Educating the Natives
In reading different posts here and there about KAUST, I read some very encouraging and supportive comments, but I also read some very derogatory and belittling comments… a few which got me riled up was in line of something like “it will educate the natives”… or “set an example for other universities”… or “the graduates coming out of schools are not up to the university standards”… ok, let me put in my two cents.
I am a product of 12 years of Saudi public education, when I went to the States for university, my friends and I, most of which were also products of Saudi public education and one or two were in a private school, all of us were placed in high levels of math (maths if you will), I remember meeting an American student who told me that he was a junior… studying math… I was a freshman in the same math class as he was… nuff said.
KAUST is a research facility… something absolutely new to the region… not that other universities do not get research grants… it was just… not enough. A lot of people in my family are/were educators… when you get a grant of less that $10,000 dollars for research to produce five technical papers… well… it is just not worth it… especially that you had to jump up and down and go through all the bureaucratic hoops to get the grant in the first place… that grant was not enough, some even give it to you in the form of airline tickets so you can go to the library of congress if you want, but they will not cover your expenses… you are on your own after that.
What I hope for KAUST and the rest of the universities is partnerships with wealthy businessmen and big corporations willing to invest in research… and venture capitalists willing to cash in on the next best product or thing.
Education falls more on the shoulders of the parents, that make sure the homework is done and who rectify any problem before it gets out of hand…. I am not even going to link to any statistics… anyone who has been through school and is or was a parent knows what I’m talking about.
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Oct 06, 2009 @ 22:08:03
Makes sense and sounds good!
Oct 06, 2009 @ 22:19:29
The level of mathematics in the US public school system is shockingly low. But universities make up for it by pummeling their students with work in the first few years.
You hit the nail on the head there by calling KAUST what it is: A research facility, not just a ‘university’. And one that has spared no expense in being that (albeit a little hurriedly). The potential gains from this investment are monumental.
Oct 06, 2009 @ 23:48:07
Extremely well put!
For the record, the level of public school education in the US is generally low, so that students moving into the Canadian system usually have some catching up to do.
KAUST is overtly a research institute, and like other research insitututes it forms researchers-in-training who also do their own projects,and advance those of their supervisers, AKA graduate students. There is no undergraduate teaching, which is better done in an affiliated university or a university elsewhere.
KAUST has had the resources and the insight to draw the best internationally both faculty and students, men and women, from the beginning, something other research institutes often have to build towards. This is their goal, even if they start with local government funding, and a mandate to train their own undergraduates.
I find it ironic that KAUST/ Saudi/ King Abdullah should be criticized on this for being open, international, and scientific! Would these critics prefer an institute training Saudis only, by Saudis only, and publishing in local bulletins? That is not the mandate of KAUST or any other high level research institute.
The partnerships with industry that have been established from the beginning, and the emphasis on applied science, including marine science of the Red Sea Coral, garantee national and international benefits from the research efforts there.
Amen/Ameen to the problems of the picayune grant–too much to refuse, too little to do the work properly without supporting the university from one’s own pocket(too perilous for the career not to publish). Do I sound as if this is familiar territory? Can you pronounce “El proyecto costarricense? OR “Beware research grant money that falls on your desk unsollicited”. Though “los ticos” were wonderful the Canadian arm of the study (for all those quantitative researchers out there) was insufficiently funded, especially after all the “just add in a…” “just complete a…” “just one more…”.
Kudos to KAUST for doing it right!
Oct 12, 2009 @ 18:23:14
While our school system is not perfect, it is certainly not the worst, those who apply themselves do excel and flourish, they certainly can compete with the best of them in many Ivy League schools in the States and elsewhere. By the time Saudi student graduate high shcool, it becomes evident that they are more advanced in math and science thant their US counterpart. I witness this first hand, there are many examples of Saudi students who are doing a superb job in many US universities including the top notch schools, so please everyone spare me the nonsense about Saudi not be able to compete…and that is my two cents for the day….
Oct 11, 2009 @ 21:46:00
Thank you
Oct 11, 2009 @ 21:48:51
Thanks NidalM, I just hope all it is all what it was cut out to be…
Oct 11, 2009 @ 21:51:16
OK, biased towards your country eh? Yes I’ve heard the reaserrchers cry for all sorts of things… I can only wish them the best.
Thanks a million Chaira