RIYADH: Suleiman Abalkhail, president of Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, has emphasized the need to introduce more job market-friendly academic programs for women in the Kingdom’s public and private universities.
“The education of Saudi women is facing big challenges, especially in harmonizing between graduates and job market requirements,” the president said, adding that the problem was snowballing with the establishment of new universities.
He called upon public and private universities to coordinate their efforts to focus on courses that are required by the job market and cut down on courses that have already produced a large number of graduates.
The president made this comment on the occasion of the university’s plan to organize a conference titled “Saudi Women: Present and Future” on Dec. 23-24.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has approved the conference.
“King Abdullah’s approval reflects the importance given by the Saudi leadership to educating Saudi women,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted Abalkhail as saying.
King Abdullah laid the foundation stone for the university’s campus for women four years ago and allocated SR2 billion for the project. The new campus, covering an area of 600,000 square meters, will accommodate 40,000 students.
Khaled Al-Muqrin, undersecretary for women students at the university, said the conference would focus on challenges facing women’s education in the Kingdom.
