Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari played down reports regarding a move to cancel the King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Al-Anqari said the Kingdom still needs the scholarship program to send more students abroad for higher studies.
"It is imperative not to assume that there is a possibility for cancellation of the program, which still attains greater significance. This ambitious program will be continued so as to realize its lofty objectives," he said. "This program could be either expanded or restricted in future, but don't assume that this will be canceled," he said.
The scholarship program allows Saudi students to go to the world's best universities to pursue bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees. The ministry offers generous support for scholarship recipients, including monthly stipend, tuition and fees, study-related travel expenses, air tickets, and cash allowance for books and clothing.
Bonuses are given for outstanding academic performance. The Kingdom spends more than $2 billion a year on the program, according to some reports.
Referring to incidents involving Saudi students at some universities in the United States and Britain, the minister said those were "trivial" matters. "This is not a welcome development because it is not in the interest of the students themselves," he said.
Replying to queries with regard to the recent student protests at some Saudi universities, Al-Anqari said incidents that took place at the universities in Asir, Qassim and Tabuk had not developed into "anarchy."
"The issue was blown out of proportion, and the picture is still not clear for some people. We will soon hold a workshop for presidents of all universities in the Kingdom, and the clear picture will be unveiled in front of them," he said.
The minister held the press conference on the occasion of the 3rd International Higher Education Conference and Exhibition, which will start tomorrow.
© Arab News 2012
