Al-Thager Model School - History

History

Faisal bin Abdul Aziz founded the school in Taif in the early 1950s. In 1964 Faisal opened a large campus for the school in Jeddah, and from that point forward, arranged an annual fund of several million Saudi riyals from the national budget. Kamal Adham, Faisal's Turkish father-in-law, traveled to the United Kingdom to meet officials from the government. Adham told the officials that the school ought to be modeled after Victoria College, a school in Khartoum, Sudan inspired by British education. The Government of Saudi Arabia provided funds and staff members for the school. Steve Coll, author of The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century, said that during the 1960s and 1970s Al-Thager "had the reputation of a private enclave for the sons of businessmen and the royal family." Al-Thager became the most prestigious school in Jeddah.

The school's entrance examinations were open to all Saudis. Some lower class Saudis were granted acceptance and attended the school with wealthier Saudis. Around that era, each graduating class consisted of around 60 boys. During that period many Egyptian and Syrian teachers, who had been involved in dissident Islamic organizations in their home countries, taught at Al-Thager, as many did in other Saudi primary and secondary schools and universities. Coll said in the 1960s and early 1970s that the school "had a relatively secular flavor."

Around the early 1970s many Al-Thager students engaged in political debates. One group of students, influenced by Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt, were in favor of Pan-Arab nationalism. Another group of students, influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood, were in favor of additional Islamic influence in politics in the Arab world. Coll said that Al-Thager was "a conspicuous example of modernization without secularization."