information has become available for the public. Our mission today is to invest in the world of knowledge – the world driven by men like Mr Schmidt. Our choice, as always, is guided by the holy injunction to ‘read’ or i qra’ . In other words, we are committed to sustainable investments in future generations. We aspire to live up to this commitment by utilizing modern technology and keeping up with the global developments.” Schmidt then turned to me and said jokingly: “I w anted to keep my daughter here so she can see the future, but your country still faces challenges with regard to women. At any rate, they must not last. With all due respect, you aren’t going to have 30 years to initiate these changes and come up with your strategy: it’ll be more like three. Luckily , you have three main elements that will allow you to succeed and generate the sustainable sources of wealth you need. First, you have wealth, which opens up doors, but it must be managed and utilized effectively. Second, your country is a strategically positioned hub linking Africa and Asia, and creating major future investment opportunities. Third and most important, your greatest resource is your youth, who account for about 60% of the population. They are the true resource that will impact the world, provided they have the right tools, training, and education. This is your responsibility, not just to the nation, but to our globalized world.” This was the view of one of the luminaries of the tech world. I believe we should all take heed of it by empowering our youth to be the future leaders and influencers of the world. A Hope for the Future After he was named my successor as Minister of Education, Prince Khalid bin Faisal hosted a farewell ceremony in my honor, in which he gathered my colleagues in the ministry and regional education departments via the Liqa (Meeting) Program. In my parting words to my colleagues, I explained the three core elements that determine the success of our students, namely teachers, families, and a sturdy but flexible education infrastructure. After careful reflection on the state of the education system, I was convinced that the current challenges facing the sector were the results of decisions that were taken at the early stages of the education system and after it was generalized across the Kingdom. This is not to say of course that the decision to provide everyone in the Kingdom, including nomadic communities, with the right to education, by opening up schools in cities and villages, was not essential. His Majesty King Fahd played a pivotal role in this regard as the true founder of modern education in Saudi Arabia. Despite the challenges facing education today, it remains a key driver of the Kingdom’s economic development and growth, particularly in rural areas. But, ironically, while teachers and schools have been the two pillars supporting this transformation, they are the source of the problem today. The rise in the Kingdom’s material wealth did not translate into the kind of adequate planning that the education system needs. Over the years, rather than enacting the broader structural changes required, temporary solutions and quick fixes were implemented, ultimately driving down the overall quality of education. As I mentione d, education played no small role in stimulating the Kingdom’s economy and developing its villages and rural areas, through renting school buildings, developing land, creating a service sector for students, as well as recruiting teachers and providing them with accommodation. This last item has had particular signific ance with regard to the Kingdom’s female teachers. Over the years, we have tragically lost many of our female teachers working in rural areas to road accidents. This is due largely to the limited housing options for them near their schools, forcing many of them to live with their families in cities and commute long distances to work each day. To assuage this issue, a program was set up to build housing alongside schools and guarantee transportation to and from work. This was done initially at schools in Al Baha and Al Quway’iyah and hopefully it will be replicated elsewhere to reduce the number of accidents that have claimed the lives of too many teachers.
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