Yesterday, Saudi National Day, saw the formal opering of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. The day was one of celebration, culminating with an inauguration ceremony largely dedicated to congratulating King Abdullah on the accomplishment.
From the time the concept of KAUST was first announced in 2006, to the groundbreaking in 2007, to its opening now, has been a remarkably short time. There was a bit of artificiality in the deadline and not everything is quite finished, but the school is open for business, both in teaching students and starting new research even while laboratory equipment is being calibrated and run up to speed.
Yesterday was a fairly tedious one for visiting journalists. We were due to leave our hotel at 06:00, but didn’t actually get moving until around 09:00. Because the ceremony would include the King as well as visiting heads of state, security was tight. We were first screened at the hotel, driven to the campus with a security motorcade, screened again before entering the Media Center, then screened yet once more when leaving the center for the inauguration site. In the meantime, we were pretty much locked down until 16:00 or so when we were put back on buses to move to the site.
There, we were herded up to a media filing center which overlooked the exhibition and greeting area. The filing center had desk space, power points, and WiFi access and was used by most of the 200+ journalists, Saudi and foreign. The center had a glass wall that allowed us to watch the arrival of the more than 3,500 invited guests. From there, we could observe King Abdullah’s arrival and greeting by children—always a requirement at Saudi functions like this. There was also a large screen in the center on which we could watch the arrivals in more detail, accompanied by descriptive audio which told us who was coming in to be welcomed by the King.
This was pretty much a no-nonsense affair, with the various heads of state being given just a few moments to shake hands with the King before being politely escorted off to the VIP holding area.
Among the heads of state/government attending were King Hamad of Bahrain; King Abdullah of Jordan; Sheikh Sabah Al-Sabah of Kuwait; King Tuanku Abidin of Malaysia; Mohammad Rahman, President of Bangladesh; Ismail Guelleh, President of Djibouti; Gen. Mohamed Abdel Aziz, President of Mauritania; Al-Haji Yar’Adua, President of Nigeria; Gloria Arroyo, President of The Philippines; Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of Somalia; Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, President of Sudan; Abdullah Gul, President of Turkey; Ali Saleh, President of Yemen; Bashar Al-Assad, President of Syria; Fouad Siniora, caretaker of the Lebanese government; and Prince Andrew, representing the British sovereign. Ambassadors and various representatives of other governments were plentiful.
While the guests were being greeted, those who had already arrived were invited to walk through a display showing graphics of the various thrusts of university research. Finally, all were led into a massive auditorium. On stage was one of the Saudi military bands, about 75 in number, including bagpipers! Behind them was a huge display screen upon which were projected various materials in the course of the evening.
Of note, the audience, comprised of men and women, was integrated: women were not shuttered off to a corner, separated from the men.
After the King was escorted in and the National Anthem played, a poem by Saudi poet Saad Attiya Al-Ghamdi was recited, followed by a video of the opinions of various Saudis on KAUST—all positive, of course.
The King made remarks highlighting his three goals for the university: the revival of Islamic academic excellence, increase in the causes of science, and the creation of a ‘beacon of tolerance’. Welcoming speeches were given by Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi, Choon Fong Shih, President of KAUST, and Minister of Higher Education Khalid Al-Anqari. The speeches focused on the wisdom and generosity of the King and the enormous potential of the university.
Between speeches, various videos were shown. These ranged from brief interviews with an array of international and Saudi students (again, both male and female) to statements by various Saudis who had played a role in building KAUST.
At the conclusion of the two hours of speeches, the display screens, occupying the entire width of the auditorium, were pulled back. The ‘Breakwater Beacon‘ was lighted. The Beacon, intended to recall the Pharos of Alexandria and symbolize knowledge as a guiding light, was designed by an Australian design firm and has won several awards. Along with the lighting, there was a 20-minute fireworks display.
The guests were then led into an equally enormous banquet hall. Hundreds of tables were arrayed across the floor, each seating twelve guests. The meal was a traditional Saudi feast, slightly modified to accommodate the numbers. Each table had two large platters of mansaf, lamb and rice, as well as a chicken stew and various salads and pickles. The meal ended with assorted Middle Eastern pastries.
Then, alas, began the ordeal…
Moving 3,500 guests and at least a thousand security personnel and retainers is not a trivial exercise. First, of course, the King and his entourage and the various dignitaries had to leave. Two hours later, it was time for those who’d arrived in private cars to depart. Finally, those who had been brought from the numerous hotels in Jeddah, ARAMCO staff from Dammam and Riyadh, and the journalists sought out the appropriate buses. I didn’t get on my bus until about 02:00 and that bus—due to rather strange foul-ups, wasn’t going where I and my fellow journalists were going… After wading through dense Jeddah traffic, enhanced by Saudis celebrating National Day, we finally got back to our hotels around 04:30. A rather long day, to say the least.
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September:24:2009 - 05:02
You forgot to mention it’s 100 degrees with 100% humidity. I have to say I’m more effected by the closure of Medina Road from Hera st. up to KAUST at various times of the day. We’re spending an extended Eid in Abhur (due to the swine-flu school start delay that has effected every school EXCEPT KAUST).
