Grand Imam calls for expert committees in education, pedagogy, sociology, and psychology to anticipate the future of education.

 

His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Prof. Ahmad al-Tayyeb received Dr. Alaa Ashmawy, Chairman of the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE), today, Monday, at Al-Azhar. The meeting was attended by Prof. Mohammad al-Duwaini, Undersecretary of Al-Azhar, and Dr. Ragia Taha, Vice President of the Authority.

 

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar stated that educational institutions in the Arab and Islamic world bear a double responsibility to confront the Westernization campaigns spread by some foreign and international schools, which weaken the national education system. He emphasized the need to form committees of senior experts in education, psychology, and sociology to look up the future of education, lest we should find that our countries—within a few decades—are being led by Western minds devoid of any Eastern or Arab values. He warned against campaigns to commodify education and turn it into commercial transactions for illicit profit, and emphasized the need to preserve the uniqueness of Arab education and identity.

 

His Eminence pointed out that one of the worrying phenomena that must be addressed and studied in depth is the phenomenon of families boasting about their children's proficiency in foreign languages, despite their extreme weakness in mastering the most basic rules of the Arabic language, sometimes to the point of being unable to read or write correctly. His Eminence warned that despite the necessity of learning and mastering languages, caution and vigilance are essential to the cultural, social, and political messages that foreign education carries. This, if not implemented properly and thoughtfully, could strip young people of their identity and separate them from the reality of their homeland and the concerns of their nation.

 

The Chairman of the NAQAAE expressed his happiness at meeting with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, and his appreciation for his great efforts in advancing Al-Azhar education system. He emphasized that Al-Azhar education has witnessed an unprecedented boom in the number of institutes and colleges that have obtained accreditation certificates from the Authority over the past five years, adding that the evaluation was not nominal; rather, it was based on several criteria, the most important of which are: attention to the educational process and critical thinking, the general condition of facilities and buildings, and finding innovative solutions to the problem of overcrowding in institutes without compromising access to academic curricula.