KING'S SON-IN-LAW TAKES CONTROL OF SAUDI MINISTRY

C O N F I D E N T I A L RIYADH 000798 E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/14/2019 TAGS: PGOV SCUL SA SUBJECT: KING'S SON-IN-LAW TAKES CONTROL OF SAUDI MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND EDUCATION REFORM REF: A) RIYADH 298 B) RIYADH 356 C) JEDDAH 47 Classified By: CDA AMBASSADOR RICHARD ERDMAN, 1.4(b),(d) ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: His Highness Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed (bin Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Faisal bin Turki, see para. 9),King Abdullah's son-in-law and recently appointed Minister of Education, assured Charge and Public Affairs Counselor in a recent meeting of King Abdullah's firm commitment to educational reform and his own mandate to accelerate the pace of reform in the Ministry which alone commands nineteen percent of Saudi Arabia,s national budget. The Prince asserted that curriculum development, training, and infrastructure projects begun under the Tatweer project (septel) would continue. Diplomatically criticizing his predecessor, he noted that he intended to execute the King,s will: "Not experiment with, but implement educational reform." End summary. WE HAVE PROBLEMS IN EDUCATION, BUT ALSO OPPORTUNITIES -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) The Prince began by reciting the rationale for the Kingdom,s massive investment in education: "Education is everything," he noted, "the present, the past, the future. We do have problems, but no regrets, and we also have opportunities." "Compare this initiative with the 1970s," he continued, "People didn,t believe then that the Royal Commission would succeed." (Note: a reference to the large-scale Jubail and Yanbu economic development projects of that period.) "They (critics) thought it would be a white elephant, but it wasn,t. (The Saudi leadership) chose top notch companies and has succeeded in adding value. Now, though, we have to move beyond the dependence on oil. We must have sustainable development and need to partner. Education will be our real wealth," he suggested, "not oil; this is the time now for change." IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE "BUT I CAN'T USE THAT WORD" -------------- --- ¶3. (C) "Oh, but I can,t use that word!" he interjected with apparent alarm, "I mean we can improve on what we have; we,re not changing." "After all, he continued, the entire message came from the Prophet...to complete the message of the three great religions. Islam came to complete the cycle." "We must use the pen that is education...our customs evolved from the verbal. If something is written, it is then documented." He pointed to the framed painting above his seat, an elegant Arabic calligraphy which read 'Iqra.' "This is the first word of the Koran: Read!" he noted with pleasure. (COMMENT: The Minister chose a translation that gives the word more depth and relevance to education rather than the more common translation of 'Recite.') KING ANXIOUSLY SEEKS TO OVERCOME NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES OF SAUDI ARABIA -------------- ¶4. (C) The Minister illustrated Saudi sensitivity to international criticism and the King,s desire to place the Kingdom in a positive light: "After 9/11," he stated, "after terrorism, we,ve been stereotyped." He listed with obvious distaste and resignation a progression of words he asserted others have progressively used to negatively characterize the Saudis, "First it was Arab, then Wahabi, Salafi, and then 'supported by Saudi Arabia'," he said, "This is how they describe us." ¶5. (C) The Minister then asserted that this time the Kingdom hopes to get it right. He referred to Saudi Arabia,s special relationship to the Islamic world and its 1.5 billion Muslims. He noted that King Abdullah is an asset to dialogue and that even Israeli President Peres had said to Abdullah at the UN, "You are the hope." "Peres said this to the King!" he exclaimed. The Minister repeated that 9/11 was the most important reminder; a wakeup call that forced the Saudis to ask themselves what was going on. IMPROVING EDUCATION IS THE KING'S "DREAM" AND LEGACY -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Turning from the past to the future, the Minister asserted that "We have had enough of people taking advantage of us. The King realizes that this is the time (for action). We brought together 300 people with knowledge to lay out a strategy of how to build a knowledge economy. The King,s dream for 25 years has been the construction of KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) and we have to move it faster. Everything is management." (COMMENT: Saudi Aramco was tasked with the fast track construction of KAUST to keep the project out of the hands of the Education Ministry, whose bureaucracy under the the previous leadership was seen as a brake on change. KAUST is scheduled to open in September 2009. The Minister made clear that this project * 86-year old King Abdullah,s legacy project * was a high priority and must be completed as quickly as possible (Ref C).) ¶7. (C) The Minister added that the Ministry of Education is too big. Although education expenditures are between 25-30 percent of the Kingdom,s annual budget, between two-thirds and three-fourths of this amount (nineteen percent of the full budget) goes to operate the Ministry of Education. While the Kingdom,s special development project for education, Tatweer (septel),has moved forward enough to include the formation of a holding company for joint public-private ventures, progress has been stalled. Things like this are a "mission," he said, "and we,ve not been in touch with education and curriculum." Carefully choosing his words, he said curriculum development was progressing along "established lines." The target for completion of all these reform projects was 2022, he said, and the King,s next big initiative is judicial reform and continued institutional development. COMMENT AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE -------------- ¶8. (C) The Prince articulated what many contacts have told us: The King placed his son-in-law in the Ministry of Education chair to kick-start the languishing education reform effort, which has stalled at the most difficult stage, that of fixing a public school system heavily laden with conservatives. A leading educator from Jeddah,s King Abdul Aziz University recently told PAO, "You see, a royal can,t fail. And his wife is a fantastic asset." On the other hand, the Prince,s careful attempt to monitor his own speech during the meeting with Charge indicates the efforts the Saudi leadership must make to keep their vocabulary of change as neutral and non-threatening as possible as they move into this phase of educational reform. ¶9. (C) The Minister, who comes from the Mohammed sub-branch of the Saud bin Faisal branch of the al-Saud family, is King Abdullah's nephew and also his son-in-law. He married the King's favorite daughter Adela. His mother is Nouf bint Abdulaziz, the King's full sister. The Prince claimed to have actually pumped gas part-time in the 1970s while studying for his Bachelor,s degree in the U.S. He managed to slip references to Hiawatha, Eldridge Cleaver and economist Joseph Schumpeter into the conversation. Apparently an enthusiastic horse lover, he proudly bragged about the Saudi who recently won an international racing medal and noted that the Saudis will sponsor an Arabian horse at the Kentucky Derby in 2010. He said he adores photography and is looking forward to heading the Boy Scouts of Saudi Arabia, a part of his portfolio. He also mentioned that he would like to begin a Girl Scouts program. ERDMAN