Fawad Aziz Al-Watan I know a Saudi academic who has no respect for his certificates or the institution he works at as he is always engaged in humiliating students and abusing them by comparing them to animals. His treatment of students is similar to that of a shepherd and not that of an academic, despite his position as the head of a university department. I recall reading a report about the issuance of 10,000 visas to bring in foreign academics to teach students at our universities, which are constantly looking to recruit academics from abroad to teach all disciplines, including religion and even the Arabic language! Do these universities treat our expatriate brothers who are brought here to teach in the same harsh manner as the sons of our nation are treated? Foreign academics are hired under the pretext of making available the most suitable and qualified teachers for Saudi students but the manner in which they are treated suggests that we do not cherish the knowledge and experience they bring. All of the problems created by our academic institutions are forgotten and ignored except for one significant problem: some of our universities are still merely factories for unemployment. Most often, we create unemployment ourselves and then try to absolve ourselves of any responsibility. Often, we shift the blame to the private sector which still discriminates against citizens as most businesses are only concerned with making profits and not in investing in the people of this nation. The government establishes academic institutions to better the lives of citizens. I don't know when our university officials will ever understand this.
