Zain Anbar
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
Women academicians, especially in the field of mathematics, should have a greater role in changing and evaluating school curricula. “Allowing specialized women academicians from outside the Ministry of Education to participate in the process could go a long way in drastically altering the process we teach in our schools,” said Dr. Firdoos Muhammad Omar Tawfiq, first Saudi woman to earn a PhD in mathematics. She is now assistant professor with King Saud University in Riyadh.
“I have taught math to many teachers and supervisors of the Ministry of Education pursuing master’s degree. They should be utilized and involved in this process in order to achieve the sought-after change and improvement,” Dr. Tawfiq, who earned her PhD in 1987, said.
Her views are based on the experience and knowledge she acquired when she took part in the initiative of “upgrading female students’ performance in mathematics.” The initiative was adopted by school development unit in the Riyadh Education Administration during 2012-13.
“This participation helped me pinpoint some of the elements that would surely impact on the success of the gigantic efforts exerted to develop public education within the framework of King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Public Education Development Project,” she said.
The details of the project, outlined by Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Minister of Education, at a press conference in March this year, should be put into action with sincerity of purpose and courage of conviction, she said.
Dr. Tawfiq commended the brilliance of those who participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad. The participants, with the help from right people, established a mathematics club for female students with the view to benefiting from the latest academic advancement in this field. She said the step was “the right move in the right direction.”
This, she said, will create different job opportunities for female graduates of mathematics. Banks and insurance as well as investment companies are some examples where such students can work after graduation. Female graduate students of actuarial mathematics and mathematical finance, in particular, will have more chances to land good jobs. “Our students have been trained to apply logical thinking. They just need to improve their personal skills in order to learn how best to deal with a given situation,” she added.
Dr. Tawfiq’s parents have played a major role in shaping her life and career. Her husband, Dr. Anwar Abdulmajeed Hassan Jabarti, former adviser in the Royal Court and former medical director of King Faisal Specialist Hospital, contributed to her success as well. In fact, he was instrumental in her earning PhD from the University College London with a specialization in numerical analysis.
Dr. Tawfiq is a mother of six: four daughters and two sons. Her daughter, Somayya Jabarti, is the first Saudi woman to hold the position of editor-in-chief of an English newspaper. Other daughters, Solafa is a human resources trainer while Sofana is a legal researcher at the National Society of Human Rights. One of her two sons, Muhammad, is a lecturer at the School of Law, King Saud University. The other son, Omar, is a college student and so is Fatima, her youngest daughter.
