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

Welcome to a new episode of Life Makers. This episode talks about education, but before we start with education, we will talk first about the results that we have achieved so far in the third stage of the project of Life Makers that began nearly four months ago. What has happened in the last four months? I will talk about these results with great pride and joy in the male and female youth. This is not to boast of ourselves, nor to show off the projects that were only ideas on paper and have become real. In the end we will all die, and whoever shows off shall die and find nothing on the Day of Judgment. On the contrary, our intention, and may Allah (SWT) be a witness, is to share our great happiness with a young man or woman who started a project and made a change or added something to this life. We intend to meet our Lord on the Day of Judgment and to see on our scale of good deeds a young man who helped in the rising of this community.

Since we started the third stage, we have addressed five different fields: unemployment, agriculture, industry, health, and we finally started last time with education. We discussed, for each field, a project that we believe, if applied, will cause a revival to the community within twenty years.

In the field of unemployment, we discussed the small projects that young people can work on. In the field of industry, we talked about small industrial projects. Then in the field of agriculture, we talked about planting the rooftops of houses. As for health, we discussed small discussion groups as well as a project called ‘Guardians of the Future,’ which raises awareness against drugs, and also the project of preserving water. Moreover, we will talk today about the education project (today and in the next episode). Thus there are five fields with around five projects. What has taken place in the past four months?

The young people, who worked, have the right to be mentioned. Moreover, it is our duty to tell those who have not worked yet to wake up. In the last four months, a major step forward occurred, and it is the right of those who worked, because the logo of our program is ‘Together we Make Life,’ and thus we must report what we have made.

Three things happened so far. Firstly, we established the consultancy office to teach young people how to create small projects. After only three months the number of people who contacted the consultancy office to learn about small projects exceeded thirteen thousand young people. The number of consultants who volunteered was around six thousand consultants. Products have been made and they are now being sold. Secondly, school and university students started to make exhibitions to display the products of the small projects and hand made products. In around two months, twenty exhibitions were organized, ten of which were in Egypt; for instance, the handicrafts team had an exhibition in the Life Makers Club in Cairo and the Life Makers Club in Maadi. Moreover, the Life Makers Team of Cairo, Tanta, Alexandria, el-Minya, Sharqiyya, al-Mansoura, and al-Menoufiya all organized exhibitions to show and sell their products at the universities, after taking permission from the presidents and heads of the colleges. As for the Faculty of Engineering of Ain Shams University, it had a whole week called the ‘Revival week;’ all of this was in Egypt.

As for Jordan, the students of al-Zarqaa’ University put on a permanent show for two months, in which 235 students participated by presenting their products. It concluded only yesterday, and they had a celebration that included the university’s professors. All of this proves that our young people are still good from the inside, for as soon as they were presented with a certain idea, they moved at once. They are not irresponsible, but they need a chance, for all those mentioned are the results of only three months or maybe even two. As for the young people in the Sultanate of Oman, the students of the Sultan Qabus University made a wonderful gallery for their products. Furthermore, the young people in Morocco came out with products from their small projects, in addition to the results reached by many people on their own. Each day, they post the results they have achieved and the projects that they have started on the internet.

As for the third achievement in the field of unemployment, around a month ago, was the survey that we asked our young people to answer to ask if they were ready to start small projects. I thank all those young men and women who used to call for a long time to give us the results of the surveys that they collected. Our work team reached a point where they were not able to analyze the large amount of faxes we received on the program’s fax numbers. As a result of all this we had to limit the number of faxes sent per person to 99 faxes to make sure they were genuine. We also asked them how they collected the surveys to make sure they were accurate and true survey results.

At first, the project was to plant the rooftops of houses, but it is now also planting the rooftops of schools, universities and companies. It was mentioned on our site that there are 150 participating schools in the Arab world, but we ask them to keep it up in the summer. Only two months ago, 150 schools planted their rooftops, as well as 12 colleges and universities that joined the project of planting rooftops, first of which was the Faculty of Engineering in Cairo University, who started planting their rooftops after taking permission from the Dean. Moreover, hundreds of houses contacted us and they have also started producing. All these results were achieved only in a month and a half. In Life Makers we only give ideas and Allah (SWT) opens the doors wide open; for instance, there were 150 lectures explaining the procedure of planting house rooftops in places including Alexandria, Cairo, Algeria and Wahran, where an expert would explain the process. One hundred and fifty lectures!

