Islam’s Knowledge Society

A nation long steeped in tradition and averse to change, Saudi Arabia received a jolt last year when king Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz announced an unprecedented $3 billion investment in it's underperforming educational system. Better known as Tatweer, the king Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz project for developing public Education has been called the pillar for national investment and the kingdom’s number one educational priority.

That news was accompanied by an announcement that Norah bint Abdallah Al Faiz was to become the first woman deputy minister in Saudi Arabia—a development that surprised the global educational community.

Unlike even its neighboring Islamic states, the kingdom’s educational system is still completely gender segregated.

“It’s largely a symbolic gesture,” says Alex Wiseman, associate professor of comparative and international education. Invited to participate in the Tatweer proceedings and consult on the Tatweer Project Short-Term planning Report, Wiseman has studied gender inequity throughout the region.

“In order to reform the system, Saudi Arabia needs to appoint qualified women to teach in the girls’ schools,” he adds. “That’s still a critical challenge. Until women are held up as role models in their schools, there will always be a level of inequality that can never be bridged.”