Over
the years, the literacy rate throughout Saudi Arabia has
increased rapidly due to the influence of important leaders that
promote the expansion of education throughout the Ministry of
Education. Women specifically are growing in literacy rates, as
schools are opening up to teach young women the basic
necessities in life. Even though the schools for young women are not
as widely popular or extravagant as the education system
for young men, the fact that the women have the right to education
promotes the idea of sexual equality, which can help in the future as
less women will tend to revolt about their lack of education.
As elementary school students, children were taught within
the Kattab, or schools that had their main focus as studying
and interpreting the meaning of the Quran. Now, teachers
(male and female teachers) are teaching more common topics such
as mathematics and learning Arabic as a foreign language.
The use of teaching students foreign languages promoted the idea of
nationalism between countries, although not everyone can communicate.
As was stated earlier, these policies were completely enforced as
peace and local security were the main goals of these powerful Saudi
Arabian leaders. Considering that in 1970, the literacy rate for men
was 15 percent and for women, 2 percent, Saudi Arabia has come a long
way in organizing formal education, as the literacy rates soared as
high as 73 percent of literate males and 48 percent literate females.
This shows that higher standards are being used within the
daily social society as being illiterate is no longer a
useful solution to the education question. Some Saudi Arabian women
have even taken to homeschooling their daughters in order to ensure
that the highest education standards can be met before the
young women are sent to marriage.
Some
Saudi Arabian children decide to continue their education throughout
more educational guidance called the halaqat lectures.
These lectures can range between a lot of different
subjects, not just learning about the Quran; although, some students
do seek a higher education in religious practices at the At Taif
School of Theology (Dar al Tawhid). This school was established in
1945 and opened new doors as higher education about the Quran. This
was offered to any willing individual graduated out of elementary
school. All of these types of schools are usually publicly funded
in a way that keeps the schools running with more than
enough money to provide for themselves, offering an easy
education process. Even young women are gaining
more enrollment as 1.2 out of the 4.6 million students are
women. Again, this helps the Saudi Arabian economy as more students,
both male and female, learn how to communicate financially in
any economy. Even more than this, in 1989, there were over 14,000
schooling houses built. This means that education began to soar
around the 1990s as more students applied for schooling and more
schools were being built.
On
top of these exciting new changes, the Saudi Arabian government has
lent a huge hand in helping the schools continue their growth as
books and other classroom necessities are being bought for
the children. The Ministry of Higher Education has become
involved in making sure the education system provides a well-balanced
environment for its many students. Even for women, the Directorate
General of Girls' Education, gets involved to make sure young women
are never again put into a lower social class as far as education
compared to men.
Even
though all of these reforms sound fantastic when it comes to the
growth and equality within the Middle Eastern country of Saudi
Arabia, there are still education laws that are not even close to the
American Standards. Even though elementary school is offered,
not all little children can attend. The fact that the town supplies
funds in order to keep the schools running puts a strain on all of
the families within the town. Even the fact that women get education
obviously does not mean that young women are not sometimes brutally
assaulted or in an extremely different social class than
educated men are. All that the United States has been able to
conclude over the most recent 67 years is that Saudi Arabia is
growing. This, however, does not mean Saudi Arabia is perfect, but it
does come pretty close compared to places like Yemen within the
Middle East. The fact that Saudi Arabia is trying
to promote education, nation peace, international trade,
and Arabian/Israeli relations does however mean that Saudi
Arabia is one of the most Western-like countries within the Middle
East, despite the nasty stereotypes that have risen in result to
the terrorist attacks. These attacks lead some people to believe that
Saudi Arabia is highly illiterate and barbaric, which is
quite contrary to the truth.
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