The Ministry of Education has hired a Malaysian consulting firm to modernize Saudi Arabia's system of education as part of a project initiated by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Al-Madina Arabic daily reported Saturday. The SR9 billion, five-year King Abdullah Education Modernization Project involves 50 schools. The project will be required to provide 140 resident experts and 60 others working from overseas. The modernization project will cover curriculae, training and qualification of teachers, improvement of the educational environment and extracurricular activities. Meanwhile, a report from an independent committee detailing the problems in the education process within the Kingdom has reached the Shoura Council, Al-Hayat Arabic daily reported Saturday. The Educational Affairs and Scientific Research Committee (EASRC) recommended to the Shoura that a study be conducted on the classification of teachers to aid in drawing by laws for incentives in cash and kind be granted to teachers in order to improve the quality of education. Noting the poor performance of Saudi students in math and science, EASRC called for an analysis of the Kingdom's spending on education and the standards of the education process. Shoura Council Member, Khalil Al-Barahim the standard of education in the Kingdom was receding poor performance of students year after year. “The problem is that the grades achieved upon graduation from high school are totally unrealistic,” he said. “There are many students who score 100 percent, a percentage which is hardly seen in other countries. Al-Barahim also said when students start university, quite often they fail to pass the preliminary years in medicine and engineering. He added that lenience in grading tests is damaging to both students and the education system. Al-Barahim said the results achieved by Saudis in international educational contests as “something not to be proud of.” He indicated in the math competition, the Kingdom came in 43 out of 45 and in science 37 out of 45 despite the fact that it spends more than one quarter of the government's budget on the modernization of education. “They spend less on education in other countries but still, they outperform us,” he said. __
