Ibrahim Ali Naseeb

Al-Madina newspaper

I recently published an article entitled “Taboo” in which I wrote about the behavior of some professors. As a result, one of my readers contacted me to say that his daughter who studies abroad at University College London (UCL), which incidentally is ranked seventh globally, received a letter from her professor apologizing because he was unable to mark her exam paper on time due to some circumstances and promising her that she would receive her results by the beginning of the following week.

It is tutors like this who really appreciate science, time and people. They treat their students with the conviction that they are the future. It is this sort of treatment that is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our professors and teachers treat their students as inferiors, as if they were ignorant and had no future.

The professor’s apology shows how well educated he is. An apology of this sort only comes from someone who deserves to work at a place like UCL to teach young people the priorities in life. They teach that commitment comes first, followed by manners and then knowledge. They teach the value of human beings and the need to treat young people as mature adults who will create, invent and learn to overcome their struggles in life on their own to then become great teachers in the future.

I salute the scientists, teachers, students and all of those who value education and high morals.