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Higher Education 15 (1986) 17-23 17 © Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht - Printed in the Netherlands

Development of higher education in Saudi Arabia

M A H M O U D A B D U L L A H S A L E H P.O. Box 2458, Dept. of Education, College of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 11451

Abstract. This article seeks to trace the development of higher education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from its origins to the present day. The study includes discussion of the historical roots of education as based on Islam, Islamic philosophy of education, the aims and objectives of higher education and modern university education. Empirical statistics are given to substantiate the Kingdom's rapid progress in higher education. Since 1957 when modern university education began with a single institution with twenty-one students and a staff of nine it has grown until twenty-five years later in 1982 higher education had grown to seven institutions with 63,563 stu- dents and a teaching staff of 6,906. The study examines these aspects of higher education; Saudi students studying abroad, foreign students studying in Saudi Arabia, female education, the role of

the Ministry of Higher Education and the financing of higher education.

Development of higher education in Saudi Arabia

T h e history o f higher e d u c a t i o n in Saudi Arab i a is a study o f ed u cat i o n al pro- gress almost unparalled in history. University e d u c a t i o n as k n o w n t o d a y began in 1957 with a single institution an enrollment o f twenty-one students an d a s t a f f o f nine (King Saud University, 1982). By 1982 higher e d u c a t i o n h ad grown to include seven universities with 63,563 students an d a teaching st aff o f 6,906. Saudi A r a b i a n public expenditure for higher e d u c a t i o n per student is one o f the highest in the world (Ministry o f E d u c a t i o n , 1980). Currently, in Riyadh the capital, the K i n g d o m is building o n e o f the largest and m o st m o d - ern university complexes in the world today. A l t h o u g h higher e d u c a t i o n as k n o w n t o d a y is relatively new the roots o f higher e d u c a t i o n reach far b ack into history.

Roots of Saudi higher education

If one accepts that e d u c a t i o n is a time-intensive process t h a t takes place in for- mal and i n f o r m a l settings (Bashshur, 1973), t h e n the history o f higher educa- t i o n in Saudi Arabia m a y be traced back in history to the advent o f Islam a b o u t f o u r t e e n h u n d r e d years ago. Since t h a t time Mecca an d M e d i n a two o f Islam's H o l y cities have assumed i m p o r t a n c e as centers o f knowledge an d places f r o m which knowledge disseminated to the world a n d particularly t o the Islamic world.

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For centuries each year millions of pilgrims would flock to Mecca and Medi- na and these two cities constantly experienced an infusion of knowledge from these visitors. There people from the world over would come together exchang- ing ideas and knowledge. Sometimes pilgrims stayed and became teachers spending their time writing books and learning from other scholars as well as teaching.

As more and more students began to flock to Mecca and Medina living quarters were given them by wealthy Muslims in the community. Schools devel- oped in these two cities sponsored by the wealthy o f the Muslim World. Those who built schools had to provide enough resources so that teacher and student only concerned themselves with education. After the Ottoman conquest o f the Arabs in 1517 (Antonius, 1965) the Ottomans built some of the most famous schools there. Some o f the early prestigious schools were the school of the Sul- tan Qayt Bay, Sultan o f Egypt, that of the Sultan Gheyath el Din, and the Sul- tan of Benegal (Wahibi, 1978).

The Kutabs, ungraded Qur'anic schools that were attached to the Mosque or were in the Mosques themselves, played an important early role in educa- tion. They usually consisted of one teacher with an advanced student who act- ed as helper. Studies in the Kutab centered on the Holy Qur'an with writing and arithmetic also given. Both male and female students received instruction in the kutabs but separately (Wahibi, 1978). The Kutabs remained popular in Saudi Arabia until the twentieth century when modern schools were developed.

Philosophy of higher education

Underlying and permeating higher education is one's philosophy o f education. Saudi Arabia follows an Islamic philosophy o f education and the seed of its educational system are founded in Islam. The word 'Qur'an' itself is derived from the word 'reading' and the first verse o f the Qur'an is a call to read and write. Islam dictates learning to be an obligation of every Muslim man or wom- an. Education therefore is valued, encouraged and supported by Islam.

