In Saudi Arabia, there is a group called the General Authority of Sports which was established in 1974 and its name was changed to the Ministry of Sports, especially after sport started occupying a significant place in the Saudi developmental vision. One of the major concerns of the Ministry is to carry out the royal decree that all Saudi girls in government schools must have access to physical education. Even though the royal decree was passed in 2014, it didn’t go into action until the 2017-2018 school year because of religious and cultural rules that govern Saudi society. As part of the Saudi Vision 2030 for growth, the Ministry of Sports is working with the Ministries of Education and Labor to help reach this goal.
The Ministry of Education has made this dream that all girls who attend public schools have access to physical education come true, but a lot of work still needs to be done in this brand-new area of girls ‘ physical fitness education that is sensitive to Saudi culture and people because of the Saudi heritage, traditions, and values that do not value women physical and sport activities. It is the job of this group to help make courses for this new field. The goal is very hard because the PE teachers training, and development needs must be met by the curricula so that they can learn all the skills they need to teach PE to girls. The challenge lies in the fact that most teachers to be might have not received any kind of physical education if they got their primary education in Saudi Arabia.
Educating girls in physical fitness poses many challenges for Saudi Arabia school officials. For example, at government schools for girls, all teachers are supposed to be women. This is a big challenge because Saudi female college grads didn’t get any physical education and don’t know how to improve their physical skills. In this area of education, they are learning completely new ideas and ways to teach. So, different agencies and organizations need to work together to make a curriculum to train the trainer. Hence, the Ministry of education started a Diploma in PE program to bridge that gap. The real lessons that are supposed to be taught in girls’ schools from grade 1 to 12 were also supposed to be planned. Along with the curriculum, the Ministry of Education planned intense workshops to help future female physical educators get the most out of their training and help the country reach its 2030 developmental goals.
One of the key goals of the Ministry of Sport is to get more Saudi women involved in sports and to help them do better. The field has grown very quickly. Because of this, Saudi Arabia did not have any women’s national teams in 2015, but now they have 25 teams that serve the country.
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