Amr Khaled Official Website

In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. Thanks be to Allah, Creator of all creatures, and prayers and peace be upon Allah’s Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAWS).[1]

Welcome to a new episode of Life Makers. We will begin with the results of the survey. Every week we stress the fact that we want to turn small businesses (and action against unemployment) into a national project for our countries. The first step towards achieving this dream is the survey that asks the youth for their opinions. Do you want to actively pursue a career or will you just wait for a job to appear? Are you prepared to be productive and engage in a small business? That is why we came up with the unemployment survey. We need millions, not thousands, of youth to respond, so that we can carry your opinions and spread them throughout all national and international entities. We want to tell everybody that the youth in the Arab world are brave and want to work.

Before we talk about today's topic, we had organized a competition asking people to come up with an animation to illustrate the eleven fields of revival (industry, agriculture, education, etc.). A large number of talented people contributed and finally, Ayman Abdul-Rahman, an Arab youth living in Canada, won. We will now display his creative production.

All these things show that there is hope in our youth. Our youth want to contribute, just like our brother Ayman. Their feelings, which reflect their will, proclaim that they want to give and contribute to Life Makers.

Let us continue with Life Makers, where we are still addressing the different fields of revival. We have covered unemployment, industry, agriculture, handicrafts and health. Today we are going to talk about education. This topic touches or moves every single one of us; since we are either students, parents to students, or related in some way to a student. You may have had negative encounters in this area yourself. Education is a topic that is relevant to every household; it affects everybody.

We have assigned four episodes to cover the topic of education. Today's episode is the first one and it is going to talk about the value and importance of education, as well as its link to the revival. We are going to discuss the outputs of education and examine their validity. In the next episode (the second episode), we will examine the obstacles in the field of education. We will tackle the obstacles that we, the people, can resolve to help our governments and our countries. The third episode will talk about methods of enlivening the student, the teacher and the parents. The fourth episode will talk about art and handicraft education as well the importance of handicrafts.

Today's episode will talk about the importance of education. I will start talking from an unusual perspective. I will say that education either enhances a nation or destroys it. Education either creates civilizations or destroys them. Education is the tool to the earth's development. Let us envision the year 2025. What has happened? A revival has taken place. Twenty years have elapsed, and a revival has taken place thanks to the efforts of different types of Life Makers: young men and women, students, people who responded to the questionnaire. What does this have to do with education? As we dream on, education will manifest itself within the context of our dream. It will always be there in front of us. I will show you the importance and value of education in the year 2025.

Let us envision the year 2025. We are inside a plane that is landing in Cairo airport, or Jeddah airport, or Sana'a airport, or Rabat airport. The plane has landed as scheduled at 4:17. Just like all means of transportation in our countries, it strictly adheres to the scheduled time. Punctuality is now a characteristic of all aspects of life. The first thing we teach our students at school is punctuality. The teacher begins classes exactly at eight o'clock. The students’ watches, the teacher's watch, and the school bell all ring at eight o’clock. The students were brought up on punctuality, so the result is a punctual society. As the plane lands we see buildings and green areas, and we think to ourselves, “Oh my, is this the Shubra suburb that used to be so overcrowded? Is this the Ghurair suburb in Jeddah that used to be so overcrowded? Is this the Sana’a suburb that used to be so overcrowded?” Now there is a garden in the middle. We see our youth playing soccer in the soccer fields to direct their energy to sports. We see girls sitting together.

We see the roofs full of plants. All the roofs are now planted and every household plants its own fruits and vegetables. All the families now know one another and are good friends, since they and their kids cooperate to plant the roofs. All the roofs are now green, and people hold parties on their rooftops. They eat from the vegetables that they plant. What happened? In the year 2008, all schools decided that students will get extra marks for planting the roofs of their houses, or helping to plant the roofs of their schools/universities. In the year 2007, a new law decreed that university students should all learn how to eliminate illiteracy. They were told that the following year they would gain extra marks if they organized courses to teach literacy in the countryside and rural areas. The result was that the media helped the students. It made literacy appealing to the illiterate, and they awarded prizes to the illiterates who made their way to literacy. The result was that illiteracy dropped from 60% to 15% in just one year.

