Dr. S. T. K. Naim

Women in Saudi Arabia are vigorously pursuing higher education ahead of Western women, according to 2009 Global Education Digest of UNESCO  and international gender gap index

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia managed to strike a balance between opportunities provided for both sexes in higher education through an ambitious policy of reforms. This policy bore fruit in the 2009 gap indicator issued by the international economic forum in collaboration with Harvard and California Universities where the Kingdom ranked 25 in terms of university enrollment. The Kingdom got 1.50 ahead of USA (1.41), Japan (0.88), France ( 1.27) , Germany ( 1.00), and Switzerland (0.93).

The report on the gap between the two sexes is an annual report that measures parity between them. It emphasizes on educational attainment, and the level of political and economic participation between the two sexes. It also addresses the countries ability to bridge this gap. 

Also Saudi women outnumber western women in worldwide university enrolments and graduation rates, according to 2009 Global Education Digest of UNESCO.

"These achievements are a result of a series of initiatives launched by higher education ministry for enhancing access for higher education for women", Abdulkader Alfantookh, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, told science development network.

Currently, more than 300 higher education institutes exist for women in the country alongside universities and women represent more than 56.6 per cent of the total number of Saudi university students and more than 20% of those benefiting from overseas scholarship programme. The percentage is expected in the coming years with the establishment of a number of new universities in major cities in the Kingdom including the establishment of Princess Noura bint Abdul Rahman University for women which is designed to become the world largest centre of higher education worldwide.

"It is indeed encouraging to witness a change in the status of women of Saudi Arabia, but much more needs to be done to ensure their role as active participants in knowledge society"  Syeda Tanvir Naim, a consultant to the Organization of Islamic Conference  and a member of the UN Advisory Board on Women and Science.

"The participation of women in the economic activities is critical if a country desires to build its capacity for knowledge economy as excluding them from acquiring high quality science education and its use at the workplace deprives a country from utilizing half of its intellectual potential for the generation and productive use of knowledge.", Naim concluded.

Date: 11 Feb., 2010