With regard to the article "The ‘Super Sheikh' and education issues" (Jan. 21) by Dr. Khaled Batarfi, both men and women can be excellent teachers. There is no need to use religion to demean women and judge them harshly. Saudi Arabia is not the only country in the world with schools and an education system. Check other countries to see what they do. The Saudi boy/youth should be taught to respect women. This is a very poor trend in Saudi society. We must respect women who are the pillars of the world; they carried us in their wombs and nurtured us to strong adults. We must respect their contribution and position. Saudi expat, Online response II. This issue is controversial. I was a teacher who worked in both boys and girls schools for a long time. I believe the character of the teacher, whether male or female, is the core factor. Over years of work, I came across many teachers, both men and women, who could control their students; likewise, I also witnessed the opposite. The mixing of religion in every matter is not always successful. We need more studies to resolve such controversial issues.
Ageeb, Online response III. I admire the courage with which Dr. Khaled Batarfi has chosen this topic to write on. I think that religion should be used as a beacon to guide our lives for a better connection with God and not to create problems every now and then. In Saudi society today religion is sometimes being used as a tool to make lives difficult. Using religion to demean women and judge them is not fair. It has not done any good to Saudi society in the past and it will not do so in the future. A course correction is, therefore, required.
