Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH – The Ministry of Education intends to restructure its foreign scholarship program, named after Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, in order to make it more effective, according to Dr. Jasir Al-Herbish, deputy minister and supervisor of cultural attaches.

“This scholarship program is one of the Kingdom’s major investments in human resources and it requires restructuring and improvement to enhance its effectiveness. We’ll announce a development plan for the program by the end of this financial year,” Al-Herbish told Al-Watan Arabic daily.

The program will be revised to meet job market requirements, he said, adding that measures would be taken to reduce selection procedures and cut down expenditures. “We’ll also make use of the successful experience of Saudi universities in this field,” he added.

Al-Herbish was talking to reporters after attending a workshop on foreign scholarship programs of Saudi universities, which was organized here on Monday by the ministry’s agency for scholarship affairs. It was held in light of the national transformation program.

“The restructuring of the scholarship program is undertaken with the support of Saudi and foreign consultants,” the deputy minister said. “We intend to add a training program for students who complete their studies at foreign universities,” he added.

These training programs will be conducted in coordination with major international companies, Al-Herbish said. “This will enable graduates to get employed at Saudi branches of these companies.”

The new development program would also focus on strengthening the relationship between scholarship students and cultural attaches in foreign countries through electronic media. “This will help students solve many of their problems while living abroad,” he said.

The ministry will also revise the list of foreign universities and institutes recommended to get admissions. “The workshop discussed prospects of recruiting graduates of the foreign scholarship programs as lecturers in Saudi universities,” the deputy minister said.

He said the ministry has set up a working team to discuss the subject in detail. “Every Saudi university will have the right to select reputable foreign universities where they would like to send their students in order to achieve the required academic quality and standard,” he said.

Asked about complaints of Saudi scholarship students in the US that Saudi authorities did not take any initiative to evacuate them after hurricane Irma, he said: “We’ll look into the complaints.” He praised Saudi students for their individual efforts to support those affected by Irma.