King Abdullah Scholarship Program seeks to prepare Saudi students to become world-class graduates as well as make them fit for the local labor market. It provides the means to give them the education that could lead to a degree – bachelor's, master's and doctorate – and medical fellowship. Academic disciplines and scholarships are selected to suit the needs of government ministries, national undertaking and the private sector. The selection aims to fulfill the requirements of the labor market across the Kingdom, particularly in different regions, universities and industrial cities that are mushrooming all over the the country. The program is dovetailed to transform Saudi youths into qualified professionals to play active roles in all fields of development in both the government and private sectors. The program's mission is to build a pool of Saudi graduates or human resources that could compete even in the international labor market and in the fields of scientific research to fill in important positions in the local universities as well as in the public and private sectors. But despite the big strides the program has made some people remain skeptical about the chances of graduates to get employment in government, national organizations and the private sector. Some even fear that the program has become a social burden when the graduates fail to find employment. Dr Khaled Bin Muhammad Al-Anqari, the Minister of Higher Education, attended earlier this week a graduation ceremony for 710 Saudi students who pursued their studies in Ottawa in Canada. His personal support and encouragement to the students at the event reflected the importance that the ministry attaches to the program, especially in the scientific and medical fields. This stems from the ministry's strong belief that the graduates who benefitted from the program are important for the development of their country and society when they enter or integrate into the labor market. We pray to Allah that they will be able to achieve the goal for which the scholarship program has been created. __
