On Behalf of

Business & Finance Club - Education - Riyadh: Illiteracy in Saudi Arabia has declined significantly from approximately 60 percent in 1980 to 13 percent in 2009, a senior official said this week.

Speaking at the opening of a conference on adult education in Abha, deputy education minister for girls’ education Norah Al Fayez highlighted the importance of continuing education, Arab News daily reported.

“Adult education is the key to sustainable development,” she said.
According to Arab News, Al Fayez is the Kingdom’s first woman minister and was appointed by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah under an initiative to advance girls’ education in the country.

Female unemployment in Saudi Arabia has risen and “radical solutions” are needed to address the issue, officials have said.

The Saudi Ministry of Labour said the unemployment rate among women in the kingdom “exceeds global averages”, according to a report in the Arabic daily Al-Hayat, cited by the Saudi Gazette.

Saudi Arabia's private sector growth is expected to recover to 3.7 percent in 2010, but will continue lingering below 4.7 percent of 2008, prior to the global financial crisis, Credit Agricole's Saudi affiliate said earlier this year.

Unemployment among the native Saudi population more than doubled to 15.2 percent in 2009 from 6.2 percent a year earlier.