We descend from the plane, and walk in the streets. We look at the people's faces, which have changed a great deal from what they used to be in 2005. People's backs are now straight. They used to be bent in 2005. We now see smiling faces; unlike the depressed faces of 2005. People's gazes are full of self confidence, since one of our weekly classes at school is called ‘Liberty.’ Let us visit a city in Algeria, Tunisia or anywhere in the Arab world. A wonderful city. What is it? It is the Youth's City for Small Businesses. What is the Youth's City for Small Businesses? It is a city which was created to house hundreds of thousands of small businesses and shops. Who works in these shops? They are young men and students who have not graduated yet. Each group created a small business, and the country provided them with a place. What are these businesses? These businesses export hundreds of millions of pounds and dollars worth of products. To whom do they export? They have dominated the Chinese market. China is considering passing a law to prohibit Arabian products from entering its market. All Chinese tires are now imported from the Arab world under the trade mark of ‘Arab.’ Arabic businesses have now flooded the Chinese market. Can you imagine this city? How was this city funded? The public funded these cities. Everyone contributed with some money after believing in the sincerity of the youth. The credit goes back to the survey that asked the youth in the year 2005 whether they would like to engage in a small business. Three million of them said yes, creating a general outburst; hence the cities were created.

Unemployment does not exist anymore. It has gone down from 30% in 2005 to 4% in 2025. This is due to the role of the youth in responding to the survey, and to the cities of small businesses that resulted later. Where do you want to go now? Right now we are at the train station. The train is huge and it is filled with people and cargo. It leaves Egypt and passes via Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, the Gulf countries and Yemen. It transports thousands of people to wherever they want to go. There are no visas required, and there are no borders between the Arab countries. We have learned that the unity of our countries is precious, so the currencies are now unified for all the Arab countries. In the summer time, universities began to organize exchanges for the Arab students, so the youth got to know and like one another, and they also married from one another. This is a result of what schools and universities did. The way people treat one another has changed to the better. People treat each another in a calm manner. That is why tourism has increased. Unlike in the year 2005, two hundred million tourists visit the Arab countries annually now. This is because one of our classes at school is called ‘Decorum,’ in which the youth are taught how to dress, how to speak, and how to deal with people. Tourism increased because of our ‘Decorum’ classes.

Can you see how full the mosques are for fajr (dawn) prayer in the year 2025? The women's prayer sections in the mosques have grown considerably, so that the men and women now have equal shares in the mosques. Women now perform fajr prayer in the mosque like the men, since everybody starts their work after fajr prayer. No longer do they sleep at three in the morning and go to work at twelve. Everyone starts work early in the morning. Piety is not manifested only in prayer, but also in the peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians, as well as the distinguished relationship between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. What has happened? Religious education is no longer a secondary subject of no importance at schools. It is now a mandatory subject that teaches the youth how to love their countries and be productive in them. Can you imagine that because of religious education all the other businesses succeeded? They now have a project in schools called ‘Development of Faith’ which is taught in the religious education that is taught to the youth. What do you think of this dream? Shall we wake up now? Why wake up? This dream will come true if Allah (SWT) wills with our will and effort.

Have you seen the details of the dream? I want to point out that our dream is not the only one that is based on education. There are people before us who once envisioned a similar dream which has now come true: Malaysia. Thirty years ago, the general situation in Malaysia was much tougher than what we have now in our countries. They had a dream just like the one we envisioned today, and this dream came true. One of our satellite channels held an interview with Mahadhir Muhammad, the former Malaysian prime minister who initiated this revival. This was broadcasted on one of the famous channels, so many of you might have seen this interview. At the beginning of the interview he was specifically asked, “What did you do to make your dream come true? Tell us what you did in a nut shell.” Mahadhir Muhammad replied with one thing: that they assigned education 20% of the country's budget. The interviewer asked whether that was all and Muhammad responded that that was is all they did. They would cut back on their food to spend on education. The largest item in the budget was education. The dream was realized, thus it is not impossible.

