Factors Effecting Students Selecting Private Colleges In Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

Why do select private colleges in Saudi Arabia? Introduction: The importance of secondary education in a globally competitive work environment has been acknowledged in Saudi Arabia, with the Government funding several public sector colleges. But despite the availability of free education, most Saudi students opt to study at private colleges or attend foreign universities instead. This research study will try to examine why students make such a choice and what are the factors that are responsible for such outcomes. It is also proposed to provide recommendations in this study that could help to address the problems identified in this study, which could be leading to the choice of students to study at private colleges. Background: The very first University in Saudi Arabia – King Saud University – was established in 1957 and since then, the number of educational institutions in the country has increased steadily. The importance of college education has long been acknowledged by the Saudi leadership and successive development plans have emphasized the need for development of the real wealth of the nation – human resources. As a result, the Saudi Government has funded eight Universities in all parts of the country, with 76 colleges covering 400 specialized fields (Saudia-online, 2001). Attendance at these Universities is completely free; there are no tuition fees, rather students at the post secondary level actually receive a stipend. The Government also funds vocational training centres, which offer Saudi students training in typing, shorthand, accounting and other skills (www.education.stateuniversity.com). Problem Statement: Most of the public educational institutions are free to Saudi students because they are governmentally funded. Yet, there is a marked preference for private colleges, with a large proportion of Saudi students choosing to study at foreign Universities rather than opt for public universities. The problem statement which arises is therefore the question of why Saudi students prefer to attend private colleges or study at foreign universities instead of opting for a public college. Purpose of this study: This study is a qualitative one and its purpose is to carry out research among both public and private colleges in Saudi Arabia in order to identify the underlying factors that may be responsible for the choice of private colleges and foreign Universities instead of public colleges in Saudi Arabia. Research Questions: The research questions posed in this study are as follows: 1. Are participant students studying at a private or public University? 2. Why have students made the choice to study at a private college instead of a public college? Literature Review: In a study carried out on public Saudi Arabian colleges, Alkhazim (2003) has identified three challenges faced by these institutions that are imposed as by social and economic factors. These three challenges are (a) limitation in places (b) depletion of resources and (c) quality measures. During the year 2000-2001, an estimated 60,000 students were not admitted into Saudi public colleges and there is a clear indication that the existing system of education in Saudi Arabia where the public colleges are concerned is inadequate to meet the demand that exists, which may prompt more students to select private sector colleges. The lack of financial resources is also impacting upon the quality of education imparted at these public colleges. During the period from 1980 to 2000, only one new University was established and the ratio of faculty to students is 1:20, which is too large a ratio as compared to foreign universities. The budgets allocated to each university are handed out on the basis of a common budgetary system that applies to all government sectors and is not based on a University’s academic performance. Hence, there is no drive to excel or motivate students to excel, which in turn may impact negatively upon their prospects when they leave college. Alkhazim(2003) also discusses the bureaucratic government structure that is responsible for coordinating the educational process. The Minister of Higher education supervises the Universities and the King appoints the Universities’ Presidents while other high ranking Government officials appoint other educational officers. The administrative systems at these public sector colleges mandate a high level of dependence upon Government. Since Universities do not have full control of their employment system, they are limited in their ability to develop academic policies, staffing and budgeting, which also impacts upon their performance outcomes and reduces the quality of education imparted. Students attending these public universities are paid a stipend as well, which further reduces the resources available to strengthen the academic programs at these Universities and the hiring of highly skilled teachers. Alkhazim(2003) also states that the higher education provision in these public colleges does not meet the requirements, either in terms of quantity or quality. While foreign nationals are easily hired, locally trained Saudi nationals from public colleges are unemployed, because most Saudi college produce graduates in areas such as social and religious studies but not in critical areas such as the health and engineering professions. In a study carried out at Effat College, a private women’s college, Glowacki-Dudka points out the vision of the college, which is as follows: The College, in keeping with the Islamic quest for knowledge is committed to being a leader in providing academic excellence and professional development.” The author set out in this study to examine how the quality of education imparted at this college could be further improved by interviewing the faculty and administration about their expectations, including how they saw their roles and to identify any underlying issues. One of the findings in this study by Glowacki-Dudka (2003) was the identification of a need to change the definition of education from memorization to critical thinking. Secondly, there was a need to help women overcome the reality of their existence, i.e, the prospect of no-option-but-marriage, to provide them with a degree. She also identified differing expectations between administration and faculty. The study however establishes clearly that the college is striving to provide a quality education and is open for improvements, not being strapped like the public colleges are. Hypothesis: Since the objective of this study was to determine the factors determining the choice of private colleges, the null hypothesis