RIYADH, 17 August 2004 — A 13-member educational mission from King Saud University has been invited by a group of American universities for a two-week visit to the US to sort out problems facing Saudi students in getting US visas.
“The delegation, which represents different faculties of King Saud University, will undertake the trip next month,” Saad A. Al-Hagan, public relations manager at the Ministry of Higher Education, told Arab News.
Al-Hagan said it would be the second mission of its kind to visit American universities to iron out the kinks for Saudi students wishing to pursue higher studies in the US. Last year 15 Saudi professors had visited the US on a similar mission.
“We are encouraging Saudi students to go for higher education in the US for two main reasons. First, our academic pattern is modeled on that of the US educational system. Secondly, the standard of education there is really high, while the cost is affordable,” said Al-Hagan, who holds a Master’s degree in public administration from the University of Illinois.
The number of Saudis studying abroad was put at 15,516 last year. Of these, 6,744 were on government scholarships while the rest were on their own. In addition to the United States, Saudis study in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Austria, Japan, China, Russia, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Asked to comment on the report that the Saudi Embassy in London is advising its nationals to boycott British universities in protest over financial irregularities, exorbitant fees and poor teaching, Al-Hagan said they are awaiting the report of their educational attaché at the Saudi Embassy in London.
“We’ll take a decision only after he has sent in his report,” the official said.
Abdullah Anassah, the head of academic affairs at the Saudi Embassy, has been quoted as saying: “We are currently experimenting with sending students to universities in New Zealand and Australia instead of Britain and if their experience there is good, we will advise future students to go there instead of to the UK.”
Another embassy that wishes to remain anonymous claims its students are regularly subjected to money-grabbing ploys by British universities.
The British Council in Riyadh could not be reached for comment and a fax message sent to it remained unanswered.
Anassah said their embassy recently contacted the vice chancellor of a London university to seek an investigation into claims by one of the students that her supervisor approved her work for four years but then refused to grant her a degree at the end of her course.
The UK is currently the second most popular destination for foreign students after the US, with 270,000 foreigners studying in British universities, paying up to six times as much for their courses as British students.
Of the 33,000 international students who come to Britain every year, generating an income estimated at £600million, 2,500 are Saudi nationals.
The Saudi Embassy stopped sending students to Sheffield University three years ago after the university refused to back down over charges of £5,000 they made in addition to £9,000 tuition fees.