Did you know that in all developed countries the largest item in the budget after defense is education? Education is not a matter of public service. Education is the greatest investment, without which a nation's wealth will be depleted. If you are unable to produce, you will import all the products you need, thereby depleting your wealth; a situation we currently experience. Do you understand why education is so important and critical, and why all this money is being spent on it?

A question arises now: does the current situation in our countries allow for our dream to come true? I do not want to say, “No” and I do not want to say, “Yes, of course.” Instead, let us be fair and say that the effort exerted in our countries by the ministries of education and the local organizations is a great one. This is the case in all the Arab countries. A great amount of effort and large sums of money are directed towards education; for example, the education budget in Egypt has climbed from 8 billion pounds in 1996 to 16 billion pounds in 2002. The number of schools built in the Arab world during the nineties equals the number built during the entire last century. We also have great population growth, as the number of students went up 27%. The situation demands ten times the effort exerted now; why? The reason is that the outputs of education in our countries are weak and cannot fulfill the dream.

I will now tell you the story of a land owner who refuses to let an engineer who holds a degree in agriculture work in his land. Instead, he hires an illiterate man to plough the land and operate the tractor; for he has practical farm experience. An agricultural graduate, on the other hand, does not know how to deal with the land since all his knowledge is theoretical and detached from the farm land. Do you see the results?

Our government measures the results of the educational system by the rate of graduation from secondary and post secondary institutions. What is the graduation rate in secondary schools and universities? A hundred percent; everybody graduates. The educational institutions let the students pass to make room for new students. Teachers and managers grant them a pass regardless of what they write. The results in our countries are measured by the rate of graduation. Is this standard adequate? The standard with which we measure success should be the number of people who hold patents, the number of people who get jobs, or the decrease in unemployment.

Let us review the Human Development Report of the United Nations and compare different countries.

The goal of this overview of statistics is to demonstrate that the results of education in our countries do not reach the desired goal. That is why we need several times more effort than that which exists today because the education in our countries is based on the principle of memorizing then reciting. The student’s brain is turned into a temporary store that holds information until the day of the exam. The student leaves the exam saying, “Praise be to Allah, I am finished of that.”

Take for instance, private lessons; they are not based on understanding but rather on examination technique, about how to write the correct answer. The teacher of private lessons gives his students the possible exam questions. In one instance, a father, who was a very good chemist, told his son that he would not need to take private lessons because his father was the best chemist in Egypt. Thus the father taught his son chemistry in the best possible way, yet the son still failed the exam. The father did not know that the focus is on memorization in order to be able to get the highest score on the exam. The goal is not understanding but only memorizing.

I want you to help to remove an education system that is based on memorizing and exchange it for one that is based on the following three principles:

In the developed world they teach teachers how to discover students’ talents. They tell them that the talkative student, who is beaten in our countries, might possess public speaking abilities and can be utilized in the school broadcasting system. The student who makes noises in class is told in our country that he is rude because he wastes time during class. He might possess musical talents. The student who spends class time scribbling on paper can be directed to work on bulletin boards because he might be talented at drawing. The student who makes paper airplanes is kicked out of class in schools in our countries for a week. However, in the West the teacher is told to direct such a student to work on small projects. The student who plays soccer after school can practice with a soccer team. The teacher in the West is trained to discover talents. I wonder; how many talents have been strangled in our countries by beatings at school because the students scribbled on paper?

