Manama: Saudi Arabia’s education minister has been praised on social networks after the ministry allowed Saudi women to work from home.
The ministry last week reportedly reached an agreement with representatives from the Saudi board of chambers to grant professional permits to women, who will be allowed to work from home, working on the design of education programmes.
Prince Khalid Al Faisal, the education minister, has already taken practical measures on the issue and a list of procedures and regulations will be out soon, local daily Al Madinah reported on Saturday.
The unprecedented gesture would allow several Saudi women to contribute to the development of education while making money by using their expertise.
“Prince Khalid is a highly practical leader who is genuinely working on improving education,” Abu Turki, a blogger, said. “We pray for him and we are confident that he will always keep all people in his mind and makes decisions in their favour,” he posted.
Sa’ad, another blogger, said that Prince Khalid should be given the portfolios of culture, sports and youth as well.
“He has a lot of energy and practical ideas and the country should benefit from his remarkable aptitudes,” he said.
The economic empowerment of Saudi women has been high on the agenda of the government that has launched an ambitious programme to recruit a large number of women in the private sector.
An official report in July said that the number of Saudi women employed in the private sector almost doubled in one year to reach 400,000 in 2013.
The meteoric rise from 48,406 women in 2009 to 100,000 in 2011 and 200,000 in 2012 is a clear indication of the success of the ambitious drive by the authorities to find employment opportunities for women in the conservative society that has strongly resisted allowing women to take up jobs in the private sector.
According to the report prepared by the labour ministry, the opening up of opportunities for women to work in the industrial and commercial sectors, as well in shops, has contributed massively to the high employment figures, local daily Al Eqtisadiya reported.
The report also referred to the new financial perks for teachers in the private sector, with the imposition of a minimum salary of 5,000 riyals (Dh4,896) and a transportation allowance of 600 riyals.
“Such measures have encouraged several women to become teachers in private schools,” the report said.
The authorities launched the ambitious employment programme to deal with the growing number of unemployed women and to reduce the reliance on foreign workers.
Around nine million foreigners are employed in Saudi Arabia, mostly unskilled workers in the construction and service sectors who make up one-third of the total population.
The labour ministry has been pushing to reduce their numbers by motivating Saudis to take up jobs in the private sector, often considered much less attractive than the public sector.
The employment of women in lingerie shops was initially resisted by conservative forces who said that it would encourage interaction between men and women.
However, the ministry rejected the arguments and went ahead with its employment programme, a decision that allowed the number of employed women in the private sector to jump ten-fold in four years.
“A very high number of Saudi women can be today seen in banks, hospitals, schools and shops, particularly in malls,” Hayat, a teacher, said. “People in the Eastern Province have now become accustomed to seeing them at their workplaces and no-one is shocked,” the Khobar-based teacher said.
