Now this is indeed a great step for Saudi Arabia. A huge university being constructed in Saudi Arabia which will concentrate on science and technology. I think that's great. I remember a conversation I had with a Saudi friend (Zuhair), while sitting at the Edge of the World. He was talking about how Saudi Arabia has the biggest oil deposits but they still have to import POL products! So this university would indeed be a great help in breaking through the medieval barriers which have been erected by those obscurantist mullahs. But a word of warning, see these quotes:
Its planners say men and women will study side by side in an enclave walled off from the rest of Saudi society, the country’s notorious religious police will be barred and all religious and ethnic groups will be welcome in a push for academic freedom and international collaboration sure to test the kingdom’s cultural and religious limits.
For the new institution, the king has cut his own education ministry out the loop, hiring the state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco to build the campus, create its curriculum and attract foreigners.
I am afraid the situation would be difficult, this is again something that is outside Saudi society, so it will be hermetically sealed away. If the people cannot move freely inside and outside, how in the name that is holy will the ideas move in and out? But hey, good step!
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