I do hope KAUST is everything they want it to be. But it still feels like the educated elite are getting steak- while the masses can’t even get a bread and butter education.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
I’m not at all sure ‘elite’ is a useful term here. The students being accepted at KAUST are not obviously those from well-connected families, nor is family wealth at issue. All students are on full scholarships and receive a stipend. The entry interviews, coupled with school records seem to be the sole determinant. I’ve spoken with some young Saudis who didn’t make the cut. They’re not bitter about it, nor are they alleging any sort of favoritism or wasta effect. This, I would add, is what I expect of an honest academic institution as well as from ARAMCO, where competence has long counted more than connection.
Perhaps it is there and I’m just not seeing it, but I’m not seeing it.
If ‘elite’ is confined to academic prowess, then I’ve no trouble with it at all. I strongly believe that high achievers should be permitted to achieve.
On the weather… well, yes! This is the Red Sea coast in summer. Humidity is at 99.9% (just short of rain falllng from the sky) and daily temperatures are in the 100s F. At night, vehicles need to use their windshield wipers to clear the condensation from windshields just so that they can see the road! Sweating is just a way of life!
September:24:2009 - 05:02
I think you misunderstand my “elite”- and I can understand why. I did not mean “wasta” or “money”- though those could be a contributing factor and I did mean academic excellence- however many- many stutents have not had very good educational opportunities. I have worked in these schools and sent my children to these schools and very few students are prepared for jobs or higher academics if their parents have not significantly intervened to make sure they learn in a supplemental and enrichment activities. Children who are accepted into the better educational environments of the international schools need government permission which is usually denied. Teachers give their students the answers- and mark their work as “correct”. And then the religious indocrinization. Things like that.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
Sandy: I’m a US journalist, and am interested in your comments. Can you let me know how to get in touch? Thanks.
Larry Abramson
National Public Radio
labramson@npr.org
September:24:2009 - 05:02
No argument! Saudi schools, taken as a whole, are thoroughly inadequate to the task. Most teachers are products of defective education and can not improve upon what they have. Saudi schools have put so much emphasis on religious orthodoxy that they’ve crowded out a functional curriculum. Saudi parents have certainly noticed that and, feeling powerless to change the system, have opted for private schools, even at enormous economic sacrifice.
The international schools–private by definition–have largely been restricted to foreign students. Saudis looking to attend them have had to have good and special reason for doing so… children of diplomats, for example, who have already started their educations in other countries and other languages, can generally get permission. Others need connections to get permission. This is largely due to the prevailing theory that ‘foreign = bad’ or at least not Islamically pure enough.
That said, the Saudi state school system does manage to produce excellent students on occasion. This, I think, is primarily to the credit of the individual student and his/her parents. Private schools, though, have proved a lifesaver for those students with the funds or connections to get them something better.
The entire pedagogic model for Saudi schools is a discredited one: rote memorization led by often dictatorial teachers. Students learn what the teacher propounds and only that. Parrot back what the teacher says, don’t challenge the text or teacher, and you will be deemed a successful student, get good grades, and move to the top of the college placement lists. Embarrass the teacher and you will fall to the bottom and live with the consequences, deserved or not.
I’m happy to point out that after many years of complaints, the government is acknowledging this fact. School curricula and teacher methodology are undergoing top-to-bottom reform. Too late for the jobless graduates, too late even for the current generation of students. But future students will be placed on equal footing with others around the world.
Still, even if the overall system is a failure, at least some Saudis are able to get a decent education. That, however socially unfair, is critical to the country. Those students should not be held back nor channeled into the failed system out of some interest in egalitarianism.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
The 2 needn’t be mutually exclusive, and in fact are highly complementary: excellence in public school education for all with academically gifted students in enriched classes; and elite research intitutes/academic centres that draw on the best whether from Saudi or elsewhere, and aim to make a major contribution to designated fields internationally while benefitting national interests, like in this case marine biology, integrated co-education, diversification from the dominance of petroleum and its science and technologies in the KSA.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
Private schools have only in the last couple of years been able to branch away from the same government curriculum as the public schools- though the environments, equipment and sometimes the teachers are of a better quality- the learning has been mostly the same. I would say in Jeddah the girls private schools have been much better at bringing a higher quality of education. The boys schools have lagged behind. I do hope now- as some of these private schools have been given permission to branch into other curriculem it will pay off- but only if they can get the right caliber of teacher to implement it. My children spent a couple years in an elite private school with alternate curriculem and it seemed to make little difference, because the teachers were not able to teach it.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
I can’t comment on the education discussion since all I know are the Aramco schools my husband attended. But I must say it seems like quite a treat (in spite of the crazy long day) to have attended this opening ceremony! Did you get to eat at the banquet as well or were you still up in your glassed in area?
