Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi

 

BEFORE I left to the United States for my higher studies, my children were in a good private school here, where they took English classes, not available in elementary public schools at that time. Since I believed in private schools, I looked for them in Eugene, Oregon, but couldn’t find any.



After visiting the neighborhood public school, I was convinced it was much better than anything I had dreamed of. The school administration was as happy to have my boys as I was to enroll them in the school.  The principal explained that since American pupils were not familiar with Arab and Muslim culture, they would benefit from a new, enriching experience.



Five years later, I was back home. Again, I was faced with the choice between private and public education. Considering that public schools were weak in English, I had no choice but to put my children into an international school. However, it was hard to get approval from the Ministry of Education. Saudis, I found out, were not allowed to send their children to an international school without a letter from the minister’s office, which had to be renewed every year!



The education was good, even though it cost an arm and a leg. But, alas, two years later, the ministry decided that my children had had   enough of a transitional period. I transferred my boys to public and private Arabic-medium schools, and they suffered, until they got used to the new system.

My verdict? International schools are much better than public or private local Arabic-medium  schools. However, the downside is that the Arabic language and Islamic studies that they teach are not adequate.



If you choose local Arabic-medium education, then good private schools are better than most public ones. Even though they teach the same curriculum, they do it better with an emphasis on English, science and computer skills.

Now I yield the floor to my dear readers’ enlightening comments:

•  Irfan Ahmed (Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University): “We should encourage more summer internships and evening programs for college students. We should organize regular workshops in order to have a greater interaction with the job market. Schools must focus on English from Grade 1 and encourage debate contests.

• Dr. Rashied Small (Prince Sultan College, Alfaisal University): “In many instances, public and private schools use the same syllabus and often the same material. Yet, the gap between the preparedness and quality of the students coming through the different schooling systems is continuing to widen. “You have alluded to the fact that the problem is not with the students. In fact, my stay here in Saudi Arabia has clearly indicated that the students I have been in contact with are smart and have the capacity to be successful.  The question that needs to be asked is: ‘If the same input [students] enter different educational systems [private and public schools], then why the widening gap between the output?’ My experience has indicated that the problem is with the process and the environment in which the teaching and learning process is implemented.  We need to go back to our roots as Muslims and apply the principles of Islamic values of teaching and learning into our educational systems.”
  
   


• Ramon Mohamed: “I have read of many historical Islamic scholars who promoted a more enlightened focus on education, where critical thinking was the norm. Then, the West was in the Dark Ages. The reverse is true now. One place you can start to remedy the situation is by making a change at teacher training colleges.”
  
   


• Maria Khan: “It is good to understand the reasons for our problems. It is easier to find solutions for them once we realize their existence.”
  
   


• Abdul Kareem Muhammad: “As a Muslim-American educator in Saudi Arabia, I definitely wish to see all Muslims be better than they are. So let’s stop arguing about the problem and start fixing it once and for all.”
  
   


• Dahmani Hicham: “If we look closely at the educational system and the political status of the Arab world, we will find that policy makers are neglecting education on purpose. They send their children to study abroad so that they can govern later. Rulers prefer illiterate citizens so that they can maintain their grip on power.”
  
   


• Bash Gul: “I find Saudi adults smart and well aware of current affairs. During their student life they may have been deprived of gaining general knowledge, reading only the sports pages. During their working life, however, they become interested in local and world events, and read all the pages.”
  
   


• Mohammed Mohsin: “The education system throughout the world needs a complete overhaul, not only in Saudi Arabia. Are we not losing the values of honesty, gentlemanliness, integrity, etc? The purpose of education is not just to produce engineers, doctors and managers, but also noble human beings who are assets to society, not just money-making machines.
  
   


• Intellectual Mind: “Youth around the world are thinking: Let’s just get a formal degree, then learn on the job. The education system should teach people skills instead of just mugging up knowledge.”
  
   

— Dr. Khaled Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Kbatarfi.