There have been so many changes to women’s opportunities in the last seven days.
First came the right to drive, then came news of the kingdom’s first female spokesperson, and now women in Saudi have seen another empowering change.
Female students in the kingdom will now be allowed to carry their phones while on campus, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Education has announced.
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Previously, according to the ministry, at least seven universities had imposed a mobile phone ban on female students and had been known to confiscate devices.
Education Minister Ahmed Al Eissa also told universities that they could not prohibit female students from using their devices within campus grounds.
The announcement follows complaints from student and their parents, the ministry said, after the ban caused delays to lectures.
Riyadh’s King Saud University also removed the need for approval of a parent if a female student needed to leave campus before 11am, Gulf News reports.
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The news follows the historic announcement last week that the kingdom will start granting driving licences to women from June 2018.
King Salman issued the decree, which falls under the reforms of Vision 2030, the kingdom’s post-oil economy plan.
As part of the initiative, the government also aims to increase the percentage of women in the nation’s workforce from 23 per cent to 28 per cent by 2020.
Image: Getty