Islam exalts the human mind and promotes free thought and inquiry when it commands the acquisition and propagation o f learning. The Qur'an invites one to a profound and rational study of the universe by saying "Do they not contemplate the Kingdom of Heaven and the things which God has Created?" (Qur'an, VII:183). The Prophet Muhammad says, "The seeking of knowledge is a duty incumbent on every Muslim, man and woman" (Waft, 1967) and "An hour's contemplation and study of God's creation is better than a year of ado- ration". He is reported to have said, "Seek knowledge though it be in China" (Pinkthall, 1961). Stress on spreading human knowledge among people is found in the Qur'an as a cental theme in the sayings of the Prophet Muham- mad and forms the foundation of the Islamic philosophy o f education.

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Aims and objectives of higher education

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its educational policy lays down the follow- ing general aims of education: "The purpose of education is to have the stu- dent understand Islam in a correct comprehensive manner, to plan and spread the Islamic creed, to furnish the student with values, teachings and ideals of Islam, to equip him with the various skills and knowledge, to develop his con- duct in constructive directions, to develop the society economically, socially and culturally, and to prepare the individual to become a useful member in the building of his community" (Ministry of Education, 1980).

Since Saudi Arabia is rapidly growing, education for industrialization is stressed as the key to modernization, a high standard of living and full employ- ment (Duguid, 1970). Higher education is to help provide for the manpower needs at present and in the future for qualified personnel. The Ministry of Education (1980) gives the following objectives for higher education in the Kingdom:

1. Developing loyalty to God and providing Islamic education which makes the student responsible before God and puts his capacities into fruitful and use- ful actions.

2. Preparing competent and qualified citizens to perform their duties in the service of their country for the progress of their nation in the light of sound Islamic principles and ideology.

3. Providing gifted students with the opportunity to continue higher educa- tion in all the fields of academic specialization.

4. Performing activities and publications to bring sciences into the service of the Islamic thought and enable the country to perform its leadership role in building human civilization on Islam's genuine principles that steer man- kind to righteousness and spare humanity material and atheistic deviations.

5. Translating science and useful arts of knowledge to the language of the Qu- r'an and enriching the Arabic language with new expressions to fill the need of Arabicization, and putting knowledge at the disposal of the largest num- ber of citizens.

6. Offering training services and reorientation courses to enable graduates who are already working to keep pace with new developments.

Modern university education

The modern history of education in Saudi Arabia began in 1926 with the estab- lishment of the country's first Department of Education. From that time edu- cation has "become one of the brightest pages in the State's progress" (Minis-

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try of Information, 1971). In 1953 during the reign of King Saud the Department o f Education became a Ministry with the present King o f Saudi Arabia King Fahd appointed Minister of Education (Wahibi, 1978).

The advent o f modern university education in Saudi Arabia began with the creation of Riyadh University now known as King Saud University. It began in November 1957 with 21 students (Ministry o f Higher Ed. 1982) in a building meant to be a children's nursery (Wahibi, 1978) and was the first university es- tablished in Saudi Arabia. King Fahd then Minister o f Education became Head of the new university and during this time educational advancement in the Kingdom accelerated swiftly.

Universities have grown rapidly in the Kingdom and it now has seven univer- sities. They are as follows:

- King Saud (Riyadh University) in Riyadh established 1957 - Islamic University in Medina established 1961 - University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran in 1963 - King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah began 1967 as a private institution and

became a State institution in 1971 - Imam Muhammed Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh established 1974 - King Faisal University in Damman established in 1975 - Umm A1-Qura University in Mecca established in 1981

Three o f these universities specialize in religious sciences - Imam Muhammed Bin Saud Islamic University, the Islamic University and Umm A1-Qura (Minis- try of Higher Ed. 1982). All o f these universities since their conception have experienced rapid growth (see Table 1).

Table 1. H i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , s t u d e n t s a n d t e a c h i n g staff, 1 9 5 7 - 1982.

S a u d i A r a b i a n 1957 - 1958 1 9 6 9 - 1970 1975 - 1976 1981 - 1982

universities

Stude nt S t a f f Stude nt S t a f f Student S t a f f S t u d e n t S t a f f

King Saud U n i v e r s i t y 21

I m a m M u h a m m e d Bin Saud

I s l a m i c U n i v e r s i t y

King A b d u l a z i z U.

