JEDDAH, 7 May 2004 — The Ministry of Higher Education has decided to admit expatriate students to Saudi universities on certain conditions, Okaz reported.
“It is studying the prospect of allocating 10 percent of the seats at each university to expatriate students,” the paper said. “The ministry is now looking into the pros and cons of the decision before implementing it,” the paper added.
Expatriates have welcomed the decision and urged the authorities to implement it as soon as possible. There are eight government universities and 76 colleges in the Kingdom; a number of new private colleges and universities are under construction.
There are nearly seven million expatriates in the Kingdom with the majority from South Asia. Though many work in white-collar jobs, a larger number are in jobs that provide low salaries and few benefits. Language barriers, exorbitant fees and other obstacles have made a college education for expatriate children difficult if not impossible.
Dr. Abdul Rahman Malawi, undersecretary for admission and registration at King Abdul Aziz University, said the new decision would foster competition. However, he said the percentage of seats allocated for expatriates should not exceed 10 percent of the total and the facility must be restricted to top students who have scored high marks.
Dr. Mahdi Jamal Hariri, a faculty member in the university’s department of information, said the decision would be a great help to the expatriate community as their children would be able to complete their higher education in the Kingdom as paying students.
Hamid Al-Qaddah, a university faculty member, said the decision would bring expatriate students closer to the Kingdom where they had been born and brought up.
