Arab News - 05 January, 2007
Top jobs, especially in the ministries of education and
higher education are to be reserved for women. The Education Ministry, which
announced the plans two weeks ago, has already appointed more than 27 women in
top positions.
Five posts for deans have been reserved for women as part
of the government’s efforts to place women in top positions and give them more
autonomy concerning girls’ education.
“This is in addition to women
consultants, who were recently appointed to aid and advise the Shoura Council on
women-related issues,” said Dr. Fauzia Al-Bakr, a professor at the Riyadh-based
King Saud University (KSU), here on Wednesday.
Dr. Fauzia said that the
Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education have taken steps to
provide employment to women.
The first five women deans, whose names were
announced earlier, are already working with the Ministry of Education. This
would help meet the research needs of 102 girls’ colleges in the Kingdom and
help promote their educational and social development, said a report released by
the Education Ministry. Referring to the growing number of jobless women, Fauzia
said that more efforts were required to meet women’s expectations concerning
employment.
The Labor Ministry, which is working to create more job
opportunities for women in different sectors, estimates unemployment among women
at 28 percent.
The ministry has already launched a campaign to provide
employment to 200,000 women and appointed 30 women officials at its offices in
Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. The ministry’s offices are currently receiving
applications from women job seekers.
Women are being trained as cashiers
and receptionists besides getting other training organized by the General
Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training (GOTEVOT). These
training programs are being conducted in Jeddah, Dammam, Rass, Madinah, Ahsa,
Buraidah, Onaiza and Bekaryia. The focus has been mainly on retail sales and
reception, according to Sharif Jassem Al-Abdulwahab, GOTEVOT’s director-general
for joint training administration.
The women’s training programs were
organized for the first time following the Labor Ministry’s decision to employ
women in a wide variety of jobs. The program has attracted thousands of women
job seekers. Currently there are more than 10,000 trainees and more have joined
the growing list of applicants. Several companies and business houses have come
forward with plans to employ women.
As part of this initiative, an SR82
million Silicon Valley project to be launched in February this year by Rakisa
Holding, the lead developer of Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Musaed Economic City in
Hail, is likely to create at least 600 jobs for women. The project, once
operational, would supply a range of electronic products required by banks,
telecom and publishing companies and
e-government.