Furthermore, only a month and a half ago, four Arab governments made the project public when they saw that the people were very interested. When I first presented this idea, I was not really sure what the reaction would be, but when the governments found that the project was serious and effective, they started generalizing it due to its usefulness. Take for example; the Minister of Education in Egypt made it a must for all schools to plant their rooftops starting from next year. Moreover, it was published in al-Ahram newspaper that the Governor of Cairo has decided to plant the rooftops of houses in his province. These are the results for the field of agriculture and the project of planting rooftops.

The results were in the form of health discussion forums. I said that we have to raise health awareness, especially because the non-contagious diseases are spreading, due to people’s bad habits, such as smoking cigarettes or shisha, obesity, and the lack of exercise. Thus, I asked the young men and women to join health discussion forums. I asked that there be at least fifty health discussion groups in the Arab world, but now the number has reached 350 discussion forums made from young men and women from all over the Arab world. In fact, the Life Makers team in Lebanon exerted a great effort in the health discussion forums in each of Akar and Tripoli. Health discussion groups were formed across the entire Arab world in very little time. The real number of groups who registered themselves was 1500 but we stopped at 350, and so I ask the people to register themselves again to increase the number of health discussion forums, and to continue with them, as well as to start to cooperate with the World Health Organization. All of this has happened in only three months.

Furthermore, in the field of health, we proposed a project for preserving water, and asked for ideas for the project. We also told you that the Faqih Organization has dedicated 1.5 million Saudi Riyals to the winner of this competition. As a result, in a month and a half, we received 3,552 ideas and the results will be announced by the end of June, where the Faqih Organization will reply to all the participants from Life Makers. In addition to that, those ideas that will not win this year will be proposed again next year. Hence, I remind you of Allah’s saying that can be translated as, “Said two men of the ones that feared Allah) (and) whom Allah had favored, “Enter in upon them (by) the gate. So, when you enter it, then surely you will be overcoming them. And so put all your trust in Allah in case you are believers.”” (TMQ, 5:23).[2] What happened in the past four months, and what will happen in the future, with the efforts of our youth, asserts Allah’s name ‘al-Fattah’ (the Opener, the Reliever). This name means that when Allah (SWT) opens the path for a person, it opens beyond his imagination. Thus, in Surat al-Fath, Allah says what can be translated as, “Surely We have given you an evident conquest, (Literally: conquered for you; or: opened for you)” (TMQ, 48:1). Allah (SWT) did not say merely a normal conquest or opening, but an evident conquest, due to the name al-Fattah. Thus, I am here talking to you today in the name of Allah (SWT) al-Fattah; thanks to Him we worked with his openings, and if Allah wills, we shall see the blessing of Allah’s name al-Fattah in the future.

In Life Makers, we have the intention of standing before Allah (SWT) on the Day of Judgment and saying, “Oh Allah, we have fixed and revived the Ummah (Nation). We have exerted our utmost efforts although we did not have help except our trust in You, oh Allah, You are the one who gave us hope. Truly, it was dark when we lived, but Your light, You who are the light of the skies and the earth, is what lit our path. Truly, we felt that people were laughing at us and telling us that it was nothing but dreams, but then we heard the Hadith of the Prophet (SAWS), “If the Day of Judgment comes and in your hand (you have) a palm shoot, plant it quickly before it strikes, if you can”.[3] Thus, we will work in this life night and day, while this life is not in our hearts. Our goal lies not in this life, but in paradise.” This is our intention for all we have done in Life Makers in the past four months. Now I ask those who did not work with us so far to work with us. Who will continue with us along this path?

