Public and private universities have introduced strict measures to hire new faculty members, including Saudi nationals, to teach curricula related to religion, history and jurisprudence.
Sources close to the university education system disclosed that universities in the Kingdom have canceled contracts of several academics on discovering their support for or association with extremist ideologies.
University authorities say that the possibility of recruits breaching new safeguards is remote as the ideological orientation of faculty members is closely examined prior to hiring, regardless of whether they are Saudis or foreigners.
This is especially the case after the rise of extremist ideologies among faculty members in Saudi universities, leading some of these universities to end their contracts.
These institutions wish to avoid a repeat of the situation involving Iman Al-Bugha, a Syrian teacher at Dammam University, who left her post to join ISIL.
Universities monitor ideological orientation of faculty members
