EDUCATION in the Kingdom is a hot issue. Everybody is talking about it and everybody has an opinion about it, but it’s unusual to find anybody who is really making any sort of positive change in it.
“I went out looking for a school for my children and I was very disappointed with everything that I saw,” said Yasmeen Husain. “The schools were dark and they didn’t have the optimal facilities. Classes had 30 or more small children in them and only one teacher. Either the room was in a state of constant pandemonium or the discipline was too harsh. I just didn’t have the heart to send my children to any of those educational institutions.”
So what to do? Husain described her problem to her extended family and the suggestion was put forward by her brother and her parents that they start a school of their own. What they had in mind was not some sort of slap-dash effort with desks put in a villa and children taking their play breaks in a drab courtyard. No, the goal was to build a school that would be attractive and functional, complete with every modern amenity to aid children in reveling in the educational environment. Then there would have to be a well-crafted effort to adapt the mandatory Saudi curriculum to the needs of today’s child. Experienced staff would have to be hired and trained in the latest teaching methods. It was a huge and expensive project with no guarantee of success but the family moved forward enthusiastically. After all, time was of the essence. The children could not wait.
The first thing that one notices on entering the Bayan Garden School is how light and airy the whole atmosphere feels. One entire wall running the length of the school is made of glass and the playground area is clearly visible through it. The offices for the administration are also glassed in on two sides, so while private conversations are possible the staff always seems accessible. Classes are held in purpose built rooms, each one complete with bathroom facilities. The walls are a riot of color, decked out from floor to ceiling with educational displays and children’s artwork.
“I was very lucky to come from a family in which my parents believed in both girls and boys having equal education,” said Husain. “I was educated inside the Kingdom and abroad at the best schools available and I learned to speak English at an early age. This has given me a considerable advantage in being able to pursue my goals and dreams. Looking at students who graduate from traditional Saudi schools, if they plan to study abroad in the United States for example, they must spend at least one year in intensive language training before they can continue on to university. This is not ideal.”
At Bayan Garden School in Alkhobar, the nursery and KG I classes alternate instruction in English and Arabic. One full day the students are taught in English and the next day the classes switch to Arabic. It was decided that this would be the best methodology to keep confusion to a minimum in the young students and maximize their learning experience by maintaining the language continuity throughout the day. For KG II and the 1st Graders, the teaching pattern is a bit different. In the morning the children study in Arabic from 7:30 till 11:30 and then after their lunch break they are taught in English until 2:30 in the afternoon.
“By law we must accomplish the Saudi curriculum,” explained Husain. “However, we are teaching it in a new way with a focus on concept development rather than memorization. We want our students to be happy to come to school because they are excited to learn. We also want them to learn in a proper manner from the very beginning so that it will become a life-long desire for them. Their afternoon classes, which are taught in English, have an emphasis on math and science. We use US standard teaching books for this purpose. We also have additional activities that help bring their lessons to life. For example, even though the children are very young, we had a science fair this year. Their parents helped them to create the projects and it was a chance for entire families to work together on basic science concepts – something that most families wouldn’t even consider doing.”
This is the school’s first year of operation and so they began with only nursery, KG I, KG II and 1st Grade for girls. Next year they will be starting 1st Grade for boys and 2nd Grade for all students.
“We decided to expand gradually because it was difficult to find qualified native language teachers, especially for the English portion of our program,” said Husain. “Each class has both a primary teacher and an assistant teacher and we are only interested in recruiting the best quality instructors. The gradual expansion has also given us an opportunity to fine-tune the program while we still have a very small number of students.”
Husain pointed out that in some respects it has been more difficult to educate the parents to the new teaching methods than it has been to communicate the program’s goals to the students. Since most parents in the Kingdom had a traditional educational experience, they may not understand the importance of active playtime or the practical application of learned concepts and so the teachers must convince them that such activities are essential for their children’s development. One delightful surprise is that the parents have not questioned the need for their daughters to learn as much as possible about science and technology. In general, Husain felt that all the parents realized that the world was changing rapidly and that the best thing that they could give to their children — boys or girls — were the skills to help them follow their dreams.
For the next year in addition to expanding the number of classes at the school, the school’s board, of which Husain is the president, is working to introduce more extracurricular activities. Sports such as tennis, basketball and swimming are under consideration. Additional field trips are planned. Teaching the students more about the environment is also a priority. This year the children learned about recycling and perhaps next year a more community centered environmental program will be planned.
“Children need hobbies,” said Husain. “They must learn to do constructive activities. This constant hanging out at shopping malls or aimless cruising about the town is a consequence of children not being advised from an early age on useful, enjoyable activities that they can engage in during their free time.”
The school is also starting the Al-Thuraiya Scholarship Fund, which will help subsidize the tuition for those children whose parents are unable to pay. The school charges between SR15,000-16,000 per student per year. This is too much for some families to afford. However, Husain would like to give children of every economic background a chance to receive the high quality education being offered at Bayan Garden School.
“The entire education system in the Kingdom is in crisis,” said Husain. “The violence happening in our schools shows that our students are frustrated. We must keep up and change with modern times. Decades ago students believed that their teachers were the most important people in their lives after their parents. But now we’ve got too many students crammed in classrooms being forced to learn a curriculum that is widely recognized as being in need of revision. This is a recipe for unhappiness and underachievement. It will lead to a severe national crisis in the future as we produce more and more young people lacking the skills to succeed.”
At Bayan Garden School even the youngest students have access to computers. The computers are integrated with the overall program and are used to help reinforce concepts introduced in the classroom. The teachers attend advanced training workshops where they learn the best methods for helping their students achieve. The school focuses not only on the children’s mental development but on their physical and emotional development as well. From the nursery level the students wear uniforms so that they come to appreciate that they are part of a larger group. However, because the uniforms have several different pieces that can be mixed and matched, each child’s sense of individuality can still thrive.
“What we have done at Banyan Garden School could be duplicated anywhere in the Kingdom or in the world,” said Husain. “We would like educators to come visit us and see our program. We would like them to hear our students laughing and rejoicing in learning. We wish that the students in every school in the Kingdom would be as happy and contented as ours are. Right now that is a dream. If we worked together as a society that important goal could become a reality.”
