 Saudi Arabia and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have made substantial changes in their school curriculums as part of an ongoing process of educational reform. "The move to redesign the curriculums is intended to meet the challenges of the new world order and is unrelated to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks," said Dr. Abdulilah Al-Mosarraf, director of planning and evaluation at the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS).
| "Oh, yasss! We were gonna do it anyway!" |
Dr. Al-Mosarraf said that almost all Gulf countries have made major changes in their school curriculums. Saudi Arabia, for example, has removed 31 controversial items from its curriculum. There are standing instructions from the Ministry of Education to withdraw controversial items and make use of the changes as and when available. Referring to the educational reforms carried out in Saudi Arabia, a senior officials said, "Riyadh has removed the offensive books and passages from the curriculum." The Ministry of Education is reviewing existing materials and developing new ones for use in Saudi schools. "In fact, as part of its plan to go ahead with the reform, some experts from the Kingdom and from other countries have been employed to develop the curriculum and to suggest changes," said a report released by the ministry. Asked about the need to change the curriculum or withdraw certain text books, both ABEGS and Saudi officials said, "There are many factors including rapid social development and the changing world order which necessitate the development of a new school curriculum." |