Last year the government spent SR2.2 billion on training. How much of this figure was actually spent on training women? What has been the share in contracts, signed from the beginning by the Manpower Development Fund with private sector companies and establishments, to train and employ women?
I don’t have the exact figures, but I assume the women’s share is very modest, given the limited job opportunities available to them.
We hope the recent decision by the Council of Ministers to create new job opportunities for women will accelerate the training of women by bringing to life the numerous measures announced earlier in this regard. The actual training needs of women should be taken into account to determine how to prepare them for the kind of jobs they would ultimately fill.
The first step here is convening meetings between officials in charge of training in both the government and private sectors, representatives of community service centers, the General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training and local chambers of commerce. The meetings must define the nature of training programs that prepare women for future jobs. This is a very important matter in a conservative society such as ours in which segregation of the sexes is strictly applied and also because many women prefer to work in places not far from home.
The Internet could help a great deal, allowing women to work at home. Again, this would require a minimum level of training that shows women how to deal with the technology. For their part, women must have an interest and show a high degree of self-discipline and readiness. The necessary infrastructure should be there to ensure effectiveness and efficiency; this could be achieved by improving Internet services, reducing users’ costs and passing legislation and measures that protect and guarantee the rights of all parties.
Opening the way for women to invest and granting them business licenses for business of their choice would guarantee their active participation in the development process through active participation and not just a nominal one as is the case now with the illegal proxy business.
