There are a number of highly intelligent students in Saudi Arabia at all levels. Sadly though there are concurrent factors which are continually impacting and preventing these students from making the cut in school. As a result, these intelligent students are failing exams and in some cases not making the grades to successfully move on to the next term or grade whether in elementary, high school or university. These Saudi students are not unique but the factors seem to be more predominant in the Kingdom which is negatively impacting on the natural ability and intelligence of these students.
To begin with the students usually start their school day in the Kingdom very early; oftentimes they may have to get up between 0500 or 0600 hours with school starting anywhere from 0700 to 0730. Therefore it is not surprising to learn that many of the students come home, grab a quick snack or lunch and go to sleep. It would not be so bad if they only took a cat nap or less than an hour’s sleep but in many cases they will sleep for two to three hours and sometimes more. This in turn results in the student’s inability to relax and doze off to sleep at a decent hour which would correspond to a good night’s rest before getting up to start their school day. Additionally because they came home and slept they usually do not get around to touching any homework or studying until after they have awakened from their long nap. Not surprisingly before turning to their studies they like to chat on their mobiles or use the internet to interact with their friends. Homework and studies are forgotten. Before the student can realize where the time has gone it may be around 0300 hours. This is when she or he turns to study and get any homework done quickly. He or she will just begin to drift off to sleep when the alarm goes off and it’s time to start the school day all over again. Of course the student is exhausted and therefore inattentive and unable to concentrate resulting in poor marks.
As I mentioned in the start of this posting, it is not that the student lacks the intelligence. He or she is probably a very smart student and with the proper discipline and right regime could easily be at the top of the class. Unfortunately the culture in the Kingdom further promotes the lack of discipline. Any student who has to begin his or her school day by getting up at 0600 should be going to bed for a good night’s rest by 2200 hours at the latest. But when you factor in a culture where many shops and stores are not opened until 2000 hours or where dinner may not be served to a family until 2100 or 2200 hours the pattern of not enough sleep begins to be set.
As a mother I can also relate to how a parent must feel seeing his or her child come home from school exhausted and not want to disturb them catching up on needed rest. Yet in order to get the student better regulated and adjusted, stronger discipline should also be enforced. I do not think the falling spiral of the intelligent student rests solely with the student. The parent must also shoulder some of the responsibility too.
Filed under: culture, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture, Saudi customs, Saudi education, Uncategorized | 18 Comments »
