Friday, April 23, 2004

The three R's

It seems that the focus of primary education in Saudi Arabia is not quite the same as it is in Britain, Ireland or N. America.

According to Dr. Fawziah Al-Bakr
32 percent of the educational plan studied by primary students is allocated for Islamic studies, while Arabic studies [similar to our study of English – IE] take about 27 percent of student time. "The curriculum allocates six percent for science and 14 percent for mathematics," she said.
Now, I'm all for a religious education, but a third of total schooling? That does seem excessive. And, if students pass Islamic & Arabic studies they can move on regardless of how they do in mathematics. Not exactly preparing for a high tech world, are they?