JEDDAH, 16 February 2003 — Over 15,000 Saudi students are studying abroad, Dr. Abdullah Al-Mejel, of the cultural relations section in the Ministry of Higher Education, announced recently.
Of those, 6,744 are studying on government scholarships and 8,772 are at their own expense, according to Okaz Arabic language daily.
Dr. Al-Mejel explained that these students are studying subjects where specialist skills are in great demand in the Kingdom and are vital to the Kingdom’s development plans.
Students studying at their own expense are required to have government approval before they go abroad and attend only universities recognized by the Ministry of Education here.
He added that the distribution of students around the world includes 832 in the United States, 792 in England, and 340 in Germany, France, China, Russia, Canada and Australia.
There are 1,728 in Jordan, 260 in Syria and Lebanon, 2,308 in Egypt, 787 in Bahrain, and 692 in the United Arab Emirates.
