JEDDAH — Education in Saudi Arabia has taken great strides from the era of the simple Qur'anic schools (Katateeb), established by individual efforts or through support from Kingdom's founder King Abdul Aziz. Today, it is no surprise, that the Kingdom boasts of more than 30,000 schools covering all cities, towns, villages, hamlets and remote areas, and there are six million boys and girls enrolled in general education. When reviewing the story of education in the Kingdom, we must not forget the efforts exerted by the State on girls' education and how the wise leadership formulated and designed the curricula so as not to disturb the unique social fabric of our society. This was a clear indication of their farsightedness and their clear vision of the future. Initially, the idea of girls' education faced strong resistance from the conservative society and it became a hotly contested issue with both sides advancing their logic and reason with force. From girls' education in the Qur'anic schools or at homes, the government in 1959 set up the "General Presidency of Girls' Education" under a royal decree issued by King Saud to be an official government organ responsible for planning, managing and supervising girls' education. According to history books, the first government primary school for girls was opened in Dammam in 1960. In the same year, a number of girls' schools were opened in various parts of the Kingdom. The private girl education preceded the government education by five years at least when Princess Effat Al-Thinayan opened the Dar Al-Hanan school in Jeddah in 1955. The school attracted many girls and it provided an advanced education because Princess Effat was able to recruit qualified women teachers from neighboring Arab counties. Some history books have recorded that Al-Najah (success) Private School in Jeddah was established a year ahead of Dar Al-Hanan. In Riyadh, the charity foundation of the king's daughters was renamed the daughters' institute and then the Riyadh model institute for girls. It started with a single classroom, which was opened in 1951, and accommodated 12 girls who were taught by two women teachers from Egypt. King Saud University, which was established in 1957, provided Saudi women with an opportunity to have higher education. In 1961, the university allowed girls to have distant learning at colleges of arts and administrative sciences. Other universities followed suit opening wide doors for girls to join them through distance learning program. In the academic year 1970-71, the General Presidency of Girls' Education established a college for girls. It was the Riyadh Educational College. A number of special sections for the girls were opened in the boy universities, which were affiliated to the ministry of education. According to official figures, the number of girls in the universities at present is higher than the number of boys. The General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) said there were 107 girls against each 100 male students. The Saudi women continued their education journey with limitless ambitions until the number of the scholarship girls in the US alone reached about 29,000. Since the Scholarship Program of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques was launched, some 205,000 Saudi women had their higher education in a number of renowned universities around the world. The government has provided women with opportunities to have high education so as to contribute their bit in nation-building with diligence and efficiency.
