King Abdullah is not new to controversy. Back in November 1979, then
Prince, Abdullah as Commander of the National Guards had summoned Groupe
d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale to help break the siege of the Grand
Mosque in Mecca - the involvement of the French was much disliked by the
sheikhs. (http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mosque_Seizure ). The arrest of Saudi women defying
a ban on driving - in the wake of 9/11 - was another unpopular step yet it
pleased the clerics. (www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews ) King Abdullah's new Jable Omar project in Mecca displacing
hundreds of thousands of residents to make room for five-star hotels, malls and
luxury spas is ambitious but yet another unpopular step.
The opening of
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) is seen by
academics, sheikhs and ordinary Saudis as a significant achievement. But that
boys and girls will also come in close contacts with each other - in the name of
higher education - is something that runs against the grain of Saudi culture,
tradition and religion. The dissent shown by Sheikh Shehri and his dismissal
from the Supreme Council by a royal decree is an indication that the
conservative Kingdom is not yet ready for the King's fast forward march towards
modernization.
Education in Islam is of paramount importance. The first
verse revealed to Prophet Muhammad was "Read, read in the name of thy Lord".
There is a tradition of the Prophet that encourages seeking knowledge even if
one needs to travel as far as China.
Against this background King
Abdullah's attempt - going to any length for the sake of education - appears
laudable. But giving credit where due Saudi Arabia has over the years invested
heavily in education but the conservative approach, the curriculum and how it is
taught is part of the problem.
Co-education is a fact of life in other
Muslim countries but in Saudi Arabia it's against - or was against the law until
KAUST and King Abdullah made it halal.
Reformers hope the $10 billion
funded high-tech campus will spearhead changes in the conservative Kingdom. Many
among the urban elite believe that KAUST will stimulate reform after recent
setbacks such as shelving municipal elections and cancelling Jeddah film
festival opposed by clerics. The King has promoted radical reforms since taking
office in 2005 to create a modern state hoping that such steps will stem
militancy among the Saudi youth.
Despite this "feel-good" factor the King
faces criticism from the clerics, academics and conservative
princes.
Most of my colleagues at Saudi universities welcome the King's
attempts to revolutionize the way education is imparted. Girls sharing
classrooms, desks, labs, libraries and cafeterias with their male classmates at
the KAUST is seen by most liberal academics as a step that would influence the
thought process in the Kingdom. Female Saudi teachers educated in the West
welcome the move but feel it needs to be handled cautiously.
Ali
Al-Aseeri (not his real name) who teaches Linguistics at King Abdulaziz
University Jeddah says: "The introduction of co-education at the KAUST is bound
to influence the way we have handled this issue so far. When asked if he would
end his daughters to co-educational institutions he said he was not sure but
added: "May be abroad but not in the Kingdom, at least not for some
years."
A Riyadh-based widely travelled biology professor believes that
the society needs to understand the implications of co-education first. "What's
been introduced at the KAUST is a step forward. But we have to be careful and go
about it slowly. If co-education is introduced at all our universities neither
the teachers nor the students will be able to handle this freedom."
The
professor said that a "quick march" towards "modernization" can cause an
upheaval in the society and lead to social problems.
Fahad, a Saudi
colleague at Mecca University believes that because KAUST is run by the oil
company, Aramco (www.menafn.com ) and not by the
Ministry of Education it can do and get away with things that are not acceptable
by the society. Aramco - and similar - compounds across the country are enclaves
of western lifestyle where women in shorts drive to supermarkets, and veiled
women are a species found outside the compound.
A female social worker
believes the surge towards co-education might lead to early marriages among the
co-eds, higher rate of drop-outs from colleges and unwanted
pregnancies.
Then there are educationists who feel that KAUST is
impressive but is a start at the wrong end. "Instead of pumping billions into
universities you need to reform primary schools focusing on
religion."
While KAUST students will have the Royal permission to mix
with the "forbidden", Saudi Gazette reports that the work at King Saud
University's female campus in Riyadh is almost complete. "The design of the
campus offers complete privacy," Al-Jazi Al-Shubaiki, Dean of Women's Studies
Centre at KSU told reporters. (www.saudigazette.com.sa ) Hashim Abdou-Hashim writing of Al-Riyadh daily
(reported by www.arabnews.com on 9th October)
commenting on Mecca Governor Prince Khalid Al-Faisal's suggestion that other
universities emulate KAUST said in an article: "Our universities lack vision or
long-term strategies because they lack freedom and foresight. Deans and
department heads are not selected because of their abilities but rather
according to parameters that have nothing to do with academics. We are asking
the impossible from our universities. It is a sad situation. Our universities
need revamping. The system needs to change otherwise KAUST may have a hard time
filling classrooms with Saudis."
In a country where no man can dare cross
the threshold of girls' schools, where emergency repairs usually wait till the
weekend, where religious police stop fire fighters from entering girls' school,
and where drivers of busses transporting girls must be accompanied by their
wives, the thought of co-education, howsoever pleasant, is out of this world.
Syed Neaz Ahmad taught English language & linguistics at
Makkah University for 28 years. He was columnist of Jeddah-based newspapers
Saudi Gazette and Arab News. He was also Editorial Consultant at Muslim World
League. (first published in Middle East Online)
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