Saudi Arabian girls will be allowed to play sport in private schools for the first time in the latest in a series of incremental changes aimed at slowly increasing women’s rights in the ultraconservative kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s official press agency, SPA, reported on Saturday that private girls’ schools are now allowed to hold sport activities in accordance with the rules of sharia law. Students must adhere to “decent dress” codes and Saudi women teachers will be given priority in supervising the activities, according to the education ministry’s requirements.
The decision makes sport once again a stage for the push to improve women’s rights, nearly a year after two Saudi female athletes made an unprecedented appearance at the Olympics.
» Although that number has dropped from 2011 — by 7% according to the Department of Education — an increasing number of parents are taking out loans for their childrens’ pre-college education. Your Tuition Solution, a market leader, reports that loan requests are up 10% from 2011, with their average loan size up to $14,000. Roughly 20% of the new demand for loans comes from families making $150,000 or more, according to the National Association of Independent Schools. Loans repayment periods can range from 2-7 years, carry interest rates anywhere from 4-20%, and in some cases don’t have to be paid until the student graduates college. Of course, that route leaves parents paying for grades K-12 and college simultaneously.
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