Saudi Education System

Saudi-Arabian-Arabian-Arabian discipline dodgingThe previous chapter sought to clarify the seek motivation, presented the rationale for the study and adumb come out the specific research questions. Given that this work was undertaken in Saudi Arabia, it is disposed(p) to translate an over think of the Saudi direction clay in p subterfugeicular its general characteristics, structure, curriculum being used in it. This chapter provides general undercoat regarding the basic objectives of the Saudi reading remains. The st targetgies it employs for its on going develop workforcet and advancement.2.2 The Saudi Education System A brief previewEducation in each(prenominal) p humanistic discipline of Saudi Arabia was traditional until the late nineteenth century, the culture was chiefly re fastidioused to reading, writing and recitation of the Quran. higher(prenominal) tutoring in religious studies existed only in the main cities of Saudi Arabia. The beginning of the ne w(a) Education took place towards the end of the nineteenth century in the past Ottoman provinces of Hijaz and Al-Ahsa. By 1920s a few cloak-and-dagger conditions began twist non-religious subjects in some major cities and larger towns. In the beginning of 1951 a network of vicarious schools was set up. The ministry of Education was ceremonious in 1954 and prince Fahd stash away Abd al-Aziz became the source minister. The offset non wholly religious university was receptive up in 1957. In spite of the strong opposition of the conservatives of the Saudi clan the overt upbringing for girls began in 1964. The Ministry of higher(prenominal) Education was established in 1975, and the festering objects of 1970s and 1980s characterized remarkable growth in the Education setup, better Saudi Education system considerably.The literacy rate in Saudi Arabia in 1970 was 15% for men and 2% for women. By 1990 it was 73% for men and 48% for women , and, in 2002 it reached 90.9% an d 70.2%, respectively . According to the Central Intelligence Agencys World Factbook 2002, the literacy rate in 2002 was estimated at 84.2% for males and 69.5% for feminines and according to the la testing facts it stands at 86.6% over entirely, with male literacy rate at 90.4% and female literacy rate at 81.3%.The reason for the positive results in combating illiteracy can be attri besidesed to government support and encouragement. Private teaching institutions and Quran schools proved successful in increasing the literacy rate. The very original syllabus to educate adults, especi on the wholey in terms of reading, was laid wad in 1956. Initially, the period of education was reduced to terce grades, and then after(prenominal) some experimentation, four years. After this four year timeframe, the educatee go to a follow-up programme after which a he or she was then eligible for a direct school certificate.Around the mid(prenominal) 1950s, Saudis quickly started to true(a) ise that education, and reading in particular, were absolutely vital for the in store(predicate) of their country. Today, they look on in pride at a erudite and successful nation. Saudi business is booming, and the rate of attendance at schools has reached 98.7 percent. Mean objet dart, discipline work is continuing on educating elderly people who may bring missed out on previous reading programmes.2.3 Characteristics of Saudi education SystemEducation in Saudi Arabia has four special characteristics an vehemence on Islam, a centralized educational system, separate education for men and women, and state financial support. Islam is the core of each Muslims curriculum, with time each calendar week devoted to the study of the Muslim sacred text, theQuran, Moslem tradition, jurisprudence, and theology from primary through high education. Religion is not separate from but is a part of the disciplines of education, economics, sociology, psychology, medicine, and law. It is antici pate that theQuranwill be memorized, interpreted, and applied to all aspects of daily life.The centralized educational system for men is under the legal power of the Ministry of Education and for women, under the General Presidency of Girls Education. All schools at all levels utilize the same methods of instruction, textbooks, evaluation techniques, curricula, and educational policy. As stated in Article 155 of the educational Policy of Saudi Arabia, there is strict separation of the sexes at all levels of education with the exception of kindergarten, nursery, and some orphic elementary schools, and in some medical schools. The separation of the sexes is related to the prize social status of women accorded to them by Islam. With the exceptions of physical education and home economics, the curricula argon the same. The Saudi government is committed to the development of education at all costs and maintains exclusive control. Education is free but not needinessed beyond the eleme ntary level. The government provides free tuition, stipends, subsidies, and bonuses to students entering certain field of study and to those continuing their education outside the country. Free transportation is provided for female students.2.4 Objectives of Saudi Education PolicyThe objectives of the Saudi educational policy ar to ensure that education becomes more efficient, to meet the religious, economic and social unavoidably of the country and to eradicate illiteracy among Saudi adults. The main educational conception of Saudi education system is a continuation of its Islamic Educational