Out with the Old, In with the New!

By Tarek Talaat

Many people disagree with the fact that the Arabic language should be included in Schutz American School's curriculum. I think it should be taught just as a foundation level, and then students should feel free to continue or discontinue the Arabic language class based on their interest in the subject.
The basic level of Arabic is important because the school is located in Egypt, and most students are Egyptian. I feel that students should learn how to communicate, read, and write in their native language. Students eventually will need to know how to read a letter or an email or even read the newspaper to learn about what happens around them. Some students plan to finish up their education and pursue their family business here in Egypt, these are the students who will need it the most because they need their native language to make business plans or write up contracts.
Another reason is that tuition fees at Schutz are very expensive, so I believe that if people pay that much money, they should get everything they can out of the school's curriculum, instead of students just taking private lessons at home. People might disagree with Arabic being included in the curriculum because Schutz is an American school; however, the inclusion of Arabic in the curriculum will not affect the quality of English taught at school if tightly and carefully scheduled.
I personally think that the Arabic language should be taught throughout middle school, and as students enter high school, they should have the option whether they want to continue with the Arabic language based on their interest in the subject.
There might not be a lot of reasons why we should include Arabic in the curriculum, but at least you are going to have enough reasons to argue against the points provided for excluding Arabic from the curriculum. Students can only gain from adding another useful subject to their education.