Dr. Nadhem to Yemen Times:Strike victimizes students [Archives:2005/832/Community]

By Shaker al-Molsi
Yemen Times Staff
“We have the right to strike,” thus did Dr. Nadhem Sa'eed set it forth from behind his desk in his debut interview with the Yemen Times as head of the English Department, Faculty of Education Sana'a University.

He spoke about a variety of different subjects relating to the conditions of education in the Department, most important of which is the recent strike that has dimmed the picture resulting in further discontent and raising fears about the reality of Yemen's education.

It is the yet-unresolved headache which university teachers resorted to after the government had refused to answer their demands.

His above statement was in response to a question about the legitimacy of strike.

He further said, “Strike is not an egotistical gesture.What is egotistical is for the government to turn down our requests. It is part of the rights of the teaching staff to go on strike.

“We have been struggling for our rights for some four years. And the government is ignoring us and is not responding to us at all. They are trying to play tricks.”

Dr. Nadhem admits that it is a process of victimization.

“We victimize students and we have been victimized ourselves. So, the government is responsible.”

However he defends the strike on the ground that “it is part of our constitutional rights that we are practicing. It is actually the government that should do something not only for us but for the whole people in all places.

“Teachers have no other kind of income apart from their teaching while others have. We don't want to live like king but, in order to do our work properly, we want to lead a decent life, which means good income. This will make our time really for writing papers, research, and reading extensively to inform our students much more.”

The salaries of Yemeni university teaching staff is relatively better than other public sector's employees.

But Dr. Nadhem suggests raising the salaries of all wage categories.

“The government should improve the situation of all Yemenis.We believe that if they use the budget efficiently, they can increase the salary, according to the World Bank's report at least, minimally speaking, three hundred dollars.”

Starting before one month, the strike is believed to have impacted student's acquisition of this semester's subjects and stirred concern over the reality of education.

“Of course it affected them a lot,” he said. ” For example if you have one group twice a week, it means the loss of something like ten meetings a month. And imagine how many meetings have been missed by all groups.”

With no glimmer of hope that the strike will come to an end, it is uncertain that the objectives of the semester will be achieved.

New challenge

Being newly appointed as head of the Department, Dr. Nadhem is set to prove himself as an administrator as he did as a full-time teacher.

“I have proved my ability as a teacher in the classroom and I am going to prove myself as an administrator.” He thinks that it will not affect his performance in the class.

“No doubt, it will reduce my load as a teacher but that reduction is not much, just like three hours. It is going to enhance my performance as I will be available all the time for students to ask questions.

“I have taught for a number of years, and it is time to go for another aspect to prove myself as an administrator. The Department needs somebody who can take it up. If I don't go to do it, who else is going to do it. Any professor will inevitably lose some of the load.”

He is still taking the same classes that he used to take. And he is always present for the students' inquiries whether in class or outside class.

“Of course the administrative work will take some time, making one thinks of small problems. It is kind of annoying and hectic.” Nevertheless, he is determined to ” give it a try.”

More plans and activities

Dr. Nadhem has walked into office with his mind full of plans. Asked about what he has in store for the students of the Department, he replied, “I have a lot. I want all the students to rally around me to improve the performance of the Department. I have many things in mind. I want to work on the syllabus, the curriculum and on quality of teaching.”

He has also made provisions to change the Department's library into a bigger one and to make the computer lab into a multimedia center, well stocked with English learning programs. These are some of his ambitions, which ” need support, morally and financially.”

He has started improvement by inviting one volunteer American teacher, Mrs. Rachael, who is teaching writing and students are happy with that. He promises, ” I will try my best to get another native speaker.”

The Department has begun conducting and organizing various activities including a number of seminars on frequent basis.

They are also picnicking in Sana'a suburbs to enhance the fraternal spirit among the Department's students and also break the conventional type of teacher-student formal relationship.

Students from the Department will be visiting the Yemen Times premises to see the whole process of producing the newspaper and learn about the system of the Yemen Times Establishment.

Good English necessitates student committment

Commenting on the English teaching in the university, Dr. Nadhem mentioned that English in Yemen is a foreign language, and is not a second language and this makes it hard to learn.

“English is not spoken in the streets, government's departments, and ministries. And it is not taught from the beginning of the primary school but from the preparatory school. It is a good idea to start teaching English from the first class of primary school. When students join our Department, they completely sidetracks and it takes them some time like a cultural shock to catch up. They need some kind of intensive course in order to join our the Department and to know what is going on. But usually those who work hard, they catch up and become very good English learners and teachers.”

Unbalanced rates

In the past, especially at the Faculty of Education, number of girls was small. However, nowadays, it is the opposite, rendering a remarkable phenomenon although it is a sign of progress.

The new head of the Department denies that they adopt an admission policy that favors girls over boys.

“Admission is based on performance in High School and entrance exam. Girls tend to outperform boys. This may be attributed to their diligence, remedial courses, or may be their very nature. Moreover, there is the high gender rate. Women all over the world are more in number than men. Usually, from the fact that we know now, most of the applicants are girls.”

In conclusion, Dr. Nadhem did not forget to give a piece of advice for the English language learners who are avid for knowledge and determined to push their way through this realm.

“Stick to hard work and be ambitious; improve your knowledge and acquisition and try to learn English in every place through media, TV, radios, dictionaries, making friends with native speakers, and communicating with graduates from previous batches.”

He puts it quite straightforwardly, “The person who has a will has also the way to the 'how' of doing it properly.”
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