The Development of Curriculum for Girls in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This paper illustrates the development of curriculum for girls in Saudi Arabia and how it has changed and been challenged over time. Several factors have played important roles on impeding girls’ education. Society was the main impediment, as it used to refuse any change and fight that change. Girls in Saudi Arabia are segregated from boys in different schools, but in the past, they also had to take different subjects and curriculum that what boys were studying. There are three major challenges that girls’ education faced until they were given the same quality of education that boys received. The first challenge started during King Faisal’s era when girls were allowed to go to public schools but under different directors than boys’ institutions. The second time was in 2002, when the girls’ education was moved under the Ministry of Education. The last challenge began with King Abdullah’s project for developing education, whereupon girls received the same quality of education as men.