RIYADH, 12 December 2005 — A new SR1.2 billion educational complex, with several colleges offering professional courses especially for Saudi women, will be built in the capital city as part of an educational initiative of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. The colleges, with a capacity to enroll about 24,000 female students at one time, will be an extension of the prestigious Riyadh-based Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU).
Dr. Mohammad Saad Al-Salim, the university’s rector, made the announcement here yesterday. He was speaking after signing a contract with the Al-Fouzan Company for Public Trading and Contracting, which will initiate the first two phases of the four-phase project inside the university’s sprawling campus at a cost of SR500 million.
Founded in 1954, the Imam University is the third oldest university after the Umm Al-Qura and the Islamic University of Madinah. The university, which started with two colleges — one for Shariah and another for Arabic language — now has more than a dozen colleges on its campus. At the moment, the university has on its rolls more than 55,000 male and female students. It also has affiliated institutes operating in the US, Japan, Djibouti, Indonesia, Mauritania and the UAE where they offer courses in Islamic and Arabic studies.
“This educational complex would be built on an area of 600,000 square meters,” said Al-Salim. “Besides colleges with modern lecture halls, a range of other facilities, such as the administrative building, library, students service center, studio, telecom, food services, banking services and car parking will be located inside the complex.”
The project will be completed within the next four years, said the university official.
“This major educational initiative reflects the government’s commitment to promote education,” said Al-Salim.
The move is in line with Saudi Arabia’s new five-year plan to focus on the empowerment of women. The Saudi government launched a national education program for girls in 1960. By mid-1970s, about half of Saudi girls were attending school. Five years later, education was available to all Saudi girls. Today, women outnumber boys in Saudi universities and colleges.
