JEDDAH, 9 March 2007 — The Higher Education Ministry began a series of seminars for Saudi students leaving the Kingdom on scholarships to study abroad for the academic year of 2007/2008.
Many students who went abroad in the academic year of 2006/2007 felt lost as soon as they stepped off the plane and reached their country of study. Many did not know what the procedures were at airports, felt despondent and began to cry wanting to return home. Others were stopped at the airport for carrying huge amounts of cash.
The seminars, which are part of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, will last until March 29 and are taking place at Riyadh’s Mdarime Crown Hotel (previously called the Al-Fahd Crown Hotel).
They aim to prepare students with knowledge about the countries they are going to in order to avoid being left in culture-shock and getting in trouble due to a lack of experience. About 5,102 students are scheduled to take part in the seminars. The program is being arranged to include speeches about the nine countries that the ministry has chosen to send students to. This includes: the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, India, China, Malaysia and Singapore.
Students will attend seminars for three days during which educationalists and academics will highlight three different angles. Students on the first day will be briefed about the respective country they are traveling to in terms of local law and how the lifestyle and educational environment differs from that in the Kingdom. The second day will discuss issues relating to self-development and how to be academically successful, and also prepare them for any difficulties they may experience. Sticking to the Islamic manners is the message that the students will be given on their final day, in which they will learn how to deal with others and realize their responsibilities according to Islamic etiquettes.
“This is a good step now since the ministry has noticed the problems that students in the first group faced,” said Layan Abdulwahhab, a 21-year-old English language student in Seattle, US. She added that students need to be aware that it is not easy to apply at universities and that there are many requirements that universities ask for, which Saudi students do not know about.
Yassir Sulaiman, a 23-year-old student who is also studying in Seattle, said he hopes the seminars will benefit students in telling them what to do from the moment they reach the airport and until they begin their studies. “Students need to learn that they need to register themselves at airports. They need to also know the expiry dates of their visas and I-20s because their stay in the country would be illegal after that date. They will be fined $5,000,” he said.
Even copied versions of Microsoft Windows and other programs causes troubles for some students. Alia, 25, said that the laptops are checked at airports if they have copied versions of programs. “Many students have been imprisoned because of that. All programs must be original and licensed,” she said.
Ten percent of 50,000 applicants for the scholarship program have been accepted for the 2007/2008 academic year. Applications for the year after will begin this summer.
