Education
Approximately 71% to 78% of females are literate, in comparison to 85% literacy rates in males. More women receive secondary- and tertiary-education than men. Fifty percent of working women have a college education, compared to 16 percent of working men. In contrast, in 1970, only 2% of women were literate (compared to 15% of men).
According to a UNESCO report, the percentage of women graduating from universities is higher than in Western countries.
The quality of education is lower for females than males. Curricula and textbooks are updated less frequently, and teachers tend to be less qualified. At the higher levels, males have better research facilities.
One of the official educational policies is to promote "belief in the One God, Islam as the way of life, and Muhammad as God's Messenger." Official policy particularly emphasizes religion in the education of girls: "The purpose of educating a girl is to bring her up in a proper Islamic way so as to perform her duty in life, be an ideal and successful housewife and a good mother, ready to do things which suit her nature such as teaching, nursing and medical treatment." Policy also specifies "women's right to obtain suitable education on equal footing with men in light of Islamic laws."
Saudi women often specify education as the most important area for women's rights reform.
Read more about this topic: Women's Rights In Saudi Arabia
Famous quotes containing the word education:
“In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men. The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
“Infants and young children are not just sitting twiddling their thumbs, waiting for their parents to teach them to read and do math. They are expending a vast amount of time and effort in exploring and understanding their immediate world. Healthy education supports and encourages this spontaneous learning.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worth while. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.”
—Aleister Crowley (1875–1947)