JEDDAH, 16 July 2007 — Going to school is a daily grind for Umm Kareem’s children. Not only do they have to hit the books but they also have to hit the road. And the road is long — across the King Fahd Causeway all the way to Bahrain.
With a limited curriculum to choose from in Saudi Arabia, many Saudi parents are on the lookout for a better fare for their children. A case in point is Umm Kareem’s children who cross over to another country just to get a better education.
Unsatisfied with the standard of Saudi school education and unable to obtain annual permission from the Saudi Education Ministry for her children to attend international schools in the Kingdom, she chose the next best option of enrolling them in a school in Bahrain.
Her situation is unique. She had the option of a better education only “a bridge away,” as an Eastern Province resident. But other Saudi parents facing the same dilemma do not have the same luxurious option.
Primarily, the reason many Saudis opt for private schools is because Saudi public schools do not offer education in the English medium. Private schools, on the other hand, do offer English but have a limited curriculum.
“A solid education is the best thing you can give your child,” said Raed Abdulaziz, a 38-year-old father of three. “Between weak public schools, restricted private schools and inaccessible international schools — what kind of education are we giving our children? What are we doing to and for their futures?”
An emphasis on English in a strong curriculum, and a school with a progressive attitude and environment are what these Saudi parents are looking for in private schools. An Arab News survey showed that the majority of Saudi parents interviewed were in favor of an education that included subjects taught in English and a curriculum with an international edge. This is something many children are not getting.
But now there could be an answer to their prayers in the form of the Vancouver Offshore Groups (VOSG), a Canadian educational service provider and consulting company registered in British Columbia. VOSG is proposing to do just that by integrating a tailor-made curriculum into Saudi schools.
The organization, established in 1998, submitted a proposed curriculum to the Saudi Education Ministry earlier this year that includes teaching mathematics, science and social studies in English in accordance with international standards and accreditation.
Such a curriculum, once approved, would be implemented in Saudi private schools for both boys and girls. The pilot project would be in Jeddah. Students graduating from such an educational system would be empowered with knowledge and confidence, and be ready to pursue higher studies in different parts of the world. They would also be better prepared to face local job market demands.
Saudi Arabia is the first country to be officially approached and considered in the Middle East by VOSG. Currently Saudi children cannot be enrolled at international schools in the Kingdom without special permission, granted on an annual basis, from the Education Ministry. With the Saudization process enforced in all schools and in the absence of professional teachers’ training, VOSG’s proposal is a compromise that would enable Saudis to access international education within the local schooling system.
“We believe that Saudis should have the option to freely choose the education that is best for their children,” said Abdul-Aziz Ghailan, general manager of VOSG, who provides overall strategic direction to all projects. Ghailan is a management and marketing professional with over 25 years experience specializing in developing and managing educational institutions. He also believes that one should not have to choose between a better education and a cultural compromise. “Instead of sending your children to Bahrain or anywhere else, and if you want to inculcate your culture in them, then an opportunity of a better education ought to be provided within your own culture,” he added.
“Our goal is set to include 90-95 percent of Saudis in our educational proposal submitted to the Education Ministry,” Ghailan said.
VOSG not only looks to make education interesting, but also provides the platform for quality teaching. A market research conducted by VOSG showed that the majority of those teaching in international schools in the Kingdom are not qualified. Alternatively, Vancouver Offshore Groups provide professional development training for teachers at entry levels and those who want to improve their skills.
VOSG offers a three-semester program for those who already hold degrees and want to make teaching their career leads to a bachelor degree in education from Canadian public colleges and universities. Those enrolled in the program would be taught for two terms with the third specialized in training.
“They have to be well trained. They have to develop a curriculum and deliver these sessions to professors in education as if they are students. Those in the program would also have to ‘teach’ teachers with 3 to 5 years of experience,” said Ghailan.
“Teachers must know how to appeal to every region of the brain to develop it differently because every human being has different learning styles. If you treat the classroom as a homogenous group then you are definitely failing to deliver effective instructional strategies,” he added. “You have to treat the classroom as a heterogeneous group and develop your instructional strategies to appeal to every child. Otherwise many children will be left behind.”
Many Saudis teach without any prior training or interest in the profession. For them it is simply a job.
“With the Saudization process ongoing in our schools, our children are already paying the price of being taught by these new graduates who have no experience in teaching and most don’t even have an interest in teaching except that it’s the only job they could get,” said Abu Tala, a father in his 40s whose three daughters Tala, Rola and Muna are enrolled in one of Jeddah’s private schools.
“We get graduates who don’t have any experience or idea about dealing with children,” said Umm Khaled, a principal at a girls’ private school. “It takes time and countless workshops to train them — something that costs us lots of extra work after school hours. And after all that investment of time and effort, they don’t last long. They can’t take the hard work of teaching. This of course is at the expense of our students’ education and learning processes. They don’t understand that an education is a lifelong imprint on a child. Not just anyone can be a teacher or is fit to be one.”
Those accepted for the VOSG teaching program must have passion for education, emotional intelligence as well as compassion toward children. “We don’t accept just anyone in this program,” said Ghailan. “We only accept those who have passion for education — if you’ve no passion for education then you can never be a teacher. Teaching is not a job. It is a vocation.”
Abu Sameera, an Education Ministry official, echoed Ghailan. “Teaching is a vocation. The VOSG proposition is practical, logical and definitely responds to an ongoing problem — the future generation’s professional future... But a decision needs to be made quickly and its implementation must be even quicker. Every year counts in a child’s education,” he added.