heritage. To prep are highly qualified individuals, scientifically and intellectually, so that they can actualize their best in order to benefit their country and the development of their Nation. To stand for a positive role in the field of scientific research in order to contribute to the global progress in arts, acquisition and inventions. To translate the scientific fellowship to the language of Quran (Arabic) and the development of the riches of the Arabic language, to meet the needs of Arabization, by making knowledge favorable to the largest procedure of people.There are several government agencies involved with planning, administrating and implementing the boilers suit governmental educational policy in Saudi Arabia.The Ministry of Education sets overall standards for the countrys educational system (public and private) and similarly oversees special education for the handicapped. Early in 2003 the General Presidency for Girls Education was dissolved and its functions were taken over by the Ministry, to administer the girls schools and colleges, supervise kindergartens and nursery schools and sponsor literacy programs for females.The Structure and course of instruction of Saudi Public EducationThe Public education in Saudi Arabia, for boys and girls, is shared into three levels elementary, intermediate, and secondary. Also, there is optional kinderg arten level. The school year at all three levels consists of two semesters, which are fifteen weeks long. Classes per week vary from 28 to 33 class. The length of each class is 45 minutes. Passing the mental testing at the end of the school year is essential for moving to adjacent grade or level. Students who fail need to take another test in the subject that was failed. Before the new school year starts, if the student fails again, he needs to repeat the grade.Elementary EducationElementary education consists of six grades. Students start at the age of six. (May accept 3 months or 4 in Gregorian calendar- less than 6). Elementary education focuses mainly on Islamic religion and the Arabic language mathematics, history, geography, and science.2.7 Elementary give instruction Curriculum2.8 Intermediate EducationPassing the sixth grade examinations is demand to enter the intermediate level. The age of the intermediate student is between 12 and 15 years old. Students in the interme diate level study, besides Islamic and Arabic language courses, more general education courses. Completion of the 3rd year of the intermediate level and passing the examination, students can select bingle of three options (1) regular secondary school, (2) vocational education, (3) Quranic schools.2.9 Intermediate School CurriculumSecondary EducationBefore 1937, there was no secondary-level education in Saudi Arabia. The original of all high school was the Saudi Institution opened in 1926. The real beginning of secondary education coincides with the development of the outside(prenominal) Mission preparatory school in 1937. The initial purpose of this school was to prepare Saudi students for higher education in Egyptian universities. The curricula were kindred to the Egyptian curricula and most of the teachers were from Egypt. Secondary education is three-year program. The economic development in the oil sector in 1950s and 1960s led to hammy industrial and commercial growth in Saudi Arabia. The need for an ready reform of the secondary education system and more secondary schools became clear. The Saudi Supreme Committee of Education embarked on a large-scale amplification of the Saudi education system, which was influenced by the American education system. There are now three types of secondary education available in Saudi ArabiaQuranic school, (2) general (academic) school, and (3) vocational (professional) school.The first Quranic high school opened in 1977. General high school follows a general curriculum in the first year. Then, each student specializes in either liberal arts or science for the next two years. The general high school curriculum has been changed several times, as educational policymakers and curriculum planners switch impelled that the curriculum did not meet individuals and discipline needs. The Ministry of Education established the first comprehensive secondary school in 1975, as an experimental newfangled high school in the c ity of Riyadh. In 1977 and 1978, they opened three more schools in other cities round the abilitydom of Saudi Arabia. The liveliness in establishing these schools wasTo prepare students for real life by affording them with the knowledge and skills they need for employment,To meet the needs of both individuals and groups in society,To allow students to select the courses and activities that they need,To offer students access to an academic adviser to guide and dish them during their studies.Because of the need to scatter secondary education and include additional academic programs and areas of study, the comprehensive secondary education program was replaced by developed secondary education in 1983. This school allowed students to choose the courses that cor answer to their interests, as well as develop a high school structure which allows students to experience different activities. Saudi educational policymakers phased the developed high school plan out in 1993 because of the negative social consequences for both students and the society.Higher EducationHigher education became the focus of Saudi Education system when country embarked on its development ascent in 1970s. The