King F a i s a l U n i v e r s i t y

U n i v e r s i t y O f P e t r o l e u m

a n d M i n e r a l s

I s l a m i c U n i v e r s i t y

Umm-A1-Qura U n i v e r s i t y

Girls Colleges

T o t a l 21

9 2899 312 7807 645 17134 1785

2009 67 4614 204 7143 758

993 105 9986 426 18028 1432

- 170 28 1814 544

450 59 1716 287 2841 594

591 30 1055 42 3271 379

- - 6278 785

- 1099 137 7054 769

9 6942 573 26437 1741 63563 6906

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University enrollment is determined by three main factors: the demand for higher education; the need for qualified manpower; and the capacity of the universities. Due to the rapid economic growth o f the Kingdom the demand for manpower has and will continue to be great. According to the Ministry of Education (1980) "the qualified manpower needs of the Kingdom seem insatia- ble at least for the forseeable future" and since "manpower is considered by the State as a springboard to the utilization of all its other resources" (Educa- tional Policy of Saudi Arabia, 1970) demand for higher education is remarka- ble. Since the demand for higher education has been strong and the need for manpower great, the only limiting factor has been the capacity o f the universi- ties themselves. Therefore, according to the Ministry of Education (1980) "ef- forts have been in the direction o f opening new universities and expanding ex- isting ones".

Education at all levels including higher education is free of charge to all stu- dents and according to the Educational Policy of the Kingdom (1970) "educa- tion in all its forms and stages shall be free of charge and the State will not charge tuition fees". During 1981-1982 a large number of Saudi citizens, 47,833 (Ministry of Higher Ed. 1982) took advantage of this opportunity to attend institutions of higher education within Saudi Arabia.

Since 1957 when the Kingdom had one university, King Saud with 21 stu- dents, higher education has grown to 63,563 students with a projected enroll- ment of 69,000 for 1984-1985 (Ministry o f Higher Ed. 1982). King Saud itself had almost 21,000 students enrolled for the 1983-1984 academic year (King Saud University Newsletter, 1984). For the decade 1970-1980 the average an- nual rate of increase in student enrollment was 21.3 per cent per annum (Minis- try of Education, 1980).

Simultaneously with the tremendous growth in student enrollment has been the growth of the teaching staff which in 1982 numbered 6,906 for the King- dom's universities (Ministry o f Higher Ed. 1982). This indicates a teaching staff student ratio of 1:10, one that any nation can be proud of. The total teaching staff for the decade 1970-1980 increased at an annual rate of 23.6 per cent per annum (Ministry o f Education, 1980).

The last few decades have seen a tremendous growth in the number of Saudi students studying abroad. The Kingdom initiated the first educational mission abroad in 1928 sending fourteen students to Egypt to pursue academic studies, in 1936 they sent a similar number and in 1943 a third group o f fifteen students were sent to Egypt (A1-Shami, 1977). In 1982 the Kingdom had 11,921 scholar- ship students studying abroad. The Arab countries had a total of 2,056 with the greatest concentration in Egypt with 1,390 students. Non-Arab countries had 9,965 with the greatest concentration 8,681 studying in the United States (Ministry of Higher Ed. 1982). The projection is for 20,114 students to be studying abroad by 1985. In 1979-1980 about 20 per cent of the students at

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the higher education level were studying abroad (Ministry of Education 1980). Perhaps due to the extremely rapid progress the Kingdom has and continues to make in higher education the number of Saudi students pursuing academic studies abroad will sharply decrease.

Foreign students themselves are seeking higher education in Saudi Arabia to partake of the wide offerings of higher education there. In 1970 foreign stu- dents accounted for 18.6 per cent of the total student enrollment, in 1975 the proportion of foreign students was 14.7 per cent and in 1980 they were 23.9 per cent of the total university enrollment (Ministry of Education, 1980). In 1982 the number of foreign students numbered 15,730 with 12,191 being male and 3,539 being female (Ministry of Higher Education, 1982). A sizeable num- ber crf these students were studying at Islamic universities in the study of Is- lam.

