JEDDAH: A number of students and parents who visited Meetes’09, which entered its penultimate day at the Jeddah Centre for Forums & Events yesterday, showed interest mainly in postgraduate studies abroad.
“Eighty percent of the Saudi students that we interacted with at our various stands were keen to get more information on postgraduate studies, especially in medicine, engineering and technology,” Ross Renwick, associate director at Vancouver-based Canadian Education Network’s (CEN) marketing administration, told Arab News.
He said he was personally satisfied with the turnout of visitors, who were serious to pursue higher studies, and wanted to know the various programs and facilities that CEN offered. “Since most of the students heading Canadian university schools and other institutions need to be oriented in English, and their preferred subjects including math and science, we have decided to introduce CEN Step across Saudi Arabia,” Renwick said.
CEN Step is a foundation program designed to prepare high school students intending to pursue university education in Canada, or any other English speaking country. “It has been developed with the support of major Canadian educational institutions to provide the knowledge necessary to succeed in higher education,” he said, adding that it is being introduced in Riyadh next month and in Jeddah in the following two months.
Students who intend to pursue university studies have to meet admission requirements, which include English language proficiency and good grades for select subjects relevant to their field of study. “Those who fail to meet the admission standards, which may vary among universities, are required to complete a foundation program prior to their academic registration,” Renwick said.
“Both course study and testing are completed at locations designated by CEN in established educational institutions in the Kingdom. The partner school in Riyadh is the Kingdom School. Accredited teachers and professors will administer testing from educational institutions in Canada,” he added.
Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) is an English foundation and testing program development by the University of British Columbia. It is designed for students who need to improve their communication and composition skills before starting university courses. “CEN has adopted CELPIP as an inseparable part of CEN Step,” he added.
Some other participants have also been receiving inquiries from the student community.
Offering their distance programs are India’s Sikkim Manipal University (SMU) of Health, Medical and Technological Sciences. “We have been receiving many useful inquiries,” said A. Abdul Hameed, assistant professor, faculty of management studies, at SMU.
