UMM AL-QURA DEAN PUSHING FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000484 SIPDIS SIPDIS RIYADH, PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP, INR/B, EAC/IV FOR LARRY MOODY; PARIS FOR ZEYA; LONDON FOR TSOU SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/16/2031 TAGS: KISL PGOV PINR PREL SA SUBJECT: UMM AL-QURA DEAN PUSHING FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM Classified By: Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a meeting in Jeddah with the dean of the College of Education at Umm Al-Qura University (UAQU) located in Mecca, ConGenOffs discussed factors affecting the higher education of young men and women, including the increased demand for university spots, accreditation, and students' views on studying overseas. The Dean stressed that while he places a high value on allowing students to study what and where they want, he realizes that the current system does not offer sufficient opportunities. He added that Saudi youth generally are eager to study at western schools and said that he is working to bring UAQU on par with foreign counterparts. He also spoke briefly about current events, noting that the Saudi populace is unhappy with both Israel and Hizballah in the recent hostilities, and he expressed limited views on several members of the Saudi royal family. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) On July 16, ConGenOffs met in Jeddah with Dr. Zohair Ahmed ((AL-KAZMI)),who recently completed his third year as dean of the College of Education at Umm Al-Qura University (UAQU) located in Mecca. Dr. Al-Kazmi, who participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program on education in 2004, was eager to share his views on the university system in Saudi Arabia and to outline the ways that he sees reform and broadening of ideas as beginning to take hold. EFFORTS TO IMPROVE UMM Al-QURA ¶3. (U) Umm Al-Qura University is a public Saudi school that has expanded significantly since it was founded in 1949, when it offered only courses in "sharia" law and in education. The university now has 11 colleges, including the recent addition of a faculty to focus on computer science and a separation of the medical school from the college of life sciences. There are separate men's and women's campuses located just outside of Mecca. In the College of Education, which Al-Kazmi heads, there are six departments: educational psychology, educational administration, curriculum, physical education, interior design, and Islamic education (instructing how to teach in accordance with Islamic tradition, rather than education about Islam, which falls to the separate College of Islamic Studies). Graduate degrees are offered in all but physical education and interior design. Al-Kazmi estimated that the students he oversees are approximately 60 percent male and 40 percent female and that only a very small percentage are foreign students from outside the Kingdom. ¶4. (C) Al-Kazmi offered a progressive view of how UAQU can raise its quality and international profile. After candidly saying that "The problem with our universities is that they are Islamic-oriented," he explained that reforms at the university level are vital. Recognizing that conservative religious views have traditionally dominated the UAQU setting, now it is up to the university leadership to recognize and to respond to the changing educational and vocational needs of young Saudis. He praised the reforms being led by King Abdullah and said that he thinks they are slowly taking root among the populace and even within the university. He cautioned, however, that other more conservative university officials do not share the desire to see change unfold. Al-Kazmi said that traditional conservative figures hold significant power within the school. For example, when the former head of the university showed support for reform-oriented ideas (note: no date given),conservative members of the university's governing board forced his ouster. Al-Kazmi then even admitted that his own colleagues in the Colleges of Sharia and of Islamic Studies, have snubbed him on campus because they disagree with his efforts to reform the school. He attributed the difference in views to where the professors and administrators had been trained, adding that in his College, approximately 80 percent of the faculty had studied in the US or United Kingdom. He also said that the entire university is very focused on gaining US accreditation, which he says includes changes to the curriculum that are already underway. He hopes that accreditation will happen in the next 2-3 years. JEDDAH 00000484 002 OF 002 MORE SAUDI STUDENTS VALUE HIGHER EDUCATION ¶5. (U) Al-Kazmi said that young Saudis are increasingly looking to attend universities and that UAQU has almost three times as many applicants as they do slots for students. He added that he is working to strengthen the admission standards that are used to evaluate potential students, because there are still many parents who try to use their personal connections and political or economic influence as leverage for their child's admission. He also said that due to the demand for university slots, many students are not able to enroll in their top choice field of study, particularly in science and technology-related fields. ¶6. (U) Al-Kazmi said that he thinks Saudi students place a high priority on studying in the US or in another Western country. He said that he has known many students who, when given the opportunity to study in the US, have opted to give up their UAQU credits (sometimes even in their final semester) in order to begin again at an American university. VIEWS ON ISRAEL-LEBANON CONFLICT ¶7. (SBU) Al-Kazmi spoke briefly about current events, particularly terrorism and the recent hostilities in Israel and Lebanon. He mentioned that the Saudis to whom he has spoken are generally upset with both Hizballah and the Israeli government; they oppose the terrorist acts but also see Israel as having overreacted. He added that both sides have now "hurt the innocent" and that people are increasingly upset by the continued retaliations. ROYAL FAMILY CONNECTIONS ¶8. (SBU) Turning to domestic issues, Al-Kazmi shared that his family has a history of interaction with the royal family because his father was a professor at King Abdulaziz University for several of the princes, including Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Salman bin Abdul Aziz, and Mitib bin Abdul Aziz. According to Al-Kazmi, his father kept a daily record of his interactions with the princes, which filled 35 volumes by the time he finished. Al-Kazmi added that Prince Salman now has the volumes and that some excerpts had been used to create an official biography on the princes' early lives. Al-Kazmi also added that Prince Salman once referred to him as "my other son," which he considered to be a great compliment. ¶9. (C) When speaking broadly of the "second generation" princes, however, Al-Kazmi said that they have a "different strategy for working" than their fathers. He was reticent to elaborate on what that different strategy includes but said that they are not "close to the people." (NOTE: ConGenOff understood these comments to mean that the second generation princes may not share the reform-minded operating style of the current King, but Al-Kazmi would not expand on this subject even in response to follow-up questioning. END NOTE.) . BIO NOTE ¶10. (U) Al-Kazmi was born on December 14, 1949. While enrolled at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, he began research on student perceptions of parental influence in selecting a college or field of study; he subsequently earned a Ph.D. on that topic from Michigan State University in 1981. Al-Kazmi served as the consul for education at the Saudi Embassy in Washington during 1981-83. Returning to the Kingdom, he then spent several years working as the dean and vice dean of the college of education at the UAQU campus in Taif. He was general supervisor of the "training courses center" at the College of Education in Mecca during the late 1980s and then spent 11 years as dean of the UAQU women's college of education before taking over as dean of the entire college of education (men's and women's sections) in 2003. Al-Kazmi is married; he said that his family enjoys spending vacations in the United States whenever possible. He published an Arabic-language book entitled "Guide to Student Affairs in Higher Education." Al-Kazmi speaks good English. Gfoeller