The article "Malala calls on world to make education a priority" (Oct. 13) reports that Malala Yousafzai in Washington called upon the World Bank to make education its top priority. Malala has succeeded in capturing the world's attention by her commendable bravery and her cause, and she has also made many countries take a second look at the state of the education of their children. While the world focuses on Malala and her education campaign, sadly here in Saudi Arabia expatriate children are being forced out of their schools for many complicated reasons including, indirectly, the implementing of the Nitaqat rule. It is understandable that the government wants its citizens to be employed. But it is very unfortunate when this results in preventing an innocent expatriate child from going to school. How does this happen? In some of the cases that I and my family know of, the companies employing expatriate workers fall in the "red zone", and as a result the iqama renewal process of the workers is terminated and their children are ultimately expelled from their schools because of the invalid iqamas. We have to ask ourselves if in this case the expatriate and his children are to be blamed. An uninterrupted education is the basic right of all children and tampering with this right can never be condoned. Furthermore, justice delayed is justice denied. I, therefore, urge the authorities and the Ministry of Education to view a child as a child; a child who did nothing to deserve being punished and expelled from school. These children are innocent beings who should not be discriminated against. I urge the authorities to seriously consider the fate of these children, and to give the topic of education more priority and take immediate measures to solve this disheartening issue. Surely if an effort is made, a compromise between the education of these children and the employment of Saudis can be found. Winta Assefa, By email
