by Tariq A. Al-Maeena, talmaeena@aol.com
Saturday, May 24 2008
A letter I received recently highlighted the anguish of a mother as a result of unthinking bureaucratic decisions by some of our ministries. In this case, the culprit was the Ministry of Education. The letter read:
“Dear Mr. Tariq,
“I am writing to you this e-mail requesting a favor. Many Saudi parents including myself are having a dreadful time at the moment. In my case, the problem started two years ago when I tried to enroll my youngest son in the same Saudi school as his elder brother. The school owner refused to accept him claiming that my son is autistic because he failed the entrance exam for KG2. She insisted that we had to have him assessed and so we did.
“We felt that we had to do everything possible to have my son accepted so that he would be in the same school as his brother, but it was all in vain. She just didn’t want my son in the school, and thus we had to consider another option which I had long resisted, and that was to put my children in an international school.
“The process of registering both my sons in an international school was easy and heartwarming. After what we had faced with previous school, it was humanizing. My sons went through the assessments easily, not because they were geniuses or wizards in the English language, but because they were treated as kids who are growing, learning and have potential. My children spent that past year in Jeddah Prep and Grammar School, leaving me to wonder why I had not thought about it before. My kids come home cheerful, happy and enlightened. My seven-year old comes home with a tiny school bag with a few notebooks but with a world of knowledge and learning. The teacher recognized that he needed help with reading, so she had him go a special learning lab at the school. Now my son enjoys reading, swimming and his personality has developed tremendously.
“Now we have come to know that the Ministry of Education will not issue any renewals for permission for Saudi students to attend international schools. Not only that, the British school will have to accept only British pupils, German schools German pupils, Indian schools Indian students, Italian school Italian students, French school French students, and so on.
“Can you even start to imagine the consequences of such an irrational decision? What effect will this have on the expatriate community in the Kingdom? Many foreigners come to this country with the promise of a good salary, good accommodation and good education for their children. If these requirements are not met, they will not continue to hang around here much longer.
“Also, in my son’s class, there are only three British students. Under this new decree, most schools will not be able to operate without Saudi students who make up the bulk of enrollment.
“In countries like Qatar and the UAE, for example, nationals of these countries get a monthly stipend for their kids’ education and get insurance; they get all the help from their government to ensure that citizens live a decent life. Here we don’t have that luxury and we work for what we earn, so we pay for this school from our own pocket and still we are told what to do and what not to do.
“I will not put my sons back again in Saudi schools, I would rather have them home schooled or move to Dubai or Bahrain. There was a meeting on May 14 in Jeddah Prep and Grammar School to discuss this issue. The school sympathized with the parents but there’s little they can do. They are in more trouble than we are, because if things remain like this, they will be forced to close down.
“On Friday, May 16, an article published in Arab News by Fatin Bundagji titled “What Saudi Parents Want” touched only the tip of the iceberg. My request is that you let people know what’s going on. Hopefully, some media pressure will result. Even if my husband and I somehow manage to get a permit for enrollment, most of the other parents won’t, and the school may not be able to operate next year. F.G.”
This letter from a distraught mother who wants the best for her children highlights exactly what is wrong with some of our ministries who issue decrees without studying the destructive effects it would have on the future citizens of this country. This is akin to the Commerce Ministry dictating to me what vehicle to buy next, or the Housing and Rural Affairs Ministry telling me which neighborhood I should settle in.
And where is the rationale behind such a move? If international schools deliver a better quality of education to our children, shouldn’t the Ministry of Education be more concerned about elevating the quality of learning in our government schools, rather than depriving some of our young of the opportunity to shine to the maximum of their potential and among other citizens of the world?
Or is it that some people within this ministry fear that close proximity to foreign teachers and children will erode the “special qualities” of our society? Whatever it may be, I call on the ministry to take a second look at this ruling. Let us allow our children every opportunity to excel, no matter where they acquire that ability.
Origin:http://www.arabnews.com/
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