JEDDAH, 28 March 2004 — Riyadh’s women’s colleges will be transformed into a university, Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, announced yesterday.
He made the announcement while opening the College of Arts for Girls in the capital. He also laid the foundation stone for the second phase of the university project.
Prince Abdullah later saw models of academic buildings for the new university and toured the newly opened College of Arts.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Hosayn, the undersecretary for women’s colleges, briefed the prince on their development over the past 35 years.
The university will encompass the six colleges serving nearly 30,000 students in the women’s college complex in Riyadh. They are the College of Arts, the College of Education (Science Section), the College of Education (Arts), the College for Home Science and Technical Education, the Teachers Training College, and the Social Services College.
Education Minister Dr. Muhammad Al-Rasheed at the ceremony reviewed the history of girls’ education in the Kingdom since its start in 1960, highlighting what he called the “tremendous progress” achieved in the last 40 years.
There are 102 colleges for women under the Education Ministry, 16 of them offering postgraduate and doctoral degrees. Some 122,000 girls have been enrolled.
There are more than 2.3 million girls in the Kingdom’s 16,000 primary, intermediate and secondary schools.
Dr. Al-Rasheed also announced plans to launch a long distance education program here next academic year. The project, based in Riyadh, has been awarded to a Saudi company.
The first phase of the university project will cost SR300 million and will be completed early next year. The second phase includes construction of three additional colleges with a budget of SR150 million.
Abdul Rahman Al-Ahmad, the deputy education minister for buildings and facilities, said several women’s colleges were under construction in the Kingdom.
“Two academic complexes are being built in Jeddah and Dammam,” he said. New girls colleges are also under construction in Makkah, Madinah, Qasim, Hail, Al-Ahsa, Abha, Tabuk, Baha and Jizan.
