Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi used the podium at the 9th Jeddah Economic Forum to address two issues crucial to the progress and development of Saudi Arabia — the training of Saudi youth and the situation of women in the work force. His message was both charming and disarming, but when you consider its substance it should only be viewed as alarming.
Al-Gosaibi accused the media and Saudi businessmen of projecting a negative image of many young Saudis who are, in his opinion, mostly talented and hardworking, but he neglected the causes of such stereotypes, which can be placed in our homes and our education system. If we have unskilled and unqualified young graduates it is not a failure on their part, but the fault of our education system and our own acquiescence in tolerating that nonperforming bureaucracy.
Our young graduates are just as frustrated as the businessmen due to their weak performance on the job and their failure to have what the market demands — computer skills, fluency in English and adequate technical aptitude. This is why tens of thousands of expatriates are doing the jobs our youth should be able to handle — if we gave them half a chance by providing a relevant education.
Al-Gosaibi cannot be faulted for the failures of our education system; after all, he is the minister of labor. But Saudizing the education system before we have the teachers necessary to provide a competitive program is something over which he could exert some influence. He likes to talk in terms of visas, so let’s see more visas for qualified teachers to educate our children or perhaps educate their teachers so we can have an education system that qualifies our children for our workplaces.
As for the labor minister’s example of Saudization success by Saudi Aramco, that company has an intensive training program that imbues young Saudis both with the needed knowledge and the discipline for productive careers — after they finish their Saudi schooling. King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) also is a great training ground for young engineers and works closely with the company to ensure that what is taught is what is needed for success.
For businesses that may not be enjoying the benefits of $100-a-barrel oil, adequate training at the level of Saudi Aramco may not be as easy, and to place that burden on business as opposed to schools and parents will only encourage businesses to find other countries to serve where thinking is better aligned with the realities of the 21st century. Moreover, the cooperation and partnerships with more advanced countries that offer training and scholarships for a limited number of students is not the solution. We need to apply global standards for the whole nation, and this is impossible with the poor knowledge and inadequate skills of most of our Saudi educators.
Time and time again, in country after country around the globe, it has been clearly established that education is the key to progress and development. We need more qualified teachers to educate our youth, and it is unfair to blame our less-qualified teachers or our helpless graduates for the present sorry state of affairs. If the media criticizes or businessmen complain it is for the general welfare of society. We already have wasted a whole generation. Let us not persist and compromise the standard of our education by enforcing a destructive mandate of Saudization.
Despite the many promised reforms undertaken by the Ministry of Education there still exist many flaws in the system. One of the most obvious is the failure to introduce English in our school curriculum due to the lack of Saudi teachers able to teach the language. Although the Ministry of Education had promised to introduce English in our primary schools in 2006 its proper implementation remains impossible unless we employ non-Saudi teachers instead. Perhaps some visas are in order, Mr. Minister? Another flaw imposed by the Saudization policy has created a delay in introducing computers to our schools. Modern technology cannot be an effective component of our educational institutions if the teachers do not have the proper skills to use it.
Imposing the Saudization policies on our academic institutions is detrimental to our academic progress. Experts believe that global standards of education are achieved when we begin the education process early on at the preschool level.
The kindergartens in our country are a mess, and our schools are suffering from lack of qualified staff and experienced professionals.
Progressive countries like Finland achieved academic excellence by allowing only highly qualified teachers to teach. We must recruit the best brains to teach and mentor our youth if we want to succeed in raising the low level of our education and ensure that our graduates received a quality education. That might require visas from the Ministry of Labor. If we do not maintain high standards in our academic institutions, our graduates will continue to feel helpless and frustrated because of their inability to deliver or excel.
Global standards in education cannot be achieved by educators ignorant of the latest scientific knowledge or incapable of innovative thinking. Critical thinking cannot be taught by teachers with limited knowledge and modest intellect. This needs long years of study and experience that cannot be obtained in a crash course or a training course offered by mediocre training centers or institutions. The Saudization policy is standing in the way of progress and enlightenment. Time is of the essence. We need to fix our educational problems immediately if we want to be part of the global community.
Al-Gosaibi’s speech also addressed the “women in the work force.” He promised more opportunities for women in the labor market. “Job opportunities should be made available to women on an equal basis with men,” he said.
This kind of encouragement and support is certainly needed to help Saudi women overcome all the obstacles and hardships that they have to encounter at work or in business. He was right when he maintained that while we are making progress, social reforms would require dialogue and consensus. We definitely need to work on changing the mindset of many in our society toward the integration of women into the work force. There are still those who are resistant to change and modernizing our country and there are others who want to impose restrictions on women to stop them from pursuing their businesses or careers.
Al-Gosaibi said women-specific projects are being successfully created in stages; however, some issues like segregation will not change overnight, and to change things forcibly might complicate matters. Many women today agree with the minister and feel it is important to work within the system to influence change and development. However, they also feel that it is necessary for the system to apply rules and regulations to protect professionals from work-related harassment or any violations of the law. Professional women feel very concerned over the absence of proper labor laws that provide the necessary security and dignity for them to have businesses and careers.
The Ministry of Labor has to act in the interests of all citizens and work toward creating a framework of labor laws to ban discrimination against women. It is the responsibility of the Labor Ministry to outline the rights of women in the work force and to create a healthy environment that enables professional women to achieve economic prosperity and contribute to the welfare of society.
More needs to be done so as not to waste the opportunity Saudi Arabia has today. More needs to be done on women’s participation in the work force. An independent study reported recently that 66.3 percent of educated women in Saudi Arabia are unemployed.
More needs to be done to maintain global standards of excellence if we want our country to be on par with the rest of the civilized world. Our ministers and officials should look into the issues that are of dire concern more seriously and come up with better policies to serve the community and allow Saudi Arabia to prosper and develop.
As important as anything that any ministry can accomplish is what the people can accomplish simply by realizing that the longer we fail to confront important issues about modernization and our culture, the farther we fall behind other countries that have long ago resolved the issues with which we now struggle as they move on to the next levels of development. By the way, their schools have been qualifying graduates with essential skills for years, and their young jobseekers have no expectation of luxury — only hard work and the chance to make better lives for themselves. Is that more than our young Saudis should expect? Is that more than we are willing to give them?
— Samar Fatany is a Saudi radio journalist. She can be reached at [email protected].
