Essay 2

Have you ever thought about the education in your country? Saudi Arabia, which is my country, has some similarities and differences of the education from the USA. I found that education in Saudi Arabia and the USA similar in some ways for example both governments spend a lot on education. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast of the education between Saudi Arabia and the USA. In order to understand the education between the two countries, it is useful to compare the system of failure, school uniform, entrance examination and the law of segregation.

First of all, there is a slight difference from the system of failure between Saudi Arabia and USA. USA adopts the system of failure from elementary school. When the teacher decide that the students should take the course again because of his or her inadequate understanding for the class, the student must take the same curriculum. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia does not adopt the system from elementary school. The system is used from middle school. In Saudi Arabia, the compulsory education is from the elementary school, the system of failure is not applied. In the case of the failure in Saudi Arabia, fifty percent is the deadline in each test. In the system of failure of the two countries, the primary education and secondary education are different. However, from the higher education, the system is the same.

Second comparison is the school uniform. In Saudi Arabia, almost all students wear the school uniform everyday from elementary to the high school. It is good for students themselves because the do not need to worry about their clothes every day. Their parents also do not care about the cost of the clothes. In contrast, almost all students in the USA do not wear uniform, but it is rare to see uniform in USA. As for the school uniform, there is no similarity.

Third, there are differences and similarities in the entrance examination. In Saudi Arabia, a lot of universities depend on the written test to measure the students’ academic ability. On the other hand, in the USA, many universities make a point of the students’ character. The essay is one of the good ways to make students express their opinions. Although Saudi Arabian universities adopt the written test in the entrance examination, many high schools use the creative tests in the entrance examination to measure students’ character. One of the good examples is the interview. Interview can know their character easily. Similarly, USA schools use the Skype interview. In the entrance examination, there are similar ways and different ways in the two countries.

Forth, there are similarities and differences in the law of segregation between boys and girls. In Saudi Arabia since elementary school boys are separated from girls based on religious teaching. On the other hand, in the USA, just catholic schools separate girls from boys based on religious teaching as well. For instance, when I came to the USA to study my undergraduate, it took me a while to adjust dealing with my female classmates. At the same time there are some differences too for example the religion in school, gender roles that American's schools are multi-sex schools while in Saudi Arabia are single-sex schools. Furthermore, there is a special uniform in schools for Saudi students but for American's students there is not.

In conclusion, it is useful to compare the educational system of the failure, school uniform, entrance examination and the law of segregation in order to understand the education system between Saudi Arabia and the USA. My experiences studying in both countries have taught me to be well rounded. I think it is the best way to share the good points in each country to improve the level of quality of the education in a globalized world.