Mohammed J. Al-Jezairy is a 24-year-old Saudi who is the manager of a Jeddah real estate and construction firm. The national company has a substantial Saudi work force, mostly young graduates of Western universities. Al-Jezairy is the only one who went to India for studies. “I got my MBA at a private college in Pune, near Mumbai,” he told Arab News last week. Although it is not uncommon to find elderly Saudis who studied in India during the 1950s, 1960s or the 1970s, finding a young Saudi with an Indian degree was a little rare until quite recently.
“I know what you mean,” says Al-Jezairy, who graduated in 2004. “I went to India for many reasons. One, my father has an attachment to the country because he was educated there in the late 1950s, so he knew the education system well. Two, we come from an ordinary middle class family, and we are a large family. I have seven siblings, three of them sisters. There was, therefore, no way for me to go to the US. Had the money come from the government that might have been a different story. Three, Sept. 11. When I was ready to enroll for graduation, 9/11 had happened. Most Saudis were afraid of going to the US; those who wanted to were discouraged by fearful parents. Four, India had become the acknowledged center of learning — something that my father always said would happen.”
Al-Jezairy is one of a growing number of young Saudis looking to the East for higher education instead of to the West.
“This has been more apparent since the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to India in January 2006,” Indian Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed told Arab News. “That’s when the Kingdom decided to send Saudi students to India on government scholarships. Hitherto, Saudi students were only going privately for higher studies to India.”
Sayeed estimates there are 500 Saudi students doing higher studies in India. “This is in addition to another 138 students, including five women, who are going this year to cities such as New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Coimbatore to pursue bachelor’s degrees and higher education in science, information technology, engineering and computer sciences under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP).”
In the last three years, the number of student visas issued by the Indian Consulate in Jeddah has steadily increased, from 42 in 2005 to 102 in 2006 and 110 through October 2007. The consulate also issued 329 student visas to other nationalities resident in the Kingdom.
It is an option that seems to appeal to the Kingdom’s growing middle class. “I reckon it is mostly the middle-income-level Saudi nationals who are in the majority,” said Sayeed. “However, student inquiries from elite colleges, such as Dar Al-Hekma and Effat College, have also increased in recent times, more so after the visit of 50 Saudi women from Dar Al-Hekma to India last year on a familiarization and cultural trip.” India is a favorite destination for those Saudi students who want to pursue courses in management, information technology, engineering and biotechnology. A large number of Saudi students also go to India to improve their English language skills. The government scholarship program is accelerating that trend.
“At the outset, the Saudi government made the King Abdullah Scholarship Program applicable to Saudi students intending to pursue higher studies in India,” said the Indian consul general. “Many leading universities and colleges in India have now been recognized by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education. For smooth implementation of KASP in India, on March 31, the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education signed a memorandum of understanding with Educational Consultants India Ltd. (Ed.Cil), an Indian government enterprise. Ed.Cil will provide orientation classes to Saudi students on arrival and also help in their placement in English proficiency programs and other regular courses in various Indian cities.”
A year ago, Saudi Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khaled Al-Anqari made a visit to India leading a 17-member delegation, which included the presidents of Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz University, Abha’s King Khaled University and Dhahran’s King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. The minister concluded a far-reaching memorandum of scientific and educational cooperation with his Indian counterpart that envisages exchanges of expertise and experience in the scientific, technological and administrative fields with institutions, universities and research centers. Despite fierce domestic competition for seats in Indian colleges and universities, officials say there is still room for students from overseas.
“I believe that Indian universities and colleges have the capacity to absorb a large number of foreign students in graduate, post-graduate as well as professional courses,” said Sayeed. “Many universities have full-fledged and active departments catering to the needs of foreign students. Of course, some courses, such as medicine and certain branches of sciences and engineering, may not be easily available to foreign students as a result of stiff competition and a limited number of seats.”
Young Saudis considering studies in India are not alone. “Our education is on a par with any major institute in the world,” said Sayeed. “Our students are increasingly getting global attention and job offers, and this is a good indication of quality. The Indian government has also recently liberalized its visa regime to attract foreign students to Indian educational institutions.”
India is attracting a large number of students from Asia, Africa and even the US. As Al-Jezairy noted, Saudis have a high regard for the Indian education system. They are attracted to it because of high quality, lower costs and better preparation for jobs after graduation.
India boasts 343 universities, 40 agricultural universities, 36 technical institutes, 18 medical schools, 11 open universities, seven specialized universities for fine arts and languages and seven law universities. This is in addition to more than 17,000 colleges, of which 1,800 are women’s colleges. Its centers of higher learning, such as the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), are global brand names.
“Saudis are aware that our educational institutions offer high quality education in different fields particularly sciences, medicine, engineering, business administration, management, media, IT and biotechnology,” said Sayeed. “English as the medium of instruction is another added attraction for foreign students.”
Low education costs in India are a major attraction for foreign students. A prestigious university in India offers an MBA for as little as $3,750 as opposed to $12,000-$15,000 charged by universities in Europe, Australia or US.
“Another significant aspect of our education system is that the students get absorbed in the job market very easily as they get better hands-on experience,” said Sayeed. “Unlike the Kingdom, where finding suitable jobs by graduates and post-graduates is an extremely difficult task, a large number of Indian students are regularly absorbed by multinational companies. Our graduates and professionals are much sought after in the Middle East and in countries in the Far East, Europe and North America.”
Saudi institutions also have direct institution-to-institution discussions with their Indian counterparts. New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia has proposed an MOU with King Abdul Aziz University for educational cooperation. The vice chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia also held wide-ranging discussions last year with authorities of the Yanbu Industrial College during his visit to the Kingdom.
The prestigious D.Y. Patil Group of Maharashtra is negotiating with the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) to set up a joint technical institute in Dammam. Dar Al-Hekma College is exploring links with prestigious educational institutions in India in order to expand the college’s offerings in technology, software, hardware, curriculum design and staff recruitment. Dar Al-Hekma already held preliminary rounds of discussion with the D.Y. Patil Group and the National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT). The upcoming King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) at Thuwal, near Jeddah, has also entered into an agreement with IIT-Bombay seeking help in curriculum development.
Although the actual number of Saudis studying in India is still small, it is a number that is expected to grow. “Our focus should be on Southeast Asia, the Gulf Cooperation Council states, Africa and other Third World countries,” said Sayeed. “Our premier institutions, such as the IITs and the IIMs, as well as prestigious universities and colleges besides Ed.Cil, must take the lead to market quality higher education among the international student community.”
It is a marketing effort that is bolstered by the realities of business and its quest for quality personnel. “When India burst onto the world stage with its highly talented engineering, science and IT graduates, everybody started looking at them with awe,” said Al-Jezairy. “Just recently, when we ran an advertisement in a local newspaper for IT engineers for our firm, we wrote on top: ‘Indians Preferred.’ That is how far India has come. My degree has become all the more prestigious.”