Imagine standing between the hands of Allah (SWT) on the Day of Judgment, when He (AWJ)[4] asks you what you have done for the Ummah. Will you look down, not knowing what to say or will you hold your head up high and say that you tried and fixed? Maybe then you will find Harram Ibn-Mahan beside you and with him seventy of the Prophet’s friends. You will wonder why you are beside Harram and he will say to Allah (SWT), “I found Ahl al-Suffa, the poor Muslims who had nothing to eat, so I taught them how to make small projects until they became rich. This was my intention until I was martyred.” As for you, Life Maker, you will say that you worked in the small projects and gave out the survey and exerted effort in doing that. As for you, young woman, Life Maker, you might stand beside Solaiman al-Faresy, and wonder about why you stand beside him. Then you will hear him say, “I dug the trench and protected the Muslims.” Then, you will say that you planted the rooftops and fed your country. Another one will find herself beside Rafida and also wonder, until she tells her, “I cured Muslims, like Saad Ibn-Muath. The Prophet provided a tent in his mosque for me to cure the Muslims of their wounds.” Then you, Life Maker, would say that you worked with the health discussion forums. If Allah (SWT) wills all of this will happen, but we have to work for it.

I will end the first part with a beautiful video of the young men and women of Jeddah that should give you hope. They worked in a health discussion forum and called it “Mishkat Tabib” (A Doctor’s Lantern) from the ayah (verse) where Allah says what can be translated as, “Allah is The Light of the heavens and the earth; the similitude of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp,” (TMQ, 24:35). Supervising the doctors is one prominent doctor called Dr Walid al-Feteihy and helping him is Dr. Wael Akoush. They are the ones who made this forum, like those in al-Mansoura, Jeddah and Makkah. Let us watch the health discussion forum and see how our youth love Allah (SWT). Let us watch the forum of Mishkat Tabib, and our young men and women.

We return to the subject of education. This is considered a hard subject and it will not be finished in one or two episodes. To start, I will have to go back one step and ask, what is the purpose of the Life Makers project? Put simply, the purpose is to revive this area of the world in a very short period of time that will not exceed twenty years. This is the goal. Of course, the young people think that twenty years is a very long time, but I am sure that the mothers and fathers know that twenty years pass very quickly from man’s age. Due to that, the parents might not believe that twenty years can be enough. Meanwhile, our youth will think the opposite. I will try to bring together both points of view and give hope to both youth and parents alike. I would like to remind the parents who are not convinced that twenty years are enough of the Egypt’s losses in the 1967 war. Of course you will remember that victory was gained after only six years in 1973. Did you believe at the time that the loss could turn into a great victory in only six years? If we only had greater hope and trust in Allah (SWT), we could have reached al-Quds and liberated al-Aqsa Mosque. I remind you of all this to give you hope, especially the older people. These twenty years will pass very quickly and we will achieve what we want if we believe in our hearts that there is hope.

What does this have to do with education? If our goal is to achieve a revival within twenty years, then the education system must help us to reach this goal. What is the education system? It consists of the school, class, textbooks, principles, teachers, and ministers of education. It includes all the stages of education from nursery to graduation. It also includes school uniforms, books and the students themselves. All of this comes under the education system.

What we propose now is that the goal of the education system in the next few years becomes to make life makers, because they will achieve the revival in the coming twenty years. I propose that this goal is written and put in front of us all the time. Is there anyone who objects to this? Is there anyone who does not like what I am saying? Can we all agree on this? Since we want to make a revival, then we must give them the necessary education. Do you remember the different fields of revival? Do you remember the small projects? Education has to teach the youth how to make small projects. Do we not want to make a revival or do we want more employees? In every field we want creative people who are trained in the area that makes this field unique in that certain region.

Education in Britain has a different curriculum for each region. Education in Wales is different from that in Scotland, or the West Midlands, etc. This is because every region has something unique about it. Wales, for example, concentrates on hotel education because it has many hotels. Another region would concentrate on small projects, and so on.

What we want is an education system that would concentrate on the making of a revival by training the students in small projects and the appropriate field for each area. This is what is needed for education to help in the revival.

Today, I am not talking about details, such as the number of students and schools. Instead, I am talking of the higher level in the education system which should be changed. Graduates are the products of the education system whether they are able to achieve what they wish for or not. The question is: what can we do?

