Members vow to take proposal to general assembly By Abdul Rahman Bawazeer Okaz/Saudi Gazette
RIYADH — The Shoura Council's committee on education and scientific research has turned down a proposal tabled by three women members to set up special colleges for women's sport and physical education in the Saudi universities, informed sources have said. The proposal was made by Lina Al-Maeena, Latifa Al-Shaalan and Atta Al-Sibaiti. The Shoura members said they would overlook the committee's decision and put their proposal before the council's general assembly. The proposal asked the Ministry of Education to liaise with the General Authority of Sports for the establishment of special sports colleges for girls in Saudi universities so as to graduate specialized national sport cadres. The three members said there was an urgent need for female university graduates specialized in sports and physical education to teach in government and private girl schools to replace expatiate teachers when girls' sports is officially introduced in the general education. They said the move would also support the objectives of the Kingdom's Vision 2030 aimed at raising the ratio of women employment to about 30 percent. The female members said maintaining a balanced and healthy life has prompted them to table their proposal, which is aimed at increasing the daily rate of exercise among women from 13 percent to 40 percent. They said many Arab and international universities have established special colleges for physical education for girls. They added that since the Saudi universities were looking for excellence and uniqueness, they have to introduce sports education for their girl students. The committee also rejected another proposal to hand over the management of the scholarship program into an autonomous authority to ensure its continuation. Mansour Al-Kiraidis, who presented the proposal, said he would also overlook the committee and forward his proposal to the general assembly. "The supervising of the program must be in the hands of an autonomous authority," he added. The members questioned the role of the committees and saying that most of the time they are not synchronized with the changes currently taking place in the Kingdom.
