AL-BAHA: English and computer skills are two sides of a work skills coin. Institutes that offer both are having to offer special discounts to women in order to attract students as competition heats up among private institutes.
Some institutes are even offering free classes to orphans."We have coordinated with the Al-Atawilah Orphanage to offer some of its boys and girls free computer courses, and we expect to receive 17 members," said Thoraya Saud, director of the Al-Kafi Institute.
"We received those children and organized a party for them, our aim was to lend them a hand to get out of their loneliness."
It's natural to show sympathy for orphans and to want to do something to help them, she added.
"Our 100 percent Saudi-national instructors are very happy to host the orphans, and showed their readiness to give courses voluntarily. Our trainees participated in the party with some animated shows," Saud added.
Saud, who is also a member of the Saudi Languages and Translation Association, told The Saudi gazette that her institute does not hesitate to admit poor children at reduced fees. "Once, the chairman responded to an appeal from a poor girl, he granted her a two-year free course," Saud said.
The institute offers not only computer and English-language courses, but it also holds workshops for teachers on how to teach, how to prepare lessons and how to control classes.
"We have signed a contract with the Directorate of Education to provide the courses," Saud said.
"Graduates of the Al-Kafi Institute are regularly given free, on-the-job courses. In such classes, we try to keep our former students updated."
Mothers and daughters benefit from the institute's low-priced summer courses. "We have a woman in her fifties who comes to learn, along with her 19-year-old daughter. They travel 70 kilometers every day to attend our computer courses," Saud added.
The women of Al-Baha region are enthusiastic to learn what Saud described as important and essential skills.
Mohammed Ojair, a 20-year-old Saudi national, told The Saudi Gazette that he just dropped his 45-year-old mother at the institute. "She wants to learn how to deal with computers, because her livelihood as a teacher necessitated joining a computer course," he said.
Waiting for his niece to come out of Al-Alamia institute, 26-year-old Ahmed Al-Hasani told The Saudi Gazette that his 17-year-old niece failed her school computer exam, and she wanted to improve, hoping she can do well in the remedial exam.
While it is true that people of the Al-Baha region are very conservative, especially toward their women and girls they also have a reputation for hospitality, and will almost always make the first move to show how extraordinary those women truly are.
Ali Al-Zahrani, whose daughter attends a private institute, hurled some insults at a Saudi Gazette photographer, unsure why any man with a camera would stand so close to women. However, he quickly expressed his regret.
"Our girls are lucky to have such institutes. We can see computers everywhere, and I believe that those who are incapable of dealing with computers are illiterates. Educational and vocational training centers, are offering reasonable prices for their courses," Zahrani said.
By Mohammed S. Al-Kinani
The Saudi Gazette 2006
