This is the second week after the mid-semester break in all educational institutions in the Kingdom. Students, parents, and educators are feeling the heat and suffering the consequences of an epenthetic, unjustified weeklong break that has only created problems in our lives. It was a losing week by all means.
Students returned to schools last week unenthusiastically, attended classes apathetically and seemed unwilling to study. In addition, many students didn’t even go to schools because that break caused massive sleep disorders. Students and their families changed their daily habits during the break to do things at night and sleep during the day. When schools started again people found it hard to go back to their regular routine. In such a chaotic situation, it is expected that students need at least another week to adjust to their sleeping pattern.
Moreover, the break was designed to provide students and teachers with rest, but it turned out exactly the opposite. This break didn’t succeed in making students anxious for learning when they returned to schools. The break adversely affected the students’ academic abilities and interrupted their learning progress, which will likely make them lose their focus and they will need to restudy the same material again. That break disrupted the original plan to cover the curriculum on time before the end of the semester.
Many families faced multiple troubles because of that break. The mid-semester break became a big holiday season and children pressured their parents to go out and travel either within Saudi Arabia or even abroad. From the beginning of the break there were no seats available on Saudia to almost any destination. In addition, hotels and furnished apartments in major cities were fully booked at exorbitant rates. Even low-level accommodations had no vacancies because many people traveled without prior arrangements and wanted to find any place where they could spend the night. Resorts and restaurants were very busy as well. Consequently, the level of service in these places was very poor.
I talked to several educators about the consequences of the break and all of them were frustrated by the academic loss that made the situation of teaching and learning even worse. Many educators have called for a review of the mid-semester break. They are also concerned that the current school system creates a huge discrepancy between potential and actual output and turns students from the greatest potential resource to the society’s loss. Any review to the justifications of the week-long mid-semester break should be part of a comprehensive educational reform movement that questions the initial frame of the national educational policy.
It is quite observable that the learning atmosphere in Saudi Arabia is deteriorating. Students and teachers are de-motivated because they find everything around them boring. Rented buildings for schools, poor school supplies, ill-equipped classrooms and the lack of basic instructional materials are among many other weak points that make schools less attractive. In such a discouraging educational setting students are not expected to improve their personal capabilities. Congenial school environment is necessary to promote students’ success by enhancing their individual strengths and addressing or compensating for their weaknesses.
This massive confusion raises critical questions that demand decisive answers. Is there a real need for such a long mid-semester break? What are the justifications to put a week-long break in the middle of the second semester? Why do students as well as teachers find going to school boring and feel happy whenever there is a break? It is evident now that the education sector is going through a multi-dimensional crisis. I think the ministries of education and the higher education need a road map to reestablish a solid educational policy that can positively respond to the needs of the present and be well-prepared for the challenges of the future. Making learning environment attractive is important to improve the educational atmosphere where students can enjoy the time spent in schools.