The current education system generates employees who can neither start a project or even a simple small business venture, nor be creative or productive workers. Why? Because our education system generates graduates who are only fit to be government employees, no more. If graduates work in the private sector, they will work for a very limited number of companies, mostly international companies, since they employ a very limited number of talented and creative people. Hence, we need to talk about the higher level of the educational revival and not about the details, like the number of students in each classroom. What is the goal of the education system? To generate government employees. Why? Because education is based on memorizing information. Hence, students’ so-called success becomes guaranteed because schools cannot afford to fail students and they only aim to generate government employees.

Although Arab governments are no longer in need of employees, the education system still insists on producing such employees. Everything has changed: the role of the government has been reduced; parents are becoming more involved and small business ventures are emerging. Hence, Arab governments are no longer in need of this kind of employment. However, educational institutions have become like reproductive machines that produce millions incessantly while the need for such products does not exist in the first place. What are really needed are small projects, but unfortunately the products of our education system are not fit to start such ventures. This is where the problem of unemployment lies. There is an overload of unemployed graduates and it is time to start a revival by beginning a trend of small ventures. I need secondary level students to back me up, not just experts in this field.

There is another problem, however. Financing our youths’ business ventures only leads to failure. Why? Because what they have learnt for sixteen years of their lives was based on memorization skills and private lessons. Parents spent fortunes on their children’s education and yet their youngsters are not fit for the workplace.

I watched an episode about education on an Egyptian TV Channel four days ago. The guests, who came from the Ministry of Education, said that there are some intermediate level students who still cannot write their own names. Can you imagine that such students, who have been in school for almost nine years of their lives, still cannot write their own names! Forty percent of Arabs in the Arab world do not want to become literate because they know that education will only lead to unemployment, despite the fact that Arab governments are spending billions of dollars on programs to erase illiteracy.

On the illustrative chart that shows the increase in the unemployment rate amongst educated people in the Arab world, the curve steepened between the years 2001 and 2005. As a result, the illiterate decide to stay illiterate and work in the fields and gain money instead of spending fortunes on education and ending up taking money from their parents. What am I getting at?

Our children have been learning through dictation for the past sixteen years and as a result, the government no longer needs such products. In Life Makers we are calling for a completely new education system that presents new ideas and a new vision aiming at producing Life Makers. It does not matter what you specialize in but what matters is that your specialization benefits your region so that you grow and prosper. I do not actually have a ready-made solution as to how to start this new system but I need you, as scientists, parents, specialists and students, to participate in developing this system. Go to www.amrkhaled.net and post your suggestions and ideas. You are the center of this process and you need to express your opinions about the system you wish for, and the door is open for all ideas. It is true that we reject our old system and that we want to change it but we do not want any of our youth to stop studying for the exams or to quit school because of the system’s failure. Our new system will emerge and our children will benefit and if Allah (SWT) wills, we will reap the rewards of such a change on the Day of Judgment.

Constant development conferences which have been held for years in the Arab countries are not the solution. We are not looking for development; we are looking for a totally new system that is not based on dictation and memorization but on innovation – cultivating cognitive abilities, discovering talents and abilities, research methods, etc. Hence, we will present a new education system that produces graduates who are productive and creative in all fields of specialization: manufacturing, journalism, arts, etc. The arts, for example, should not be taught theoretically as they are today.

A question poses itself: what is the solution to all this? I cannot present the solution in this episode. The aim of this episode and the measure of its success lies in its ability to persuade ourselves of the dire need for a new education system and the futility of the current education system which is incapable of bringing forth an educational revival. Let us think together, please visit our website; I call for experts and specialists to help us design and present the new system. Let us think out the box, that is, think beyond our current limits.

Before the current educational system, the schooling system was based on the kuttab which were small schools spread across all parts of the Arab world that taught all subjects, such as mathematics, science, Arabic and Qur’an. Graduates of such schools learned all subjects. At least they could read the Qur’an. Today, if you ask a graduate who holds a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree to read just one line of the Holy Qur’an, s/he will make at least ten mistakes. Why? Because the current system neglected the Book of the Creator (SWT). This is not the fault of the Minister of Education but the fault of the whole ‘modern’ education system which replaced the old system.

