{"id":10359,"date":"2011-08-22T11:49:22","date_gmt":"2011-08-22T07:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=10359"},"modified":"2011-08-22T11:49:22","modified_gmt":"2011-08-22T07:49:22","slug":"saudi-arabia-the-merits-of-university-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/middle-east-society\/middle-east-education-analysis\/saudi-arabia-the-merits-of-university-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia: The Merits of University for All?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>This article from Saudi Gazette<\/em> raises an interesting question: Is university for everyone?<\/div>\n

Saudi Arabia faces a problem that is to some extent self-imposed and to some extent imposed by the way the world views higher education. The basic fact is that there are more young Saudis seeking university education than there are\u2014or ever will be\u2014seats for them. But the world values\u2014overvalues, I believe\u2014university education. \u2018Credentialism\u2019<\/a> is here and it will take a major effort to unroot it from the way the world currently does business.<\/p>\n

I strongly support education, from preschool to post-doctorate. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s for everyone, though, nor should it be the only or even major determinant for employment. Higher education is aimed at creating a method to separate the capable from the less capable. Inflationary creep in documentation, though, has led to a situation in which credentials are demanded for jobs that don\u2019t really need them. Rather, competence should be the line drawn.<\/p>\n

Now, the Saudi government is forced into a situation in which it must convince society that a university degree is not the key to success. This goes against its earlier belief and practice of trying to give everyone a higher education and a degree. There will be unhappiness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Saudi Arabia that is facing this problem, either. The US has certainly pushed the idea that without a university degree one is starting out as a failure. It doesn\u2019t matter that a skilled plumber or carpenter can earn twice what a university graduate with a degree in, say, English Literature might earn. Even in prestigious fields like Law, the emperor\u2019s clothing choices are more than a bit transparent. There is, in fact, a higher education bubble that is about to burst.<\/p>\n

\u2018University education not for everyone\u2019<\/a>
\nShoura member says students need alternatives<\/p>\n

DAMMAM \u2013 Universities will not be able to accommodate all high school students and many will need to study at alternative education institutions, according to Dr. Ahmad Saad Aal Mufrih, Chairman of the Shoura Council\u2019s Education Committee, in a report carried by Al-Madina Arabic newspaper.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities have accepted 210,000 high school graduates this year.\u201d Aal Mufrih said that the best solution for students is to search for other alternatives. He said university education is a privilege.<\/p>\n

No prestigious higher education institution can accommodate all high school graduates, Aal Mufrih said. \u201cThe percentage of high school students accepted at universities around the world ranges between 35 percent (as in Malaysia) and 65 percent (as in Finland). We should provide suitable alternatives for students, especially after the royal decisions which will see high school graduates allocated to different sectors of the Ministry of Higher Education.<\/p>\n

This will see 70 percent of high school graduates at universities, 25 percent at technical and vocational training institutes and five percent in other sectors.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CROSSROADS ARABIA: It\u2019s not just Saudi, the US has certainly pushed the idea that without a university degree one is starting out as a failure. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":10360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[18296,2946,663,666,852,18275,3882,385,2966,18302],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}