September:24:2009 - 05:02
I do not know whay most of the comments are shooting the education system in Saudi Arabia. I am not saying it is excellent or bad system, but it is like the others. I graduated from Saudi government school in mid of 80s and I continued my education in United States which I consider it as my second home; and because I was not a native speaker I studied the English language. When I finished it, I admitted to the University and I was one of the best students in Math, Physics and Chemistry, even I was much better than my Americans colleagues who studied the science in English. I worked in States for couple of years. The reason was the type of education I had in my Saudi government school. Yes, I agree with there is more concentration on the religious studies and this is because it is an Islamic country and 99% of population are Muslims, I think this is a normal thing for the country its principle is Islamic culture. For example, if you live in Vatican country you will have the Christianity studies are the demonist studies in the schools. We have to be reasonable in this matter.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
Oh yes, we were fed, too! I was a few hundred yards from the head table, so I can’t say what was being presented there, but the rest of the dining room had the same menu. Cleverly, KAUST had pairs of students joining in at tables that were less than full. That gave everyone an additional perspective on the university.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
The problem is that most Saudis are not happy with the Saudi state school system. They complain that when they go to the dentist, they want a dentist, not an ‘Islamic dentist’; when they want a plumber, they want someone to fix the problem,, not offer discourses on Islamic theology!
The Saudi school systems have failed to produce, in sufficient numbers, graduates qualified to take jobs. That’s not a foreign perspective, it’s a Saudi perspective.
I noted that there are exceptions. Some students do very well in the system, either through natural gifts or with the encouragement of their parents. Some are blessed with good teachers. Some students do very well with rote memorization, but most do not.
Reading Saudi papers, in English or Arabic, you constantly find complaints about the system,, about the poor caliber of teachers, about texts that spend a disproportionate amount of time on Islam… these are complaints from Saudis, not foreigners or expats.
Even Western nations with official religions do not teach religion in state schools, though sectarian schools, which do teach religion, may receive government support. I’m the product of parochial schools in the US. Religion was a topic taught twice a week, for an hour at a time, not a constant element belabored in all courses.
Alas, the Vatican isn’t a good example: there are only graduate courses in theology taught in the state. The children of employees of the Vatican go to Italian schools through university. Only clerics study within the Vatican itself.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
Texas- you are right. Things were much better in the time frame you describe. My husband and many of my friends went through the Saudi system at the tine you describe. Unfortunately, things have really changed- and have gone way downhill.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
John & Sandy – I disagree with you. I think you got your information from the media either audio or visual media. Not everything mentioned in the media is right, did you try to listen to other source, did you try to experience the life of Saudis to get the full picture about their thinking about the education and other things after that you can judge. John – you are journalist and everyone is reading what you are writing either right or wrong, your job is not easy job, you are carrying a big responsibility not only for your community for all the world. I would like to remind you that, the media depends on the actions to attract the people and sucks their money. I will give a closed example happened to me lately, I got a short job in States and decided to take my family with me, my wife and kids refused to go with me to USA, you know why they said we do not want to go to a country that hates Muslims and only they know the killing, I tried to convince my kids to force their mom, you know what my 14 years daughter said, she said I saw in the news and movies, Americans kills, rape etc. this is the impact of the media when they are not showing the good things about the others. Later, I was able to convince them just to gave it try for some months if they see what they believed on I will send them back to home, we agreed!!.
From the first day they arrived to USA, I decided to engage them with Americans in the parks, shopping malls, I gave them tour to see the schools etc. I forgot to tell you … I let my wife to stay with her ABAIA and covering her face exactly like in Saudi Arabia, what do you think!!! I want her to know the reality of Americans, I want her to know what has been mentioned in the media about the culture and USA is wrong. Later, they agreed to stay with me, my daughters admitted in the schools after they studied English as ESL, my wife learnt the driving got her Driver’s license, by the way she was driving her car with her black ABAIA with covering her face !!!. I am telling you this story to show you how the media could give a bad image about others, especially if they did not get the information from the right source. In the end, I would like to inform you that from my experience the government schools system is much better and stronger than the private schools system. Government schools or teachers are not looking for profits, the private schools and teachers are looking for profits and do not want to lose students (Business) even if they give them direct help during the examinations, I am a father and I run through this experience. It is my pleasure to host you and let you experience the life in Saudi Arabia away from the politics.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
Texas. I am glad you have had positive experiences with the Saudi eduacational system but you are a minority. If your children are literate enough in Arabic to draft a business letter or a personal letter-to conduct research or write a short story you are lucky indeed.
I do not get my info from media. I am married to a Saudi. I live in Saudi Arabia. I am a member of an extended Saudi family. My children spent 8 years in Saudi schools. I taught English in Saudi schools. I have spoken to MANY Saudi Mothers and some Saudi fathers. I stand by what I said.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
I will add, in fairness, I do know a coupld people that seem to have had reasonable experiences with their children in government schools, in spite of the awful curriculem.
September:24:2009 - 05:02
I’m just excited that you were able to attend this historical event! An awfully long day for you, but I’m sure very memorable.