RIYADH: More than 300,000 people, mainly students and their parents, visited the Kingdom’s largest education expo, the first of its kind in which millions of inquiries were generated and a number of agreements were signed by international universities and institutions. The fair closed on Friday night.
“The event was a resounding success, which encouraged us to announce the next show on April 19, 2011 here,” said Ali S. Al-Attiyah, deputy minister of higher education and chief of the organizing committee of this first International Exhibition for Higher Education.
An estimated 340 universities from about 35 countries participated in this four-day event, where 50 high-profile experts delivered their speeches on educational topics and interacted with the people.
“The show provided an opportunity to get acquainted with the projects of the Ministry of Higher Education including the coveted scholarship program of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,” said Othman Al-Thabit, deputy chairman of the exhibition organizing committee. This was the first time that Riyadh witnessed such an education exhibition.
Asked about the agreements signed by the foreign universities and Saudi institutions, Gael Fouillard, international executive education manager of France’s Grenoble Graduate School of Business (GGSB), said Grenoble “was continuing its development in the Kingdom by signing a memorandum of understanding with Al-Yamamah University here late Friday. Under this accord, the two institutions have anticipated to cooperate on several levels, including a plan to send undergraduate students from the female campus to Grenoble next July to participate in the summer school program in Paris.”
Al-Yamamah and GGSB are also working on getting faculty from the French business school to offer an MBA program at Al-Yamamah, he added. Finally, the two institutions are envisaging launching a DBA program next year in Riyadh, he added.
“Many Saudi students also visited pavilions of Indian, Japanese and Korean universities and institutions in sharp contrast to the trends seen in the past on such occasions,” said Prateek Jain, an executive for technical assistance working with Educational Consultant India Limited (EdCIL), here Friday night. Jain pointed out that EdCIL, a premier Indian government enterprise, handled thousands of inquiries for admission from Saudis and non-Saudis including Indian students.
“In fact, a large number of students have pre-registered themselves by submitting their forms for admission and by paying $50 each as advance registration fee, which indicate a growing interest among students who now opt to choose India as an education destination,” said Jain. Similar views were echoed by Kim Sun-Uk, dean of South Korea’s Dankook University, who said his university, which boasts technologically advanced classrooms, high-end facilities, ample dorm space and one of Korea’s most aesthetically beautiful university campuses, has signed an agreement to cooperate with Saudi universities. Also, major US and British universities handled thousands of inquiries for enthusiastic Saudi students.
