RIYADH, 9 February 2007 — As part of a major initiative to promote female education in the Kingdom, a delegation of 10 senior Saudi women officials drawn from the top-notch educational institutions under the Ministry of Education, will leave for Japan on Saturday to learn from the Japanese experience, Kiyofumi Nakauchi, Resident Representative of the local chapter of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said here yesterday.
The women experts will actively participate in the 17-day study tour, which will focus on female education in Saudi Arabia.
“The training program will identify problems faced by the Kingdom in the domain of female education with an aim to formulate new policies,” Nakauchi said. The program seeks to make female education in Saudi Arabia more efficient to meet social and economic needs of the country.
The JICA-organized tailor-made training program is in cooperation with Saudi and Japanese governments. The delegation will include top female education officials and experts like Dr Mayadah Bafaqeeh, Dr Asia Yarkandi, Dr Maha Mousa, Dr Najat Al-Yazji, Dr Iman Meemsh, Dr Amirah Khayat, Dr Maysoon Dakhiel, Dr Zainab Al-Zain, Dr Sawzan Basyouni and Dr Stalhossan Al-Juhani.
The local JICA office delegates will also attend a pre-departure orientation program with a focus on social life and living conditions in the southeast Asian country known also as the “Land of the Rising Sun”.
Nakauchi said this study tour will enable delegates to understand the system of female education in Japan and incorporate some of the relevant elements into Saudi system, adding that it is also in line with the government policy to provide equal educational opportunities for both the sexes.
The Saudi participants, during this study tour, will also get a chance to familiarize themselves with the Japanese style of managing schools, colleges, technical education, education of children with disabilities, audio-visual education and museum education. Of late, Saudi government has been exerting more efforts to promote women education in the Kingdom. Out of the nearly seven million students currently enrolled in Saudi schools, about half of them are girls.
