Opinion

PE program at Taif University

September 18, 2017
PE program at Taif University

Dr. Fowziya Al-Bakr



Al-Jazirah

THE University of Taif, under the leadership of its president, Dr. Hossam Zaman, has overtaken other Saudi academic institutions by taking a historic initiative to open the first university program to prepare Saudi women to take up the job of physical education teachers at girls' schools. The program is being studied at the faculty of education as part of a major development plan.

The university said the launch of the new department titled “Physical Education and Sports Sciences” comes in line with the decision of Education Minister Dr. Ahmed Al-Issa to introduce PE program at girls' schools starting from the next academic year 2017-18.

The unprecedented demand for enrollment in the department was not only amazing but also unexpected. Ever since the university’s decision about four months ago to accept students for the program 2,129 students have applied for admission at the university putting PE as their first choice.

The corridors of the deanship for admission and registration at the university were crowded with students and their parents who wanted to know more about the PE program and inquired whether they can shift from another subject to PE considering job chances.

What we can learn from these numbers? The answer is simple. Many government agencies do not respond positively and quickly to social changes. Many educational and employment policies do not cope with developmental and personal requirements, especially those of women.

The new trends reflect that our young men and women dream about a balanced education that would provide them with mental and professional satisfaction as well as a decent job and living after graduation as they don’t want to become a member of thousands of unemployed graduates who have studied theoretical disciplines that are incompatible with modern age.

Today anyone asks about the destiny of those graduates who opted for theoretical disciplines? Does any university or department conduct follow-up studies about the fate of their graduates to know how many of them got jobs? I am sure nobody would do that.

At present our graduates find it difficult to get jobs even at government institutions including universities, where they look for some officials who would smile at them and look into their files full of recommendations. They return disappointed without getting any jobs.

Thousands of unemployed youth pay for the wrong development policies, especially in the educational sector. Our education is blamed for its weakness and poor academic programs that cannot cope with labor market requirements following the fourth technological revolution.

For example, take the graduates of the colleges of education and arts for girls, which were affiliated to the Presidency for Girls' Education in the past. Thousands of women who graduated from these colleges have failed to get suitable jobs, not only in cities but also in remote areas of the country.

These girls have graduated after going through untold troubles and tribulations such as lack of transport, absenteeism, road accidents and other countless problems. They faced all these difficulties with the hope of getting a suitable job after graduation. Many of their colleagues have died on their way to colleges as a result of reckless drivers.

Nobody gave them any advice about what courses they have to take to get good jobs. We did not set out appropriate academic programs and vocational courses required by the labor market to have a decent living for women graduates without depending on others. This is the right of every woman and man in this country. But unfortunately many of our graduates wander in streets without jobs.

We hope our universities would be able to overcome the present problems after achieving independent status promised by the Education Ministry and inducting young blood into its faculties and administrative systems, which is essential to eradicate institutional bureaucracy.

We believe that our universities are capable of producing outstanding graduates, researchers and scientists to play a vital role in accelerating the Kingdom’s development. Administrative and financial autonomy would help universities make faster decisions, overcome bureaucratic practices, introduce specializations required by the labor market and create new job opportunities.

I take this opportunity to congratulate Taif University for taking a bold step to introduce a PE course for women that would open job opportunities for thousands of its graduates in the near future.


September 18, 2017
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