oldest university in Saudi Arabia was opened in 1957 as Riyadh university which was renamed as King Saud university in 1982. In the academic year 2007-2008 the university had 42,312 students (Albaikan, 2010). There were only two universities in Riyadh, King Saud university (KSU) and Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic university until 2004 when the first women university was established by combining women colleges. The ministry of Higher Education was established in Saudi Arabia in 1975 to supervise and regulate the higher education in the country. The ministrys major objective was to establish new higher education institutions end-to-end the country and expand the existing onenesss and to commence and renew the undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in most disciplines in these un iversities and colleges. Saudi universities and higher education institutions offer Diplomas, bachs, get the hang and PHD stages in various humanities and scientific specializations. A Bachelor degree requires four years study programme in the field of humanistic discipline and Social Sciences and five to six years in the field of Engineering, medicinal drug and Pharmacy. The medium of instruction in science and technological fields is English, while the other subjects are taught in Arabic.Saudi universities have been increased in number from eight public universities to twenty one since 2004 (Ministry of Higher Education, 2008) just about of these universities were pre-established colleges, which were later upgraded to the status of universities. A large number of vocational institutes and private colleges have been established more recently, much(prenominal) as The Prince Sultan University and Arabic Open University. A considerable amount of annual budget is allocated for t hese higher Education institutions by the Saudi Government to ensure their smooth work and continuous advancement, For instance the budget in 2010 spent $36.7 billion on education and teach out of $146 billion total budget. The Higher Education budget of 2010 covered funding for establishing new universities across Saudi Arabia and the expansion of the existing ones and increasing the students enrollment in Higher Education and wisdom programmes abroad. There are approximately more than 80.000 Saudi students studying at Higher education universities around the world with Government scholarships. Moreover, The worlds largest Women University, The Princess Nora Bint AbdulRahman University, was inaugurated in the first quarter of the year 2011 by the then King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, at the outskirts of the capital city Riyadh. The university has the capacity of accommodating 50.000 students and aims to improve womens access to courses such as Business and Science. The universit y has its own teaching Hospital , state of the art laboratories and libraries.The Movement to transform the Saudi society into a Knowledge participation was emphasized by the Minister of Higher Education in a speech, during the First Higher Education Symposium held in March 2010The premises of Higher Education development adopted by the Ministryare based on specified fundamentals, most important of them issupporting Saudi society be transformed into a knowledge society. Oneof the most important intend to achieve this transformation is to developand employ a view of knowledge economy where knowledge is produced,disseminated and ultimately consumed at various community productsand returns works. Toward this there was collaboration with universitiesto build real and realistic partnerships with production and operatesector, both governmental and private whether local or external.Such instill is justified in a view of a university or educational institution role as a manifestation o f a eternal rest stroked between producing knowledge and utilization of this produced knowledge, education outputthat is fit for national development needs and those needs of labourmarket. Such balancing highlights the real role and the positivereflection of universities and Higher Education organizations at religious servicetheir communities, not forgetting too their pioneering role at educatingand conducting research. (Ministry of Higher Education Portal, 2010) (para. 7)The use up of Internet In Saudi Education SystemSaudi Arabian citizens were enabled to access Internet in the year 1999 for the first time. According to the communications and Information engineering Commission (2007) There were approximately 200.000 Internet users in Saudi Arabia in December 2000, the number which rose to 2.54 million users by the year 2005 and by 2007 it jumped up to 6.4 million users, making it nearly one third of the Saudi people which is approximately 24 million (Albaikan, 2010) The major reason for this rapid growth is that around 60% of Saudi population comprises of young people who are in their twenties or point younger (ArRiyadh Development authority, 2007) and they are adapting to the latest technologies faster than expected (Albaikan,2010). It is expected that Internet use will continue to grow In Saudi Arabia at the same pace, hence, raising the issue of incorporating methodologies to provide new learn strategies that include use of technology.In the major cities of Saudi Arabia, the residential, business and metropolitan areas including universities have been provided with the Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) recently.Asynchronous realistic instruction is used in the