Simply because the full facts are not yet available, it is not possible to comment in detail on the enforced closure of the privately-run Science and Technology College in Jeddah. It appears, however, that when it opened three years ago, the college was granted a temporary license to operate, but that since then it has either not sought, or the authorities have not got around to issuing, permanent permission for it to continue teaching its students. It is however possible and indeed necessary to comment on the consequences of this action by the Ministry of Higher Education. Several hundred students, many of whom have been working hard for their qualifications, suddenly find themselves in danger of having to start their courses all over again at some other institution. This will be especially galling for those who are coming to the end of three years of studies and who were expecting to gain their qualifications in the near future. It is hardly surprising that a group of students from the Jeddah college has appealed to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and to Khalid Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education, asking them to intervene, arguing that their college has enjoyed a fine reputation and offers specialized courses not available elsewhere in the locality. The issue surely is that unless the Science and Technology College was actually offering substandard training, the interests of the students should have been to the fore when officials at the ministry were deciding on the institution's fate. If they had been making good progress within soundly-structured courses led by properly-qualified lecturers, then consideration should have been given, either to maintaining the college until it could “run out" and qualify its existing students, or otherwise find them alternative courses at other institutions. The students maintain that this would not be possible for a few, at least, of the highly specialized courses some of them are taking. Ministry inspectors had visited the college on a number of occasions, and were surely in a position to understand the catastrophic consequences that would ensue if the college were shut down immediately. The students point out that a few years back, another private college was closed down by the ministry and, although it was promised that their course work and diplomas would be recognized, no such thing happened. On the face of it, therefore, whatever the shortcomings at this Jeddah higher education facility, what has happened is unfair. However, the students are definitely wrong about one thing. No matter how frustrating and indeed alarming it may be to see, for some of them, three years of study potentially not gain them the academic and technical awards they sought, their time at the college will not have been entirely squandered. It may be hard for them to appreciate, but there is no such thing as wasted learning. Going over course work for a second time is likely to give a much better understanding of any subject. They may indeed have lost time, but if they have been studying properly until now, they will only be the better for it, when they eventually gain their qualifications and go out into the world of work.
