The very first word Allah revealed by the Angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was “read.” On that basis, we can say that receiving education became mandatory for all Muslims. Education was the force that helped Muslims achieve great feats since the advent of Islam. During the heydays of Muslim rule, the world saw establishment of huge libraries and seats of learning throughout the Muslim empire.
Throughout the Muslim world, primary schools for children and universities for continuing education were established and with it many scholars from other faiths were being educated by Muslim scholars. No matter what you say or write, you can’t emphasize enough about the importance of the education.
Since the establishment of modern day Saudi Arabia, free education has been made available to every Saudi from elementary to the university levels. The Kingdom offers world’s biggest scholarship program to its citizens. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program, initiated eight years ago, earmarked billions of dollars to send Saudi students to attend best universities across the globe.
At home, however, the Saudi education system needs a major overhaul. For the past few decades, our education system has been plagued with elements that support a status quo and are unwilling to adapt to the global changes. Fortunately, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ambitious plans to facelift the education system. Saudi Arabia allocates the highest per capita for the education sector in the world. Many universities have been set up and many changes introduced to the curricula. Managing the education system and education institutes is not an easy task and the best brains are needed at the stage.
Appointment of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, former governor of the Makkah region, as the new education minister is a breath of fresh air. He is a highly educated and very innovative person. Educated in the West, Prince Khaled is very talented. His three sons Princes Bander, Sultan and Saud are all graduates of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. Prince Khaled has a very long and rough road ahead. Saudi Arabia is a very big country with millions of students and tens of thousands of public and private schools. And there is a great need for building better quality schools and improve the standard of schoolteachers. Above all, we need to do away with the culture of rote learning. In other words, Prince Khaled must see to it that the prevalent system is completely changed with the introduction of well-qualified instructors who could help boost a better learning environment in the classrooms. Emphasis should be laid on the introduction of extracurricular activities like school theaters and sports etc. It would be pertinent to mention here that Prince Khaled has held charge of the Saudi Youth Affairs.
He was the driving force behind various sporting events like the Arabian Gulf Football Tournament, which was founded in 1970. He is also the head of FIKR, which is an organization that discusses with great transparency challenges facing the Arab world. Prince Khaled will be facing many challenges because of the many years of abuse of the Saudi education system, but he is the best person for this job.
We need to change the overall culture of Saudi classrooms. We need to inculcate reading habits among the youth. We must encourage them to get involved in volunteer work sports and to respect others. Saudi classrooms must be equipped with the latest gadgets and talented teachers. With good education poverty, unemployment, drugs and street violence could be eradicated. Saudi classrooms must teach our youth how to be independent in their thinking and how to communicate with others and learn to listen to others even if they differ in opinion. It must be kept in mind that behavior of the youths in a classroom is a reflection of a country’s progress.
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