By Mohammed Alshaikhi

LONDON — The Ministry of Education, on Twitter, released the number of Saudi scholarship student holders with their family members (that include the student’s household: student’s spouse, children), who are sent to acquire higher education overseas.

The total number of the students are 114,518 students, and 74,753 family members, who spread out in different countries, to be in total 189,271. There are 35,782 students and 66,823 family members in America alone, the United Kingdom comes in the second place and somewhat close behind which have 16,152 students and 13,752 family members, then Canada with 6,508 students and 8,076 family members. The remaining students are spread in varying European countries such as Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and Sweden whilst the others are studying in some Asia counties such as South Korea, Turkey, Japan, etc. There is also a substantial number of Saudi students studying in New Zealand and Australia, in addition to some Arabic countries, however, the English-speaking countries are in higher demand.

The scholarship awarded is available for male and female where the latter is commitment to be accompanied by a male relative or guardian (e.g. husband, father, brother or adult son) who also receives benefits. The Saudi Cultural Bureaus and missions overseas provide assistance and advice to their students at every stage of the educational process. Both the main awarded scholarship student and his/her family members can take advantage of covering the full cost of university or language institution tuition, monthly allowance, medical insurance and participation in conferences.