The Shoura Council advised the Ministry of Finance and the private sector to increase funds for scientific research in the Kingdom’s universities, at its session held on Tuesday.

Shoura members proposed strengthening research and development after discussing the Education and Scientific Research Committee’s report, which was based on the annual study released by the Ministry of Education for the year 1434-1435.

Speaking to local media, Assistant Speaker Yahya bin Abdullah Al-Samaan stated that the council recommended for said research to focus on applied, experimental, technical, industrial and communal-oriented studies.

As part of their suggestions, council members urged universities to contribute to the community and build a knowledge-based society.

Talking about the report, a member explained that the majority of academic research produced by universities was geared to promote the researcher himself, with little value for the national economy, while another council representative demanded an assessment of scientific research positions in the universities.

Discussing health education and the challenges it faces at Saudi universities, the council saw tremendous disparity between curricula and means of education, which produced huge disparity in outputs between health colleges.

In order to establish more efficient scientific departments, council members suggested setting up a board of trustees for each university as in the case of world universities and privately-owned academic centers in the Kingdom.