By Chaitali B. Roy

girls learned how to read and write. What about you? How did you start your education?

Like most of the girls of my childhood years, I started my schooling in one of those Kuttabs. Using chalk on slate, we were taught how to read and write. But my father who realized the importance of education was not satisfied to limit our learning to the ‘Kuttabs’. He allowed us to be taught at home, by employing teachers, whom the Saudi government had recruited for the only school in the Kingdom in Makkah (Madrasat Tahdheer Albethat) which was dedicated for preparing Saudi boys to be enrolled in Universities abroad. Those same high calibre teachers, who were mainly from Egypt and Syria were also employed by King Faisal to teach his own daughters at home. Eager to give us the best education possible, my father with the encouragement of our mother took the hard decision of sending us all abroad for better schooling.

In the face of fierce resistance by the conservatives, schools for girls were only allowed to open their doors after it was agreed that a separate new entity would control education for girls, The General Presidency of Girls’ Education (GPGE) was established in 1960, to meet the educational needs of girls. This late start of formal school education for girls in KSA was only possible because of the tireless efforts of the late Queen Effat Al-Thunayyan with the support of her husband Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz who became the King of Saudi Arabia in 1964.

This is amazing. It shows the role that enlightened individuals like your father and King Faisal played in extending education to Saudi girls. And contrary to popular perception, it happened quite early. Personally, what inspired you to seek higher education?

I was interested in Science — physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics subjects which were regarded unladylike by most people of the time and especially by people from my country. People around me in Alexandria made that obvious to me and dissuaded me from engineering as it would have been a useless qualification for a woman in Saudi Arabia. My father’s wishes had always been that I would become a doctor, but it was only after I had already decided to study medicine, that he made this known to me. I was convinced that Medical School was the better choice to be able to pursue a career in Saudi Arabia. You chose to study medicine but did you change your mind later?

I spent limited time at Medical School at the University of Alexandria. Unfortunately, despite my promising performance and attaining top marks throughout the first year, my intolerance to dissecting cadavers and the prospect of dealing with suffering and sick people, got the best of me. In the middle of my second year of studying medicine, I was unable to continue.

My family did not object to my decision to leave medicine, but it certainly was a shock to my professors. They couldn’t believe that anyone who was doing so well in her studies would just leave out of choice. They tried their best to convince me to stay, but I was adamant to leave. Realising that, they were quick to make alternative suggestions for me. My transfer to the School of Pharmacy in the same University was made easier by the high recommendations attached to my application, and I was immediately accepted. This was to the delight of my father who had a thriving pharmaceutical business at the time and thought of my own decision as even more promising.

In the summer of 1964, I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree (BSc) in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Two years later and in 1966, I completed a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Pharmacy. My desire to further my studies drove me to immediately join a doctorate program which ended in 1970 with me obtaining a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Pharmacology).

Completing these objectives meant that by 1970 I was the First Saudi Arabian Woman to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree (BSc), obtain a Master’s Degree (MSc) and complete a Doctorate Program and to be awarded a Philosopher Doctor Degree (PhD). My passion for seeking knowledge “from the cradle to the grave” led me to become the first Saudi woman to pursue higher education.

That must have been quite something. By any standards, it is a huge achievement. How did your parents and relatives react to this?

Throughout my school years my parents were more than supportive of any choice that I made. I received nothing but encouragement and compassion from them, and I was left to select the subjects without any objections. My return to Saudi Arabia made headline news in many newspapers, magazines and radio interviews. Until then I really had not thought much of what I had achieved. To me, it was simply getting on with my life and