In Malaysia, they allocated 20% of the budget to be spent on education. They added a class called ‘inventions’ for students to attend four times each month. This class is voluntary for the students who choose to sign up for it; for every student who attends this class, the government allocates $1,300 to be divided equally in three parts: one third is given to the school to encourage its students to participate in the inventions class. Another third is given to the student as an incentive. The last third is to be spent on the invention itself. Do you now know how Malaysia was able to produce a car while the Arab world has not yet been able to? Do you see how to develop talents and inventions?

There is no systematic method used to discover talents. In an American university, research has been conducted among the students asking them who knew his talent and was able to identify it. Only 3% of the students were able to identify their talents. After twenty years, the university searched for the people who made up the 3% and found that their income equaled that of the remaining 97% because they knew their talents when they were still students. Consequently, the schools and universities in America decided to allocate a weekly class to discover talents. Specialists were hired to meet the students and ask them questions about their preferences. The specialists ask each student about their goal, so for instance the student would say that he would like to be the best inventor in America. Then they provide him with materials to help him and he starts his work. The specialists then send a report to the student’s parents identifying the field in which he excels. At the end of the summer vacation the parents provide a report on the activities that their child participated in during the summer. If the student does not excel in this field, then they look for another field where he excels. However, if he excels they work on developing the student’s talent and bring a consultant especially for him.

I request each young person to question yourself if there is no one to help you. Look at yourself for your own talent. This is the first thing I want to tell you. We need to change our education. I request everyone to start discovering the talents of their children. I will start with my son from the age three, from the age of preschool. I ask all the youth who are listening to me: what is your talent? Do not tell me that you are enrolled in the Faculty of Engineering; what is your talent?

Observe how the Prophet (SAWS), discovered the talents of his companions. He told Hassaan Ibn-Thabet to specialize in the field of poetry, Abu-Bakr (RA) to specialize in the field of Arab ancestry, Zayd Ibn-Thabet to specialize in the field of obligatory matters, and Ali Ibn-Abu-Taleb to specialize in the field of jurisprudence. Is it not true that the Prophet (SAWS) distributed the fields? The Prophet (SAWS) knew how to make each person discover his own talent. When Quraysh insulted the Prophet (SAWS) using poetry, the Prophet (SAWS) asked the companions who would respond to them. He asked Hassaan to do that and encouraged him by saying that Jibril (AS) would support him. Do you see how the Prophet (SAWS) is encouraging the talent, by telling Hassaan that Jibril (AS) would support him when he responds to Quraysh? Hassaan then replied, “I will counter them, O Messenger of Allah.” Then the Prophet (SAWS) told him, “Let Abu-Bakr help you.” Why? Because Hassaan did not know the ancestry of Quraysh well, so he might have insulted Quraysh and included the Prophet (SAWS) with them, but Abu-Bakr (RA) knew the ancestry of Quraysh well, and that was the reason that the Prophet (SAWS) sent Abu-Bakr (AS) with Hassaan. Then Hassaan Ibn-Thabet wrote the poetry and Abu-Bakr (AS) told him which houses of Quraysh did not bear a relation to the Prophet (SAWS). When Quraysh heard the poem, they were angered. Abu Sufyan said, “By Allah, Abu-Bakr as-Siddiq is behind this poem.” Do you see all these talents?

The teacher tells the students that to find the product of six and five, they need to memorize the times tables, so the student writes it out one hundred times and his brain becomes a store. However, the teacher could tell the students that five times six was thirty chocolate bars. Then the teacher could divide the class into five tables and ask them to divide the thirty chocolate bars between the five tables. Why is the division done this way? Then the teacher would ask who can divide faster. Has the student learnt or not? He learnt that five times six equals thirty, but he did not learn it by writing it 100 times.

