RIYADH, 30 October 2006 — Forty-two top students from government schools in the six Gulf Cooperation Council states and Yemen were named winners of the “Public Education Prize for Best Students” at a press conference held jointly by the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS) and Almarai Co.
The winners will share over SR500,000 in cash, will be given certificates and some attractive prizes from Almarai Co., which has also instituted a prize for the private sector in collaboration with King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).
Both prizes constitute part of Almarai’s corporate social responsibility initiative.
The joint press conference was held by Dr. Ali Al-Qarni, director-general of ABEGS, and A. R. Fazli, general manager of Almarai Co., at the ABEGS headquarters in the Diplomatic Quarter under the support of Prince Sultan ibn Mohammed ibn Saud Al-Kabeer, chairman, Almarai Co.
Dr. Al-Qarni said the winners were nominated by the respective education ministries of the GCC states and Yemen and were students in primary, middle and secondary schools. Organizers say they will hold a presentation ceremony for the winners in Manama (Bahrain). The winners are divided equally between boys and girls. Bahrain’s education minister will hand out the prizes on Wednesday.
Al-Qarni said the students were selected on the basis of their academic performance. The Almarai Prize is the first to be instituted in the education sector and would be awarded regularly on an annual basis to motivate bright students.
According to Fazli, Almarai Co. instituted early this year the prestigious “Almarai Award for Scientific Innovation 2006” with a total prize money of SR360,000. The award is administered by KACST, which has set up a prize committee consisting of technical experts and representatives from the private sector.
Almarai is currently the largest integrated dairy foods company in the world. It is the first ISO 9002 certified dairy company producing over one million liters of milk per day. The company has launched a SR2.5-billion expansion plan, which is nearing completion.
A new state-of-the-art production facility has been added to the existing facility as part of its expansion program, he added.
