Saudi official warns schools against neglecting religious education

Gulf countries neglecting religious education at public schools risk exposing Muslim students to more radical teachings, a top Saudi official said here.

“If we do not teach Islam at schools, children will learn about it elsewhere and they could embrace extremist or wrong theories,” said Khalid Al Awwad, deputy education minister of Saudi Arabia.

“We are proud of our religion and have a duty to provide children with religious teachings and put professionals in charge.”

Al Awwad was addressing representatives of Gulf education ministers who gathered in Doha for the Education for a New Era Conference.

The Saudi official expressed his concern that at a stage when Gulf countries are reviewing and upgrading their education systems to catch up with international standards, they could marginalise the role of Islamic education or even neglect it.

He invited other Gulf ministries to guarantee that Islamic education is delivered only by experts and not by any teacher.

“The teaching of Islam should be delivered only by religious experts or teachers properly trained to convey the correct image of Islam. Religion is a very sensitive issue and cannot be left to the subjectivity of any individual”.

In reply to his concerns, Shaikha Al Missnad, president of Qatar University, said Islamic education in Qatar is compulsory and there is no plan to abrogate it or review its content.

“I want to assure you we have no plans to neglect the teachings of Islam. It is and will remain a compulsory subject,” she said.

Asked to reply to a comment by Abdul Rahman Al Nuaimi, director of the Arab Centre for Studies and Researches, over the need to resist foreign pressures to change curriculums, Shaikha Al Missnad told Gulf News that no such pressures were exerted on Qatari education officials.