JEDDAH, 9 December 2004 — The Administration for Girls’ Education has launched its latest program designed to reduce female illiteracy. The program is entitled “The Enlightened Neighborhood” and aims at training 1,500 residents of the Petromin area for five months at three different locations.
“The program is an effective way of eradicating illiteracy because its main premises are developing the trainee’s educational and practical skills and therefore preparing them to contribute to society’s development,” said Abdul Kareem Al-Hokail, general director of the administration, at a press conference.
“The Enlightened Neighborhood” is an international program introduced by UNESCO and has been successful in such countries as Egypt, Iran, India and Sudan. The programs are implemented with the cooperation of local agencies and aim at raising educational and cultural standards.
In addition to literacy courses, the program includes increasing awareness of health care, the environment, social behavior and, through a series of lectures, other basic life skills. “The program targets illiterate women between the ages of 15 and 45 and encourages those over 45 living in the neighborhood to attend literacy classes,” said Najwa Batteekh, director of the illiteracy unit at the administration.
A team of supervisors from the Education Supervisory Administration is responsible for executing the program; teachers of art, nutrition, computing, Islamic studies, Arabic studies, math, science, social studies, and English will provide the training. Trainees will also study skills development based on their personal interests such as tailoring, make-up or arts and crafts. At the end of the five-month-long program, the trainees will receive a financial award and an official certificate.
“We were short of equipment, desks and art supplies but we still talked to neighborhood women and explained to them the purpose of the program. We also asked them what they wanted to learn. We were then able to put a program together, enroll trainees and then two weeks ago, we actually began,” explained Batteekh.
The courses are scheduled for the afternoon. All the teachers and supervisors are volunteers and the administration is relying on private benefactors for supplies. “The neighborhood is one that needs a lot of attention. It has a number of problems along with high rates of unemployment and illiteracy. The income of some families is no more than SR1,500 a month. We don’t want to teach them just to read and write. We want to show them the way to a better future,” said Batteekh.
To assist in the program, a number of other entities — the Ministry of Health, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, the Women’s Rights Committee and various charitable organizations — are also involved. For example, the Ministry of the Interior will send a representative to talk about drug abuse; the Ministry of Health will send nurses and doctors to talk about women’s health issues, and the Women’s Rights Committee will inform women of their rights, how to participate in municipal elections and suggest ways in which they can be productive members of society.
