According to the regulations of the ministry, students who want to attend the morning shift should not be more than 30 years of age,
Dr. Ali Saeed, Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, announced in a press conference that his ministry would admit 30,500 to 30,600 students into its universities and institutes, and for this they have decided to open 28 new departments and establish 2 new colleges in the Region.
"Moreover, there are 9 private universities and two university branches, which would admit 6 to 7 thousand more students in total," said Minister Saeed. "Admission will be similar to that of the previous years and through the central admission center and through the online Zanko Line website."
Saeed told reporters that the previous year graduates can also apply and have similar opportunities as the fresh graduates.
According to the regulations of the ministry, students who want to attend the morning shift should not be more than 30 years of age, and those who want to attend the evening classes should be 35 years old or less.
"However, those attending the parallel study, could be up to 40 years old," Saeed said in the press conference. "Those who have taken the final exams without attending schools, and who have scored and average degree of 85% or above, are not bound by the age regulations."
According to Higher Education Minister, those who have been fired from their colleges during the academic years of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, can return to their studies except those who have committed cheating or were fired by a decision of the disciplinary committee.
Regarding the projects the ministry is implementing in the region, Saeed said that they have two types of projects, including the continuous projects and the new tenders.
"We currently have 28 projects in Sulaimaniya province, the total budget for which is IQD 147,289,000,000, in addition to the Sulaimaniya University's new campus project with a budget of USD 305 million."
In Erbil, they have 26 projects with a total allocated budget of IQD 106,051,000,000, while they have 24 projects in Duhok for which they have allocated a total budget of IQD 71,153,000,000. The total budget for all these projects is IQD 325,153,000,000.
Regarding the Human Capacity Development Program (HCDP), a higher education scholarship program of the KRG, the minister told the reporters that until now three groups have been approved, and the total number of admitted students is 4,351 of which 2,220 have already traveled abroad and commenced their studies. Of these students, 1474 are studying masters and 726 are studying a PhD.
Minister Saeed said that part of the students have traveled to the Group I countries, which includes European countries, U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea, and the rest have traveled to Group II countries, which are Malaysia, Turkey, India, China, Egypt and Iran.
"The cost of studying in Group I countries is USD 210,600 -- USD 251,600 per person for PhD, while this cost is USD 110,000 for Group II countries, while it is USD 60,000 for master students in Group II countries," explained Saeed. "The cost of the language course is USD 10,000 for a course of 6 months per student and the academic courses cost an amount between USD 20,000 to USD 40,000 per annum."
The ministry has another plan for the new scholarships, which is to give the student language course in-house to prepare the students before travelling abroad so as to be prepared to start their academic courses immediately.
© The Kurdish Globe 2012
