The Success of Womens Education in Saudi Arabia - Case Study Example

Efforts by the Saudi government to establish formal education for women were initially faced with obstacles from citizens especially due to traditional, cultural, and religious beliefs, norms, and attitudes that existed then in the society. But after a long battle, the government managed to convince the people of the need to educate the girl child. Interestingly, the same citizens eventually started supporting it. As a result, women’s education started growing rapidly, and currently, it is one of the sectors that have attained much success in the Saudi Kingdom.

In addition, this has given Saudi women a chance to establish their educational talents, which has seen a lot of them attain remarkable success in different fields of education. Though there have been emerging challenges threatening the future progress of women’s education in Saudi Arabia, the government of Saudi Arabia and Saudi society as a whole have taken initiatives that have given women’s education a brighter future. This paper gives a detailed focus on the aforementioned issues in relation to women’s education in Saudi Arabia.

To start with, it examines the history of women’s education in the kingdom. Precisely, this section focuses on informal education prior to the development of formal education as well as the initial battle of the Saudi government to enhance formal education for Saudi women. In addition, the paper gives a detailed account of the rapid development of women’s education in the kingdom and also the progress of women in different fields of education. Finally, the paper points out a few emerging challenges facing women's education and the concerted efforts to tackle these constraints.

To enhance a clear understanding of these concepts, it will be prudent to first give an overview of the cultural and social situation of women in the Saudi Kingdom. The cultural and social situation of women in Saudi Arabia According to AlMunajjed (2009), Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries in which strict gender segregation has prevailed for a long time sanctioned by the traditional, cultural, and religious beliefs, norms, and attitudes as well as principles emanating from the patriarchal system of Saudi society.

According to Qusti (2003), in the family, the status of a Saudi woman has been high especially as they undertake their duties of mothers and sisters. Precisely, the Saudi society regards the role of a woman as a wife and a mother as a most sacred and essential one. Also, as Hamdan (2005) points out, women are allowed to make investments using their own money and to own properties under their names. Moreover, currently, there is no restriction on benefiting from a woman’s exceptional talent in any educational field.

Consequently, Saudi women have shown significant progress in the field of education contrary to many years back when they were not allowed. With increased support from the government to access education, women have been able to achieve education at all levels (from elementary to university levels). However, this has not gone without experiencing challenges from conservative leaders who for a long time continued to convince the society to bend the requests of women, especially those that are related to education.

The general public perception has always been that the Saudi woman’s place is home. But as Hamdan (2005) notes, recently, segregation issues have been discussed publicly and women have been able to access most educational benefits that they were denied in the past. One of the remarkable improvements in women’s education in Saudi Arabia is the change in presidency of women’s education. According to AlMunajjed (2009), education for women at all levels remained under the Department of Religious Guidance until 2002, while schooling for men was overseen by the Ministry of Education.

The presidency of girls’ education was heavily influenced by conservative religious scholars and thus girls did not enjoy the same prestige as boys under the Ministry of Education (AlMunajjed, 2009). The aim of this strategy was to make sure that women’s education did not deviate from its original purpose which was to ensure that they retain religious morals, they become good wives and mothers and that they would be moulded to be enrolled in ‘acceptable’ jobs that were believed to suit their nature such as teaching and nursing.

Among other improvements this portrays a great change in the traditional perception of the status of a woman in the Saudi society. History of women's education in Saudi Arabia Informal education The history of Saudi citizen’s initiative to achieve education dates back in 1930s. According to Alexander (2011), the interest in education in the kingdom was initially sparked by the discovery of oil in 1935 and it later grew along with the development of the economy. By then, there were no established educational centres and institutions and the citizens of Saudi Arabia sought education from various places, most significant of which was the mosque.

As Alexander points out, efforts to achieve formal education were largely focused on the male child. Girls were confined to their homes by the traditional norms held by the Saudi society, which highly promoted gender segregation. However, according to Kramarae and Spender (2000), female children also received significant attention during this period of pre-official education. Their education primarily took place in unofficial schools known as katateeb where a lady or a group of ladies were assigned to their homes to teach them religious issues as per the holy Quran, the principles of mathematics and the basics of reading and writing.

In addition, the informal education included teaching the girls to follow the rules of behaviour upheld in the Muslim community and to know how to pray. According to Doumato (as cited in Hamdan, 2005), the approach to understanding issues largely involved memorisation rather than reading. To support the teachers who worked in katateeb, Saudi citizens contributed for their monthly salaries, though some of them volunteered and did not accept the payment. These teachers existed all over the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

As well, education for girls took place in private tutorials in the residents of professional female or male Quran readers.