This is the method to use with students in KG1 and KG2 even when they learn the Arabic and English alphabets. Usually the students are required to write the letter ‘A’ 30 times and the letter ‘B’ 30 times. In the West, to teach the alphabet the teacher draws on the ground using chalk, (i.e. simple resources) and the game ‘Snakes and Ladders.’ In this game, when you reach a ladder you advances higher until you reach the end and win the game. On the floor this game is drawn and in the first spot, the letter ‘A’ is drawn. When the child reaches the first spot, he advances higher, and he learns that the letter ‘A’ is followed by the letter ‘B’, then ‘C.’ That way he learns by using a game and the child learns to use their brains. What do you think?

We need ideas. A German physicist who received the Nobel Prize two or three years ago was asked how he received his prize. He simply answered that his mother used to ask him every day after school about the number of good questions that he asked his teacher. He learnt that he had to answer her by telling her the questions that he had asked. She then asked him to determine whether the question was a good one or not. This way he learned to ask good questions and use his mind and consequently he received the Nobel Prize.

It is a pity that we are killing our children. Yes we are killing them. Do you know the Ayah (verse) in which Allah says what can be translated as,, “And when the female (infant) buried alive (as the pagan Arabs used to do) is questioned: For what sin, was she killed?” (TMQ, 81:8-9).[2] There is a type of killing of those who are alive which is called discrete killing. We do it to our children’s brains at schools and universities. By Allah (SWT), it is forbidden. We need to develop the imaginative skills because they are the roots of thinking. Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

How then should we develop thinking through imagination? What would you think if during a history class, the teacher chose a student to play the role of a soldier in the army of Salah-Ed-Deen (Saladin) and another student to play the role of a soldier in the army of Richard the Lion Heart? The teacher could ask them to have a conversation about the character of Richard and the character of Salah-Ed-Deen. Why do we not do that? Does it cost money? Does it require a budget? It does not cost anything.

As a writing project, the teacher requires the students to write an essay describing a beautiful garden. Why not ask them to write a conversation between a soldier from the army of Salah-ud-Deen and a soldier from the army of Richard? At this point, we will discover the creativity of the students and the development of their thinking skills; it is not too complicated to do.

I want you to imagine that the teacher speaks for 50 minutes while the students are sitting covering their faces with their hands, or playing or scribbling. Surely this is a shame! The teacher is only supposed to speak for 20 minutes of the class and leave the rest of the time for discussion. The ability to discuss develops the mind, and it develops the imagination. The problem may not be how the teacher conducts the class but the way classrooms are organized in our countries; it is different from the rest of the world. The classroom is organized so that the students’ desks are in rows, right? Do you know what that means? The student is forced to listen to the teacher because the seating arrangement dictates that. The proper seating arrangement is for the students to be in groups: five students sit around one table, another five around another table and so on. The groups then converse and discuss. The teacher then facilitates the learning process and speaks only a third of the time. This way helps thinking skills to develop. Imagine the teacher training the students in proper speaking skills, listening skills and discussion etiquettes. What are they going to learn? They will learn to be active listeners and they will master conversation skills. They will learn group work.

During the Friday Prayer we cannot straighten our lines so we dispute; we do not line up properly because we did not learn group work in school. Nowadays companies that have people from different nationalities unite and work together cooperatively because they learned that in their schools. However, in our case when a father dies and leaves a large inheritance, it is distributed among his children and each one takes his share because they do not know how to co-operate. We are divided because we cannot work as a group.

We cannot criticize each other and we only see things from one point of view because our schools are based on memorization. The reason for this is that the teacher is the only one who talks during class. A teacher in Britain chose two students and placed between them a piece of wood shaped as the Arabic number 7 (a v-shape). Every student faced one side of the piece of wood, so one student saw it as a seven and the other saw it as an eight (the Arabic eight is an upside-down v-shape). The teacher uses this method to teach the students that there exists more than one point of view for every issue. The teacher then asks the students who faces the seven to defend his point of view and the same from the other student. He promises a prize for whoever is capable of presenting a stronger argument for his point of view. The one who receives the prize is the one who asks his opponent to move to his side and look at the number. This way he convinces him that there is a contrary view to his point of view. However, our kids have a one-way mind that produces violence and lacks the ability to work cooperatively.

