RIYADH: The Ministry of Education has decided to allow female teaching assistants and lectures to pursue further studies in Saudi universities instead of sending them abroad.

The decision has been taken following the murder of Saudi student Nahid Almanea in Colchester, UK, on the June 17 last year, a local media reported on Tuesday.

Education Minister Azzam Al-Dakhil instructed the universities in the Kingdom not to enroll girls into the scholarship programs to study abroad, especially if the desired fields are available in universities in Saudi Arabia.

The ministry has also encouraged female teaching assistants and lectures who want to continue their studies but cannot do so domestically due to the non-availability in domestic universities can study aboard in the company of their mehram (male family member) throughout the scholarship period.

The minister received a letter from Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh saying that he has received a lot of calls from female teaching assistants and lectures studying abroad and their academic seniors in Saudi and their parents regarding this matter.

Nahid Al-Manea, a 31-year-old PhD student, was brutally stabbed 16 times in broad daylight and died on the scene. She was buried in Saudi Arabia, after her body was released by Essex police.

Last July, a 16-year-old schoolboy has been accused of stabbing a man 100 times in a park and also murdering the Saudi PhD student. He will stand trial on two counts of murder. The boy was arrested last year following the deaths of Nahid Al-Manea and James Attfield. Both of them were murdered with striking similarities.