proposed in this study is: Students prefer private colleges because they receive a higher quality of education and a better job. On this basis, if the null hypothesis is disproved in this study, then the alternative hypothesis will apply, i.e., Students do not prefer private colleges because they receive a higher quality of education and a better job. Methodology: This study will be based on a qualitative method but utilize a quantitative analysis method. Since the subject of the study is student/faculty attitudes guiding the choice in favour of private colleges in Saudi Arabia, there is a subjective element involved. methods lend themselves well to those studies where a special understanding of the issues is sought to be achieved and in the generation of a level of information that is fairly comprehensive. (Troachim, 2001). Qualitative data is primarily concerned with the collection of individual opinions and the preferred method that is often selected for use with this kind of research is structured or semi structured interviews. Quantitative data research is useful when general trends have to be identified or measured (Trochim, 2001), when the issues under study impact upon a significant number of people and may be widely applicable to the general population. A quantitative research method aims to gather larger volumes of data in a numerical format, which can be subjected to statistical analysis and where there is no ambiguity in the data, which is measured on an ordinal scale. In this case, neither a purely qualitative nor a purely quantitative method would be appropriate. The subjective element involved required the application of the qualitative method, while the sheer volume of data necessary for a proper analysis mandated a quantitative approach. Thus, a mixed methods approach may be more suitable. Research instrument: The research strategy proposed to be used in this study is survey questionnaires. There may be some problems associated with the qualitative interview method, involving a detailed structured or semi structured interview in the case of this particular study. For example, this method is likely to be time consuming when considered against the results sought to be achieved. The thrust of this study is to discover overall patterns within a large group of students/faculty within a limited time frame. A comprehensive literature review is to be taken up to provide the background material and the secondary data for this study. The primary data is collected from the questionnaire/survey, which is a favoured tool used in research because it can provide a cheap and effective method of collecting data in a structured and manageable way. (Wilkinson and Birmingham, 2003). Using a Likert style questionnaire would also help to rank subjective participant attitudes in a numerical format, because for every statement provided in the questionnaire, a range of responses can be provided with a numerical code against them. For instance, the degree of agreement could range from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree” on a numerical scale of 1 to 5. The participants in this study would be about 250 students as well as faculty members, both from private as well as public colleges. It is proposed to use convenience sampling in order to identify the participants. Although random sampling would be ideal, it would consume a large amount of time and it could be difficult to gather a truly representative sample. The participants would be asked to tick the most appropriate response on the survey questionnaire based upon the degree of their agreement. This could be followed up with structured interviews carried out among the participants in order to obtain more detailed responses on their choices. The responses received from these interviews could be coded in order to determine the most commonly cited reasons. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003: 311) highlight ethical concerns that may arise in a research study, such as the need to maintain the privacy of individuals and to solicit only voluntary participation - allowing the right to withdraw any time, the need to maintain the confidentiality of the data and the objectivity of the researcher. Therefore, the consent of the participants will be solicited first before gathering their views, in order to ensure that they have no objections to participate in the study. The participants will also be informed that the study is for research purposes only. In order to preserve the anonymity of the respondents, they will not be required to provide their names as a part of the questionnaire, but only their gender and age. Scope and delimitations: Time frame for research: The total time frame for this research study will be about two months and two weeks. The initial two weeks will be devoted to the collection of research materials and the development of the questionnaire. Following this, a pilot survey will be conducted during the third week using a limited sample of 25 students and faculty members from different colleges. The next four weeks will be set aside to travel to various colleges in the UK to collect responses on questionnaires, which will then be organized into an excel data file that will contain the numerical responses obtained. The last three weeks will be set aside for analysis of survey results and the write up of the report. Significance of research: The economies of the Middle East play a very important role in the world economy because they are large scale producers of oil and this is especially true in the case of Saudi Arabia. In view of the initiatives that have been actively implemented by the Government to promote education in the nation, the problem of why students are opting for private colleges becomes important. This study may help to shed a considerable amount of light on why students are making such choices and pave the way for future research into this issue. References: Glowacki-Dudka, Michelle, 2003. “Expectations and experiences with teaching women at a private college in Saudi Arabia”, 2003 Midwest research to Practice Conference in Adult, Community and Continuing Education, pp 89-95 “Saudi Arabia- Secondary Education”, Retrieved November 3, 2009 from: http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1304/Saudi-Arabia-SECONDARY-EDUCATION.html Saudia Online, 2001. “Saudi Arabia’s progress sin higher education”, Riyadh, Feb 13, 2001, Retrieved November 3, 2009 from: http://www.saudia-online.com/business146.htm Trochim, W. , 2001. The Research Methods Knowledge base (2nd Ed.) Atomic Dog Publishing Wilkinson, D. and Birmingham, P., 2003. Using research instruments: A Guide for researchers, Routledge Read More