Dear parents, professors, and teachers; what do you think of what I am presenting here? The West did not stop at that, but attempted to focus all the subjects in a week to help the student understand a certain concept. This method helps develop thinking skills. How? Using integration; for instance, one week the subject of winter is the main concept taught. During geography class, the students learn about the properties of the winter season. During a history class the teacher discusses how Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo because of the properties of the winter, and that the winter season was the main reason for Napoleon’s defeat. During the Arabic language class the teacher brainstorms with the students on writing an essay on the properties of the winter season. During a science class the biology teacher covers hibernation that many creatures undergo during the winter season. What is the outcome for the students? Their brains focus on one concept. This is the role of the curriculum and the governments.

Integration in the education system is practiced in only one country in the Arab world despite its difficult circumstances: Palestine. They apply integration in schools. I will read to you an email that was sent by a 19-year old young man. He sent this email to a website on the Internet, “I am 19 years old and my main problem started when I was in the preparatory level. I was very creative, and I was always reading all kinds of books. I was very active physically. I was very innovative and I learned everything around me due to my curiosity; for instance, I learned to make all kinds of products from palm leaves when I was nine years old. I even learned sewing, needlework, and how to make paper products. I received the highest grades in school without any competition, until I started high school. The competition was very strong and I had to focus only on studying so I put aside my hobbies, I lost my appetite for reading and I concentrated on school books to be able to achieve high grades. During these years, the teachers were teaching us blind memorization, so I lost my creativity. After graduation I suffered from high blood pressure when I was only 18 years old, due to the excessive competition and stress. My main problem now is that I cannot think anymore, and therefore I will not be able to study at university level because I have become so used to being blindly directed during the high school. Please help me; I want to go back how I was before.”

This young man expressed his views, however many millions did not. They hear us now and are among us. I need the parents to help me to develop thinking skills and I gave you examples during this episode so you need to think now.

We teach our students from the school books, and if the book is not sufficient then the teacher provide notes, and this information is given back to the teacher during the exam. Did we hear someone at our schools asking the students to research a certain topic? In the library? In books? Some government curricula advise that, but the teachers do not apply that because they were not trained to do that. The parents do not want to research for their children because if they research, they will fail the exam. Their goal is the grade and acquiring a certificate.

Some people tell me that I am trying to crack stones with water. I agree to be as they claim, because who will win in the end: the water or the stone? Of course the water will win, even though it is not harder than stone. The problem is that stone seems stronger because it is solid, but the repeated attempts of the water will carve and shape the stone as it wills.

I remind you of the survey. We have not exceeded a million answers yet, and we want to pass the one-million mark. I am happy to see the efforts of the young people and children who are collecting the information for the survey. Even women in their fifties, people from Canada, Germany, France and Norway are sending me the survey. Dear university students, we need to collect the survey before the end of the school year. We need the participation of everyone and we want to collect the results. Dear Lebanese youth, Saudi youth, Muslim and Arab youth; dear Muslims and Christians: we will take the results of the survey and carry your voice to the whole world. If Allah (SWT) wills we will be successful, and we will carve the stones. What is impossible today will be achievable tomorrow by Allah’s will.

[1] Sala-llahu Alaihi Wa-Sallam = All Prayers and Peace of Allah be upon him.

[2] TMQ=Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an. This translation is for the realized meaning, so far, of the stated (Surah:Ayah) of the Qur'an. Reading the translated meaning of the Qur'an can never replace reading it in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed.

AmrKhaled.net © جميع حقوق النشر محفوظة
This Article may be published and duplicated freely for private purposes, as long as the original source is mentioned. For all other purposes you need to obtain the prior written approval of the website administration. For info: dar_altarjama@amrkhaled.net

Episode 44: Education – Part 1