Hundreds of women took part in demonstrations in Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh Saudi Arabia today after failing their English exam.
The students felt hard done by the results, which were marked subjectively without a clear academic criteria.
The University President tried to stop the demonstration but to no avail. The women were chanting we will continue to demonstrate until the President resigns.
The University President retaliated by saying: “that all those who have failed their english exams will repeat the whole year and retake all their subjects. They will start from scratch because they’ve caused a lot of chaos and humiliated the university staff. This will be a lesson to all students, not just in this university but in all universities around the country.”
The woman’s revolution in Saudi Arabia is up and running.
May 7th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
To the Dean,
Many of the teachers you employ are not qualified to teach. Sure, they may have a B.A or Masters, maybe a Doctorate. Yet, in what? You NEED TO EMPLOY Qualified Teachers, who know Behavioural Management, strategies on how to teach (apply BLOOMS TAXONOMY), able to assess and evaluate correctly. A qualified teacher has MORE success on been able to HOOK the student into the learning process.
Most of your teachers this academic year have not a clue.
Not only should you replace these teachers, REPLACE most of the MANAGEMENT team. First and foremost QUALITY CONTROL . She who is in-charge has proved time and time again to be a bad judge of character, who is incompetent and DOES NOT UNDERSTAND the teaching process.
Those who are in the Co-ordinator Team: the one who has been there for 2.5 years and arrives at work, often with a hangover from her secret on-going binge drinking (who by the way sneaks this into the compound). Furthermore, she smokes on the roof. Another team member who also is a nervous wreck and IS NOT qualified to be part of the co-ordinating team - go back to the UK and become a proper teacher.
Those who recruit, NEED TO RECRUIT PROPER TEACHERS.
This is a great lesson to all staff, especially those in Management who will JUST NOT LISTEN.
STUDENTS: You are there to learn. It is not a holiday but a year of hard work. Your King believes in you so you must pay this back with honour and respect by working hard. There are many of you who DO WORK hard but many too who DO NOT. Those WHO have failed have done so because either:
1. You did not take responsibility for your learning
2. Your teacher failed you.
The university WILL FAIL AGAIN next year and the year after, if it does not recruit QUALIFIED TEACHERS - They are the way - They are the secret to success with this university.
But will anyone really listen?
OR are they too busy worried about their own jobs?
Ps I dare you to print the TRUTH, without editing this. “Freedom of Speech” for all. Your King needs to read this, maybe he can take action….fire most of them!
May 8th, 2011 at 8:23 pm
I believe the problem lies with management. Classes are badly allocated, there are no basic resources, and the teaching matierials are totally inappropriate for the students both culturally and educationally.
There are a lot of under qualified and unsuitable people at this institution. They need to get the right people in the right roles. This starts with teachers and ends with top level management.
May 8th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
The shocked students are the last consideration in this debauchery. The problem lies with the organization of AETG and their management team. They are not truly academic, and misunderstand the importance of communication with their faculty and student body.
Giving a test includes a quick response and feedback to the individual. Our university is overlooking the usefulness of testing as a tool. This is a perfect way to assess our student’s needs and make our own teaching more effective.
When only three major tests are given throughout the semester, with the anxiety and cross-checking mayhem going on, no one wins. These students are shocked by the numbers they see. Teachers are not involved in the testing process, only used as automatons grading badly written exams, and told not to think, but to grade these exams without discussion.
There are so many difficult issues at this school I wouldn’t know where to begin helping them. Of course proper teachers would be the answer, but inviting western women to Saudi Arabia is a conundrum, and then to be treated as a worker rather than as a professional makes it unusual for anyone to remain longer than a first exit visa.
I believe my students to be very adept at learning,and see the problem clearly as the management of professionals to be quite poor. The ineffective middle management is overwhelming and without credentials difficult to stomach.
I really feel the students are at a disservice, without highly trained teachers, but no one wants to be treated in a slave-like manner. No one.
March 25th, 2012 at 10:26 pm
On behalf of the expat community living in Riyahd we want 2 people fired from this university:
The Dean - whe is incompetant. And was reported to the Human Rights Commission. Will she be fired..don’t think so as she as waasta.
Paradise - who has lied about her credentials, her name and has openly chastised and ridiculed Saudis in private to expats. Auckland University team that are working there even complain about how incompetant she is.
Fire these people and you might start retaining more staff.
Freedom of speech - please print this.
May 8th, 2013 at 3:34 am
Typical Saudi students. Blame the teacher, the maid, the driver, the cook,…etc….
Students have to accept that they are lazy and don’t even know the difference between a good teacher and a bad teacher is. In the Saudi education system, teachers work in fear of false accusations, being deported, being arrested, being raped or beaten.
These students are disgusting. The end.