From CDHR
February 21, 2008
Spending Money on Education is Not Enough
By Ali Alyami
The University of Shanghai, in Communist China conducted a survey of 3,000 universities worldwide last year and ranked Saudi universities only above Somalia and Djibouti, which led a Saudi citizen to say, “I learn something new, I did not even know Somalia and Djibouti have universities.” The unjustifiable, unacceptable and dangerous scientific backwardness in Saudi Arabia lies squarely on the shoulders and conscious of the Saudi royal family’s system, which intentionally puts Salafist religious extremists in charge of education.
In addition, the stifling social restrictions and the lack of incentives and motivations that force students to compete, study hard, debate and challenge each other, are absent. Gender segregation in schools plays a disproportionate destructive role in learning at all levels in Saudi schools. Those of us who studied in Western universities understand the positive impact of co-ed institutions. Debates and socializing among male and female students, faculties and families are very important parts of the learning process. They enable us to develop life-long bonds, familiarity with each other and acceptance of each other as equal citizens and as human beings first.
Building big economic cities without teaching people to build and run them is a waste of public wealth and an insult to people’s intelligence. Roughly 80% of the laborers needed to build Abdullah city in Jeddah will be imported, as well as most of the material and expertise to build it. More money is used to import workers, services and material, than is used to develop the country’s essential institutions. Where will most professors come from when the out of sight King Abdullah University is completed? Where do most of the engineers, designers, surveyors, pipeline fitters, technicians, doctors, nurses, medicines, telephones, trucks and airplanes come from, that keep the Saudi economy afloat? The answer is: from other countries. The people of Saudi Arabia need and deserve a leadership that invests in human development and puts the interest of the voiceless and restricted people ahead of one family’s absolute rule and domination.