King Abdullah also directed transportation authorities to take necessary precautions to ensure the safety of passengers, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

“The cancellation of the residence proof has become an imperative in the wake of the royal order to create 52,000 jobs in the Ministry of Education so that all women applicants get fair employment opportunities,” Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah said while thanking the king for the order.

A committee comprising representatives of the ministries of interior, education and civil service, and the Control and Investigation Bureau had submitted a report to the king recommending the removal of the residence stipulation for women’s employment in schools.

However, no such condition was stipulated for men’s employment.

The Education Ministry had earlier made it a condition that a woman employee should be a resident of the same locality where she would be taking up her job.

The advantage of the regulation was that women could work in their own towns and villages and avoid often risky commutes to remote workplaces. 

“However, over the past three years many difficulties were experienced because of this stipulation, and studies conducted by the ministry stressed the need to review the stipulation,” the education minister said.

The government has recently announced several measures to end unemployment among Saudi men and women.

Among the 52,000 new jobs to be created in the education sector, 39,000 are reserved for women as a move to ease unemployment among educated Saudi women.

Opportunities for women’s employment are mostly offered by education and health sectors.

The government also ordered recently that only women should work in lingerie shops.

According to some studies unemployment among Saudi women stood at 28 percent.