RIYADH: The Kingdom’s universities will enroll more than 236,000 students who passed out of the secondary schools this year, according to Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari.

Approximately 88 percent of the 267,122 secondary graduates schools would be able to join for higher education in the new academic year, Al-Anqari said in his statement to the Saudi Press Agency.

“The Ministry of Higher Education strives to accommodate as many students as possible and in response to the needs of the job market. As the number of colleges and universities are growing, 170 percent more men and women students could go for higher education than 2007,” Al-Anqari said.

However, the admission to colleges and institutions of higher education would be adhering to locally and internationally recognized principles.

The minister added that the selection process was transparent and accurate. Universities have opened separate offices to receive complaints about admission procedures.

Al-Anqari said the government has been striving to improve the educational level in the Kingdom and that is why the it sends more and more students to foreign universities on scholarships and supports institutions of higher education in the private sector.

However, a student may not always get the program or university of his choice, he said. It is because universities fix certain eligibility conditions for certain programs that some students may not be able to fulfill.

Meanwhile, Ibn Khaldun Boys Secondary in Jeddah and a number of schools in Riyadh and Dammam have been selected for the implementation of the King Abdullah Project for General Education Development, according to Abdullah Al-Thaqafi, director general of the education administration in Makkah.

The SR9 billion project will be implemented over the next six years to guarantee the availability of a highly skilled and motivated work force in the future.

Crown Prince Sultan will head a ministerial committee to supervise the project, which will begin with creating a high-tech classroom environment in the Kingdom in six years. More than 400,000 teachers will be trained to handle classes in the high-tech style.

“In the initial phase, students of selected high schools will join orientation courses during the vacation while actual classes will start from next school year,” said Naif Al-Rumi, director general of the project.

“The syllabus in the new system would be designed to guarantee the full development of a student’s personality besides driving deep in him the religious and family values, social commitment and patriotism,” he said.

Al-Rumi elaborated on the plan saying that a broad based teaching cadre and officials for education administration and supervision will be prepared. High-tech classrooms with network linking with the ministry will be readied. The project will also stress on extracurricular activities with the aim of developing intellectual, creative and communicative skills of students.