RIYADH, Jan 10: Saudi Arabia has ruled out making changes in its curriculum in the wake of criticism and pressure by the US and some other Western countries to alter its current format.

Education Minister Muhammad Al-Rasheed denied any overhauling it the curriculum of Saudi schools under pressure from Western powers. “Our curriculum is based on well established principles, determined by our needs and the requirements of our society,” Al-Rasheed said in an interview with the Al-Watan daily.

“No one has the right to interfere in our (internal) issues or dictate us,” the minister emphasized.

In recent days there have been reports circulating here that the US and some other western powers are pressing the kingdom to overhaul its educational system, with lesser emphasis on religion.

According to some press reports here, Saudi Arabia has reacted strongly to Western claims that the religious-oriented educational system in the kingdom breeds extremists and needs to be changed.

Some imams have been telling the audience in Friday sermons that the US is pressing Saudi Arabia to do away with its religious schools altogether and lay lesser emphasis on religious education in its regular schools. Some have been saying that the Western powers are also suggesting that in case Riyadh cannot do away with religious education in their curriculum altogether, they should lay emphasis on teaching courses on non-controversial Islamic subjects such as Islamic architecture.

The country’s educators and columnists have rejected the accusations against the teaching of Islamic principles to students in Saudi Arabia. “We are teaching our people the principles of Islam because that is our religion, this is our choice,” said Mubarak Alwazrah, assistant professor of human resources at King Saud University in Riyadh.

“There is certainly a pressing need to change the curriculum in Saudi Arabia, exactly like in other advanced countries of the world,” columnist Tareq al-Homayed wrote in Al-Madinah newspaper.

“But the American demand for us to change our curriculum just because there were Saudis aboard the hijacked planes is illogical,” Homayed added.

Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari had said in remarks published earlier that Saudi universities were adjusting their programmes to reflect the changing demands of the job market, but he did not think that the current Saudi curriculum placed too much emphasis on religious education.

“In higher education I don’t think this (focus on religion) is an issue,” he said, adding that only eight of the 130 credit hours required for a four-year liberal arts degree had to be in Islamic studies.