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

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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.


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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