Anjum Malik Dunes International School RemarksSaudi Arabia February 2011 It is pleasure to speak with you today. I admit that, with the other speakers who are here today, I feel a little like I am walking among giants. I was invited here today in two capacities: First as co-founder and managing partner for the Alhambra-US Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit entity established by Ambassador Sada Cumber, the former US Special Envoy to Organization of the Islamic Conference — with a mission to promote meaningful educational and cultural interaction between the Muslim World and the West. Second, I am here as the co-founder and vice-president of House of Tutors Learning Centers and its affiliated Intensive American English Academy. House of Tutors provides fully accredited, internationally-recognized intensive English language training, multi-subject tutoring for all educational levels, student mentoring, college advising, and standardized testing preparation. Through both these roles, I have considerable experience with elementary education. We have provided individual tutoring to elementary students for almost three decades. I have acted as a consultant to charter schools (the US equivalent of institutions like the Dunes International School), and we regularly partner with local primary schools on a variety of projects. With this in mind, I am always very excited to see a project like the Dunes International School moving forward and brining affordable, world-class elementary education to families throughout the world. Today, I have been asked to say a few words about the importance of elementary education in the big picture and discuss why private schools such as Dunes International really work when it comes to providing students with the tools they need for a bright educational and professional future. As you know, elementary education is an idea with very old roots in our part of the world. The Maktab has been part of Muslim life since at least the Fourth century AH and Islam was the first civilization to embrace the idea of educating all its young children … not just the children of nobles and the wealthy. Not only were we the leaders in education, but also in educational theory:

In the 4th Century AH, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Sina wrote a document entitled, "The Role of the Teacher in the Training and Upbringing of Children” which was the world’s first teacher training manual and curriculum guide for teaching young children. In the 10th century A.H., Ibn Hajar al-Haytami, a Qadi and Imam based in Mecca issued a fatwa detailing the appropriate structure and functioning of a Maktab — in effect the first school operations manual. In contrast, in the West, the idea of systematically educating young children did not become widespread until the Tenth Century AH (16th Century AD) ELEMENTRY EDUCATION, A GLOBAL VIEW In our modern world, however, the value of elementary education is universally acknowledged. There are around 2.2 billion children in the world today. According to the United Nations Development Program, only about 100 million (primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia) of them will receive no primary education. While that is a small percentage, it has a significant adverse impact on those nations with a high proportion of such children. It is a vicious cycle in which poor children are the least likely to attend school but, without the tools for self-improvement that education provides, they are unlikely to break out of the cycle of poverty. This does harm on a national as well as individual level. With the potential of these children untapped – they are unable to play a significant role in national economic development. It is for this reason, that the United Nations Development Program made universal primary education one of its most important goals. Here in Saudi Arabia, however, children are blessed with many resources and opportunities. There are around 2.5 million children enrolled in the elementary education system – accounting for over 98% of the elementary-aged population. The student to teacher ratio in the Kingdom is about 11.2 to 1. The first number, the percentage of students enrolled is respectable for a nation at any level of development. The second, the student to teacher ratio, is quite commendable: – below the OECD average of 18, and below the US average of 15, on par with nations like Sweden and Austria.

So, why is elementary education important? There are many reasons. Some of these reasons would have been familiar to Ibn Sina in the 4th century. First, elementary education is a stepping stone for children as they grow into adults. I will talk about this more later, but the key point is that this stage in a child’s education is the foundation for everything that comes after – whether it’s further study, professional life, or the social interactions we enjoy as adults. And, as we know, without a good foundation – any building, no matter how impressive it might appear, can crumble. Second, as Muslims, we have long known there is a moral value to elementary education as well. Let us not forget that in one Hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) informed the community that “the acquiring of knowledge is obligatory to every Muslim.” Notice he did not stipulate only to every adult Muslim. In another Hadith, we hear how the Prophet (PBUH) ordered the release of prisoners of war who could teach the community’s children. The social and moral values of elementary education are now also universally recognized. As elementary students, often for the first time, we have an opportunity to interact with other children with different backgrounds and experiences than ourselves. In the process, we learn important lessons like cooperation, compassion, and how to work with others. In this, education, especially elementary education, helps us reinforce similar lessons we learn from our family and our faith. In 1988 ... the American author Robert Fulghum wrote a book entitled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten [NOTE: will your listeners understand that term?] In the book, he puts forward the notion that most important lessons we learn in life are the ones from the beginning our educational career – not the end: sharing, being kind to one another, cleaning up after ourselves, living a balanced life, and so on. That is true no matter what part of the world you live in. (In his book, Fulghum also noted the world would be a much better place if adults worked harder to live by the same lessons we try to teach our children). So, in addition to home and Mosque, school serves as a third location where we teach children to be not only good students … but good people. In addition, there are other reasons for the importance of elementary education that are unique to our modern world.