Probably no area of higher education has grown faster in the Kingdom in recent years than education for females. Since 1961 when King Saud admitted 4 females as external students the number of women in higher education has grown to 19,860 in 1982 (Ministry of Higher Education, 1982). In Saudi Arabia educational facilities, staff, teachers and students are separated along gender lines. The only instruction received by women is through close circuit televi- sion. This has necessitated the growth of women teaching staff which has grown from 4.4 of the total teaching staff in 1970 to 19.2 per cent in 1980. At the same time the women student population has increased from 5.5 per cent of the total population in 1970 to 28.4 per cent in 1980 (Ministry of Education, 1980). Since education along with nursing is an acceptable vocation for women in the Kingdom, a large number of female students pursue degrees in educa- tion.

The Ministry of Education supervised higher education until 1975 when the Ministry of Higher Education was established by Royal Decree. The Ministry of Higher Education enforces higher education policy and places emphasis in helping the Kingdom to fulfill its development plans. All universities in the Kingdom are formed by Royal Decree. The Girls Education Administration along with the Ministry of Higher Education is involved with overseeing wom- en's education at the higher level.

The financing of higher education in Saudi Arabia is almost entirely by the government. Therefore, the resources available to the government determine the funding of higher education to a large extent. According to the Education Policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1970) the "educational budget is in- creased by the State in accordance with the growing needs of the country. This growth is proportionate with the growth of the general budget". The higher education budget has grown from 1984 million Saudi Riyals* in 1975 - 1976 to

* 5 Saudi Riyals equal 1 British p o u n d a n d 3.52 Saudi Riyals equal 1 U.S. Dollar.

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5539 million Saudi Riyals in 1979-1980 for an average annual rate of increase of 29.3 per cent (Ministry o f Education, 1980). Along with the expansion o f students and staff has occurred the expansion and improvement of existing fa- cilities and the building o f new campuses.

In the last few decades Saudi Arabia has made tremendous progress in edu- cation, probably unmatched during this period for any nation. Its roots and the high esteem for education can be traced back to its Islamic heritage. The rapid advancement in higher education can be substantiated by the phenome- nal increase in student population, teaching staff, establishment of new univer- sities, building of new campuses and the expansion of existing ones, and finan- cial support made possible by the firm commitment o f the leadership of the Kingdom. Education is playing a vital, valued and crucial role in the King- dom's total development. With the continued commitment of the Kingdom to higher education it will be noteworthy to see what advancements higher educa- tion will make in the next few decades.

References

A1-Shami, Ibrahim (1977) Tradition and Technology in the Developmental Education of Saudi Arabia and Egypt (Michigan State, Ph.D. dissertation).

Antonius, George (1965) The Arab Awakening (New York, Capricorn). Bashshur, Munir (1973) Education and Politics: Hypotheses and Research Themes for the Arab

Middle East". (Unpublished paper presented at International Conference on Education and Poli- tics Freiburg, Germany).

Duguid, Stephen (1970) A Biographical Approach to the Study of New Social Change in the Middle East: Abdullah Rarki as a new Man. International Journal o f Middle East Studies, 1:3, pp. 195-200.

Education Policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1970) The Higher Committee for Education Policy (Saudi Arabia).

King Saud University Newsletter (1984) "Facts and Numbers About the New University Cam- pus" 9:253 pp. 10.

Ministry of Education (1979) Progress o f Education in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Ministry of Edu- cation).

Ministry of Education (1982) Education Statistics in the Kingdom 1 9 8 i - 1982 (Riyadh, Ministry of Education).

Ministry of Higher Education (1980) Progress o f Higher Education in The Kingdom o f Saudi Arabia During Ten Years 1970-1980 (Riyadh, Ministry of Higher Education).

Riyadh University (1982) Quarter of a Century in Riyadh University Life (Riyadh, Deanship of Librarians-King Saud University).

Pinkthall, M. N. (1961) The Cultural Side o f Islam (Lahore: Ashraf). Wafi, All A. (1967) H u m a n Rights in Islam. The Islamic Quarterly, 11:1 & 2 ( J a n u a r y - J u n e )

pp. 6 4 - 7 5 . Wahibi, Abdulla (1978) The Development of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in:

Prism by the General Dept. of Foreign Cultural Relations pp. 3 9 - 48 (Ministry of Culture, Egypt).