The question is: do we really like the products of the current education system? Perhaps such a system was suitable when it was originally made but the circumstances have changed and we no longer like the products. Nevertheless, we have never asked what the source of these products was. All conferences and meetings talk about the products, but never the source! Is this system as sacred as the Holy Book? Is it written somewhere that the system must consist of Elementary, Intermediate, and Secondary levels in such an order? Why are we unable to think beyond this predetermined mindset? The West has, and here is an example: after the communication and technological revolution, the West thought of a new educational and work-from-home system. Home education or home schooling was designed to put an end to the deviation of youth and it was encouraged by the church, especially the Catholic Church. Children started to learn from home and, surprisingly, their success levels surpassed those of students who attended regular schools. I am not calling for the same system to be implemented in our countries because it may not be suitable. All I am asking for is that we think beyond our current limits.

I shall tell you a joke to reduce the gravity of our discussion: in our countries, we have developed an education system that is even better than the Western system: firstly, we have private lessons which are exactly like home schooling, and secondly, we have regular schooling. Ours are the only countries which teach our children two types of educational styles and pay for both at the same time. We have super kids who receive these kinds of education and super parents who are able to pay for both, but are we doing this to protect our children from deviation?

I still do not know how the new educational system would be but I would like to know if you are convinced of the futility of our current system and the need for new products. Are you?

If you agree with me we need experts and journalists to promote this idea and we need Life Makers’ groups to deliver this episode to journalists, experts and the media. This is another national issue so do not tell me that it is just another dream. Will you help us? Let us consider new ideas; we do not have to stick to our current ones.

These days, the government is thinking about building a number of new schools in agricultural lands. This seems to be a bad idea because the area of these lands is already too small. Please let us think of brighter ideas. Even if you think your ideas are crazy and outrageous, you never know! They may be used in ten years or so, just use your imagination and send as many as ideas as possible.

This is what we can present in this episode. We do not have a magic wand but at least we have realized that our education system is useless and that it needs to be replaced. I may have depressed you, as I know you are thinking, “What are we going to do with the system, where will all our teachers go? Should we tear this whole system down?” No, not at all. Life Makers build and never tear down. That was just an initiative to trigger a serious discussion, but the current situation needs a great deal of work. You may ask if I have an idea of a project to reform the situation. Well, I shall tell you about a small one.

Our next episode, ‘A Letter to Teachers,’ will demonstrate the present situation and it is a very important episode. What about the venture? Yes, we do have one. I shall tell you about a simple idea. When home schooling first started in the West, parents realized that their children became introverted, so a number of mothers would form a group, gather their children and bring them toys to ensure their children remained energetic and communicated with other children. Such groups increased in number and the church supported them. Those groups of women took care of a group of children until they excelled and outdid other children in regular schools.

I would like to remind parents that they will be the first to be judged by Allah (SWT) for what their children have become, not the Ministry of Education. “You are all guardians and you are all responsible for those you guard.” What I am suggesting here is that parents can take a great deal of responsibility regarding the issue of reformation. We are approaching the summer vacation and we want every three or four women to gather and take training sessions on how to discover the abilities of children, in such a way that they take turns in taking care of all the children. Such sessions are found everywhere. Just look and we shall try to help you. Throughout the summer, mothers will enroll in such sessions and they will be responsible for tutoring their children in winter when school starts. Each mother will their take turn in teaching the children; for example, one mother could teach Arabic, another could teach mathematics, etc. This way mothers will find time for other activities. Are the mothers ready? Will they succeed?

1) After our last episode, sister Iman from Ismaliyya posted twenty Internet games that help discover children’s abilities on our website. They are fantastic.

2) Another sister sent a letter before this episode began and said, “I went to the supervisor in my daughters’ school in Saudi Arabia and told her about the educational revival project. I discussed the possibility of forming a group of mothers to take training sessions during the summer vacation that help discover children’s abilities.”

Praise be to Allah (SWT), this lady had the same idea as me! Mothers, why not give this a try? What can we lose? This is our project, pure and simple. Next episode is a letter to teachers and this episode is an appeal to mothers; this is a simple and easy project. Imagine if we had 8,000 or 10,000 Arab women participating in this project! This could be the gateway towards our new system.

[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.

[3] Authentic Hadith, narrated by al-Albany.

[4] Aza-Wa-Jal [Glorified and Sublime be He].

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Episode 45: Education – Part 2