country referable to the limitation in the bandwidth. The manager of Al-Dawalij company (Saudi Educational Software Producing Company) said supporting his view that his company has stopped producing online educational natural for schools because of the network connection problems t hat prevented schools accessing that material (Albaikan, 2010). Therefore their soft wares and products are only available on CDs and DVDs (Abu-Hassana Woodcock, 2006). The ministry of Higher Education of Saudi Arabia has encouraged the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education sector, providing development projects to establish adequate IT infrastructure and sate development for students seeking Higher education. Recently some universities and institutions have also been provided Commercial information Management Systems such as blackboards, white boards, WebCT and Tadarus (Arabic phrase Learning Management System) to facilitate online teaching and learning. However, the number of instructors and lecturers who utilize these systems is limited, due to the lack of sufficient training workshops and practice.King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) and King AbdulAziz University (KAU), established E=learning centers a few years ago, that provi de attention to their lecturers to develop interactive web-based supplementary material for traditional courses (Albaikan, 2010). The KAU, was the first Saudi university that employed a virtual learning environment, by offering online Bachelor degree. However in August 2007, the Islamic University of Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud began offering a place learning program that delivers instructions entirely through the Internet (Albaikan,2010), but only a few universities up till now have begun implementing E-learning for their distance learning programmes and offer online courses. To further aid and assist the development of education system, the Ministry of Higher Education of Saudi Arabia has established the National plan for Information technology which encourages the E-learning and distance learning for higher education. The National pith for E-learning and Distance learning was established in 2006, to support E-learning and blended learning implementation in universities (Albaikan , 2010). The National centre provides tools, technical support and the inevitable means for the development of digital education nub for Higher education through out the country. Due to the lack of adequately trained lecturers and the ever-rising number of students, The National meat of E-learning and Distance Learning has started various programmes that aim to enkindle E-learning in Saudi universities. The principal goals and objectives of the National centre for E-learning, 2008 wereTo work across all Higher Education Institutions to develop a national and international E-learning infrastructure.To develop infrastructures for the centre.To establish awareness of E-learning programmes.To provide full E-learning solutions to atleast three strategic partners by the end of 2010.To collaborate with Higher Education, government and corporate partners to provide solutions for complex E-learning problems.To develop new E-learning projects.To develop rules and regulations to supervise and govern E-learning programmes in Saudi Arabia.To establish alliance with with atleast two international E-learning bodies to share E-learning resources.King Saud University, King Abdulaziz University, Baha University, Taiba University, Qassim University and Madinah Islamic University all have memoranda of understanding with the Ministry to instal the E-learning scheme as per the ministrys instructions. (Albaikan, 2010) The National centre of E-learning has established a training programme for academics in the universities who want to adopt e-learning. A digital down payment called, Maknaz has also been started by the centre, it will contain various educational content such as learning objects, which can be uploaded and modified by lecturers and retrieved by students.Jusur, The Learning Management system was created in 2007 to provide the learning management features in Arabic for Saudi institutions. Jusur is an user-friendly system and it has already been upgraded to the second version within a year of its innovation. The system provides online help desk and support, allowing people to send in their queries, using an online ticket for technical helper and receive a prompt reply in their email accounts. Jasurs website also offers printed manuals specifically for students and lecturers both.SummaryThis chapter has covered the background of the Saudi education system and the important factors that influence it. The general structure, characteristics and curriculum of Saudi education system have been highlighted in the chapter. This chapter also explained the use of internet in the background of Saudi education system, the developing role of ICT in it and the role of the Centre of E-learning and Distance Learning has also been discussed. Saudi Arabia is still striving to respond to the technological evolution in Education. It has only been fifty years when the first university was established with only twenty one students, today the country proudly hosts tw enty one public universities and a number of private universities on with the worlds largest women university. Female education is given considerable priority and the focus is on to establish quality learning conducive environments for face to face and E-learning.