religious teachers and scholars; but we need doctors and scientists too — and in far larger numbers.
Sending more students abroad to study is part of the answer — but only part. That has to be short term. The Kingdom should be able to provide whatever training is needed. That means more universities — many more — not the seven or eight new universities planned — but 70 or 80, and with highly trained competent staff as well as serious research facilities. Countries such as India, South Korea and Taiwan with their vibrant economies should serve as models. In the case of Taiwan, it has a population about the same as Saudi Arabia’s. Some years ago, the Taiwanese made a decision to invest in education and today there are over 150 universities in the country and it is the 15th largest economy in the world. We should set for ourselves similar aims and then work to attain them.