First, we live in a very multifaceted and competitive world. This has elevated elementary education to level of importance it not have in the pre-modern world. The majority of Saudi Arabian primary students will go on to secondary education, where they will depend upon the learning tools they acquired in elementary education. Secondary education, in turn, provides the foundation college or university education. And, whether they complete their studies at the secondary or university level, students will then take those skills and experiences with them into their professional life. So, today, that solid elementary foundation is essential! Second, education now impacts the nation and society — not just the individual. One hundred years ago, a nation’s strength was determined by how much coal and iron it could produce. Today, it is how many doctors, engineers, and teachers it has. Oil and gas wealth has been an enormous blessing to the Kingdom and has helped you propel your economy and society forward. But everyone agrees that Saudi Arabia should also expand beyond oil and gas to achieve its full promise in the modern world. Education is your ticket to do this. Your children are, literally, the Kingdom’s future — and education should be treated as just as competitive and valuable a resource as anything that comes from the ground. Why Private Schools? So, we have seen the value of elementary education generally. But, what is the role of private schools in this process? What makes them especially valuable and sought after? Parents in the modern world know that education is single most worthwhile investment they can make in their children’s future. Therefore, they place great value on ensuring their children can attend the best schools available … and “best” means the ones that help give them their children the best opportunities later in life. In examining how education systems function globally, what works and what doesn’t work, the UNDP found something very interesting: whether in developed, developing, or least-developed nations – one of the methods that worked for improving primary education was drawing on the strength of the

private sector. This is especially true when it involves high-quality private companies serving more affluent families, what the UNDP referred to as parents with a “taste for quality” when it comes to education. They cite success stories in locations as diverse as Bangladesh, Central America, and Columbia. And a similar trend is at work here in the Kingdom. About 8% of elementary students in the Kingdom are enrolled at private schools. The Saudi government has long recognized the value of private education and has a variety of programs and mechanisms to encourage such institutions and student participation As we have mentioned, there are considerable strengths to Saudi Arabia’s educational system, including a high rate of enrollment and enviable student-teacher ration. However, no educational system is perfect. Some educators within the Kingdom have suggested the public system could strengthen itself further by placing additional emphasis on innovation, problem solving, and critical thinking skills and less emphasis on traditional route-learning methods. King Abdullah, the Minister of Education, and other officials are clearly working to help the Kingdom make such a transition through the Tatweer Program and other initiatives. Private schools like the Dunes International School offer an existing and proven track-record of being able to combine traditional strengths of Saudi education like small class size with cutting-edge teaching techniques, curriculum, and instructors. TEACHER QUALITY The single most important factor in shaping the kind of educational experience a student has is the kind of teacher they have. For two reasons this especially elementary education. First, at the elementary level, a student’s teachers will help determine his or her expectations and attitudes towards teachers and the learning process for the rest of their educational career. Second, students at this age have different needs and learning styles than older pupils. Elementary education is not simply a more basic version of

education at different levels -- it requires a different skill-set and approach to instruction. This is why so many universities differentiate “elementary education” as a separate program or even separate department from general teacher training. With this in mind, private schools are typically those with the ability and resources necessary to bring top-quality elementary teachers into the classroom. THE BEST FOUNDATION FOR LEARNING As discussed earlier, elementary education is the stepping stone to future academic success. In part, this is because elementary education is the time when students acquire the fundamental skills and tools they need for future academic success – a process that we are learning is more complex than previously thought. A substantial body of research now suggests that at least five to six years of education is necessary for most students to sustainably master the fundamentals of schooling such as reading, writing, and basic mathematics. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization found that only 10% of children achieve functional literacy after three years of schooling. After six years, 70% will reach that benchmark. And it is ten years before an effective 100% of students are functionally literate. This testifies to the importance of keeping children in school, but it testifies even more strongly to the importance of placing children in the best schools, with the greatest educational resources and the best instructors to help young students solidify these critical academic foundations. THE CLEAREST PATH TO SUCCESS Earlier, we talked about the interconnectedness of all levels of education – as well as the relationship between education and professional life. We need to consider the role of private schools like the Dunes International School in that light: With world-class experiences and opportunities at the elementary level, a student has the tools necessary to get the most out of secondary education. This, in turn, maximizes opportunities for higher education – especially if the student has an interest in studying at an overseas university. The

university experience, of course, ultimately has strong bearing on an individual’s professional opportunities. Of course, this to say that a child who doesn’t have excellent opportunities at one level of the process can’t succeed at further steps. Nor does it mean that the best opportunities at every level guarantee success. But they do provide children like yours with a clearly marked path and essential tools to strive for a bright future. Private schools like the Dunes International Schools are dedicated to helping students and their parents find that bright path. Thank you.