For instance, the Ministry of Education, in a recent statement, warned against holding sporting activities in girls’ schools. It said that such an act would be considered a gross violation of its rules and regulations.

The ministry’s spokesman, Muhammad Al-Dhikhaini, told local newspapers that the Ministry of Education’s Jeddah branch is investigating the violations committed by a number of private schools in the city that allowed their pupils to participate in a sports competition.

The warning issued by the Ministry of the Education and its spokesman’s statement will make one believe that sports are illegal for schoolgirls. The philosophy behind this is the claim to “prevent any activity that may hurt you or others.” It is this same idea that there is a ban on drugs which can damage one’s mind.

Likewise, you can view sports in schools to be harmful just like drugs. It is for this very reason that the Ministry of Education has laws to stop girls from participating in sports and penalizes females who do so.  You will come to believe that a schoolgirl who practices sports will be harming herself and those who organize sports competitions want to harm them.

On the other hand, there are those who allow women’s sports. They issue licenses to establish special clubs where women can practice sports for annual subscriptions that may cost thousands of riyals.

The reader will be puzzled by the Ministry of Education’s warning that forbids sports in girls schools and the call to establish special clubs for women to practice sports indoors. The reader will feel that something is wrong and his mind will not be able to comprehend these contradictions.

Readers who are puzzled by the Ministry of Education’s warnings should go and get educated at a ministry school. He will not know anything about the philosophy behind sports nor its usefulness in society. He will not know that sports can build a strong body capable of fighting diseases and that a female employee or housewife who plays sports will be more productive than a person who does not.

In this case, the reader will simply turn schizophrenic. He will have two personalities: One understands the ministry’s decision and the other appreciates the promoters of women’s sports. The reader will have a chronic headache because his mind will be working and will not, at the same time, be able to understand these contradictions.

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