Saudi university to open driving school for women

The Princess Nourah women's university says it is preparing to open the school 'in cooperation with the relevant authorities'

A Saudi woman walks past a car outside a hotel in the Saudi capital Riyadh, on September 28, 2017. 
Saudi Arabia will allow women to drive from June 2018, state media said on September 26, 2017 in a historic decision that makes the Gulf kingdom the last country in the world to permit women behind the wheel. The shock announcement comes after a years-long resistance from women's rights activists, some of whom were jailed for defying the ban on female driving. / AFP PHOTO / FAYEZ NURELDINE
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A university in Saudi Arabia has said it will open a driving school for women, a first for the country after a ban on women driving was lifted.

"Princess Nourah University is preparing to set up a driving school in cooperation with the relevant authorities," the women's university said on Saturday.

"This is the first such announcement following this week's order by King Salman to allow women to drive."

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday last week said it would allow driving permits for women under a royal decree to take effect in June, sparking euphoria among many women in the country.

Saudi Arabia to lift ban on women drivers

Saudi Arabia to lift ban on women drivers

Princess Nourah University says it has more than 60,000 female students in Riyadh and other cities.

The decision to lift the driving ban is expected to push women into the workforce and boost car sales, especially in the coming months before a scheduled imposition of a government value-added tax in January 2018.

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