JEDDAH, 21 November 2005 — A recent survey has revealed that 87 percent of Saudi high school students do not gain the required knowledge of English which is expected from the public educational system. The survey, conducted by Al-Jazirah newspaper, also showed that only 9 percent acquired the required skills and 4 percent actually left school because of problems in learning the language.
These figures raise many questions about the standard of English teaching in the Kingdom and the effectiveness of teaching methods in general, the paper said. The findings also point to the need for teaching English at all educational levels, it said. Al-Jazirah interviewed a number of officials and specialists in the department of education to ascertain their points of view.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Uhaidib, general supervisor of the English Language Project at the Ministry of Education, said that part of the problem lay within the local facilities and environment. Students don’t have any incentive to use English outside their classroom, he said. “This is part of a problem which has led to many university graduates not speaking English.”
He stressed the importance of introducing English at primary levels as was the case during the period of King Abdul Aziz’s rule. In those days, English was taught from fourth grade. Recently the authorities have approved the introduction of English in the sixth grade.
The problem, Al-Uhaidib said, is that teaching English in the Saudi public educational system was not what it should be. “We are losing time and money for nothing,” he noted. He said Saudi English teachers lacked a basic command of the language. He also blamed the poor teaching methods.
Saudi English teachers, both male and female, urgently need to develop their language and teaching abilities by taking more courses in language and teaching techniques, he said.
The Ministry of Education is planning a wide range of training programs for English teachers, Al-Uhaidib said, adding that the English language curriculum is also being revised and restructured.
Dr. Zaid Al-Hussain blamed the lack of proper English education at pre-graduate levels for producing college students incapable of communicating in English.
“What students learn in their intermediate and secondary levels is not sufficient to qualify them to study in college, especially in the faculties of medicine and engineering which use English as the medium of instruction,” he remarked.
Al-Hussain blamed college education for being inefficient and disorganized in its English education. “Learning a new language should actually begin at a very young age,” he said.
The Ministry of Education recently introduced a training program for English language supervisors to be conducted by American and British specialists.
The goal of the program, devised by the training and scholarship administration at the Directorate of Education in Jeddah, is to train the English language supervisors on a new approach to teaching English that will focus on the learner as the center of the learning process. The supervisors would then train the teachers.
Some 160 trainees from 20 municipalities across the country attended a five-day course, the first to be conduced under the scheme, at Dar Al-Fikr School in Jeddah in August.
