Oman
Government Offers International Study Scholarships
The Omani government is offering 1,746 places in the current academic year to students wishing to study abroad. In addition, the government is offering 9,785 places at private educational institutions throughout the sultanate.
All students were invited to submit an online application between April and June to compete for government-sponsored places at state and private universities and colleges in Oman or abroad, said Ministry of Higher Education undersecretary Abdullah al-Sarmi.
“Priority for studying abroad with full financial support is given to outstanding students who are from low-income families and those relying on social security,” al-Sarmi told Al-Shorfa. The state pays for their tuition fees, living costs and transportation, he added.
“There is also partial scholarships whereby students pay some of the expenses and the government pays the rest, and this is based on their general diploma exam results,” he said.
– Al-Shorfa [1]
August 6, 2014
1 in 7 Higher Education Places Unfilled
More than 4,000 seats in higher educational institutions in Oman are vacant for the 2014-15 academic year, according to officials cited by the Times of Oman.
Yahya bin Salam Al Munthiri, acting director general of the Higher Education Admission Center (HEAC), said 31,608 seats in public higher education institutions were available for students this year. However, 4,312 seats, or 14 percent of the total, remained vacant at the end of the registration process in late July.
While Al Munthiri did not detail the reasons why student registrations have lagged, he said that because of vacant seats in these institutions, the HEAC is expected to announce another registration period in early September.
– Times of Oman [2]
August 14, 2014
Qatar
Overseas Qatari Students Prefer the UK
The United Kingdom is the preferred destination for Qatari students who want to go abroad for higher studies on scholarship, according to the figures released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics. The second most preferred country is the United States.
According to the ministry, there were 988 students studying abroad on scholarships in the academic year 2012-2013. Of those, 750 were males and 238 females. They constituted 46 percent of the total number of students on scholarship in Qatar and abroad. A total of 518 Qatari students were studying in the UK, and 328 were in the United States. Combined, the two countries were host to 846 of the 988 overseas Qatari students on scholarships.
– Gulf Times [3]
August 1, 2014
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Students Choose Not to Study in Other Arab Countries
The ongoing political turmoil in many Arab countries has drastically reduced the number of Saudi students studying at universities in Yemen, Egypt and Sudan. Students have instead opted to study in non-Arab countries, either through government scholarship programs or at their own expense.
While there were several hundred students studying at Yemeni universities in 2011, there are now scarcely 80 students at these universities after Saudi education authorities stopped sending students to the volatile country, which has suffered from a breakdown in security in the last three years.
Around 60 percent of the 500 students studying at Yemeni universities in 2011 are from the Kingdom’s southern region. Most used to study at the University of Science and Technology. Ali Abdul Rahman, a Sudanese professor at the University of Khartoum, told Arab News that the ongoing political turmoil in Sudan has reduced the number of students coming from Gulf countries by 30 percent.
The political turmoil in Egypt has also forced Saudis to seek other regional options for higher education. Gulf universities in the United Arab Emirates represent one of these options. Jordanian universities are still popular among Saudi students, and an increasing number have chosen to study there over the last five year.
– Arab News [4]
May 29, 2014