RIYADH — The Ministry of Education has approved a scholarship program named “Istihdaaf” to enable male and female Saudi teachers to obtain their master’s degrees from the most prestigious universities in the world in specializations like mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, computers and sciences, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Monday.

Implementation of the scholarship meant for teachers will begin as of the academic year 1440/1441H. This program is part of the ministry’s policy to raise the level of professional efficiency in the general education sector in line with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. This emanates from the importance of developing the skills of those in boys’ and girls’ education jobs in some specializations. The ministry said that the program comprises 120 seats for scholarships in 10 countries — 60 for male teachers and 60 for women teachers.

In the breakdown of the number of seats according to countries, 25 seats will be for the US, 15 for Australia, 15 for Britain, 15 for China, 10 for Japan, 10 for South Korea, 10 for Singapore, 10 for Hong Kong, 5 for Finland, and 5 for New Zealand.

The ministry said that there are several advantages for teachers who enroll in the program get. They include the General Administration for Scholarships obtaining admission for them in the universities abroad, sending them to the best universities in the world, and enrolling them in an intensive program for raising their standard of English in the Kingdom before departure to their respective universities abroad. — SPA