The Current State of Education in Saudi Arabia

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Introduction

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has quickly risen from a state of poverty to become one of the wealthiest states in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Before the discovery of oil, the living standards of the biggest population in this country were way below average. However, since the discovery of oil in the 1950s, this situation has drastically improved (Ridge, 2014). Other than improving the economic status of both the population and the country, oil has helped the country to invest massively in education. The government has always set aside enough money for sustainable education whenever it carries out budgetary allocations.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the various causes of the huge improvement in the state of education in Saudi Arabia. The study is also meant to analyze the general impact of this improvement of the socio-economic advancement of the Saudi Arabian population.

This topic is worth studying since it helps highlight the implications of the economic development of a country to the quality of education its citizens get. Similarly, it indicates the effect of the quality of education on the economic and social development of a country. The two variables are mutually dependent on each other. In this context, the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia helped improve the country’s economic ability, which eventually improved its capacity to support education. In the long-run, the country was able to provide its citizens with quality education, which in turn stirred further economic development.

The statistics at hand directly indicate that the stabilization of the Saudi Arabian economy, especially after the discovery of oil deposits in the 1950s, significantly improved the country’s ability to invest in quality education. At the moment, Saudi Arabian students constitute three-quarters of the total number of the school going population in the GCC region. As a result of the investment in education, the economy of Saudi Arabia has grown by a further 50% over the years. Therefore, it goes without say that the quality of education is a huge stimulant to the socio-economic development of any country.

Research Questions

Account for the current state of education in Saudi Arabia?
What has been the impact of this kind of education on the socioeconomic development of Saudi Arabia?

Literature Review

The earliest elements of education in Saudi Arabia can be traced back to the era of palace schools, badiahs, kuttabs and bookstores. These were among the first places where students gathered to gain some general skills about life. Their curriculum was limited to things that were necessary for their day to day lives and religion. Worse still, the institutions had poor physical facilities and their teachers were not properly trained.

As a result, King Abdul-Aziz decided to develop the Directorate of Education, the first institution that provided formal education to the country’s masses. The king asked the ministry of interior to run the institution, but the lack of resources was still a major problem. Therefore, the king asked for support from friendly countries such as Egypt. Eventually, many students enrolled and the directorate was then given the mandate to man the entire education system in the country. With the discovery of oil, the country was capable of running its education without support from other countries.

According to Alderson & Scott (1996), more academic institutions were developed in 1939. As time went by, the new institutions changed to the current elementary schools in the country. By that time, the country had approximately 2500 learners. When the country’s economy grew, it was able to support even more schools. As a result, the number of elementary institutions increased to 182 by the year 1949.

According to Al-Zaid (1982), the socioeconomic improvement of Saudi Arabia over the years should be attributed to King Abdul-Aziz’s prioritization of education back in the 1950. He argues that the improvement of the country’s education standards in turn doubled the country’s economy within a very short time and improved its ability to handle the ever-growing technological demand. He also argues that the implementation of a free education program was also very pivotal to this development. More students were able to access education, and within a couple of years, the results of having a large educated population were evident through the growth of the country’s economy and the general transformation of the society. Wang (2013) also argues that the provision of education was very crucial in addressing the needs of the Saudi Arabian society (23).

Solutions

Wang (2013) believes that education is very vital for the social and economic transformation of any country. He argues that for any country to develop, it requires an educated population, which is expected to provide a skilled workforce. This educated population helps run the educational, technological, industrial and farming sectors among many other sectors that are important to the growth of any economy. According to him, Saudi Arabia only realized a significant economic growth when it created such a population. All the important sectors were able to run smoothly without any support from outside. This standpoint agrees with what other scholars such as Al-Zaidi concluded.

According to Alromi (2000), the economic growth realized in Saudi Arabia over the years is directly proportional to the improvement of education. He argues that the larger the number of schools in the country, the more the economy grows. He cites the growth of the economy by 38% between 1925 and 1949 when the number of schools increased from one to 182. This conclusion agrees with my survey on the increase in the number of school going children and economic development in Saudi Arabia.

Methodology

The purpose of this research is to highlight the relationship between education and the economic development of a country. This paper uses the survey I carried out online regarding the number of students admitted in schools and its effect on the economy of Saudi Arabia (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982). My survey indicated that the literacy levels improved from 10% to 99% for men between 1950 and 2012 and 3% to 97% for women during the same period. Similarly, the net enrolment increased from 4% to 96.6% for men and 1% to 96.5% for women during the same period. During that period, the economy grew by 50%.

Research Instrument

Since I could not travel to Saudi Arabia to carry out a physical survey, I carried out my survey on the internet (Creswell, 2013). I used the information provided on the Unicef website about the development of education and the economy of Saudi Arabia. I chose Unicef because it is a known organization that deals with matters of children, and education is one of its major concerns.

My research population was both male and female students. This research analyzed the growth in the enrolment of both the male and female students over the years. I used the Unicef website as my primary source of information.

In my findings, it is clear that there have been only minor differences in the increase in the enrolment of both male and female students. However, the average economic growth is 50% since the formation of the first school. This percentage could have been higher, but other factors such as the deterioration in the price of oil and inflation led to its stagnation. However, it is also clear that both male and female citizens have equally contributed to the economic growth.

Conclusion

This research was meant to determine the relationship between education and economic development in Saudi Arabia. In its findings, it clear that education is very crucial in the socioeconomic development of any country. The survey done by Unicef indicates that the increase in the literacy levels of the population led to a substantial growth in Saudi Arabia’s economy, though it stagnated at some point due to other factors.

Recommendations

The country should invest more in science and mathematics and not religion.
It should build more institutions of higher learning.

Appendices

Educational Survey Education	To the top
Youth (15-24 years) literacy rate (%) 2008-2012, male (Saudi Arabia’s Statistics*, 2015)	99
Youth (15-24 years) literacy rate (%) 2008-2012, female (Saudi Arabia’s Statistics*, 2015)	97
Number per 100 population 2012, mobile phones (Saudi Arabia’s Statistics, 2015)	184.7
Number per 100 population 2012, Internet users (Saudi Arabia’s Statistics, 2015)	54
Pre-primary school participation, Gross enrolment ratio (%) 2008 -2012, male (Saudi Arabia’s Statistics*, 2015)	–

Enrolment in 1950. Enrolment in 2012.

References

Alderson, J. C. & Scott, M. (1996): Insiders, outsiders, and participatory evaluation; In Evaluating second language education, (pp. 25-60), Cambridge: CUP. Web.

Alromi, N. (2000): Vocational Education in Saudi Arabia; State College, PA: Penn State University, 1(1), 1-10. Web.

Al-Zaid, A. M. (1982). Education in Saudi Arabia: A Model with a difference. Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1(1), 4-20. Web.

Creswell, J. W. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods Approaches, New York: Sage Publications. Web.

LeCompte, M. & Goetz, J. (1982): Problems of reliability and validity in ethnographic research; Review of Educational Research, 52(1), 31-60. Web.

Ridge, N. (2014): oil and the expansion of education in the Gulf. In Education and the reverse gender divide in the Gulf States: Embracing the global, ignoring the local (pp. 1(1), 3-9). Web.

Saudi Arabia’s Statistics. (2015). Web.

Wang, Y. (2013). The need for a coherent national strategy for human capital development; In Education Policy Reform Trends in G20 Members, 3(1), 229-243. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Web.

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