(From R) Minister of Education Ibrahim Ghoneim, Consul General Adel El-Alfy, Minister of Higher Education Mustafa Musaad and Cultural Consul Amr Omran during the open house at the Egyptian Consulate General in Jeddah. — SG photo Samar Yahya Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Egypt's Minister of Education Ibrahim Ghoneim and Minister of Higher Education Mustafa Musaad met with Egyptian expatriates living in Riyadh and Jeddah during their visit to the Kingdom meant to find solutions to a host of problems faced by the community in educating their children. Community members raised various issues and presented their demands to the ministers during an open house hosted by Consul General Adel El-Alfy in Jeddah. One of the key demands by the community was to hold Egyptian school final examinations in Saudi Arabia to help expatriate children in the country. The parents also requested the two ministers to ensure equal treatment for expatriate children applying for admissions to Egyptian universities as their peers back home. They called for canceling “achievement” tests for university admissions and reduce the skills requirements to a maximum of 20 percent. Another key demand was to cancel extra fees levied by the universities from children of expatriates. The parents said the application process should be streamlined to enable students coming from abroad to enroll in Egyptian universities. Such students often find difficulties in applying for their preferred courses because of time lag and delays in the process. The participants also requested the ministers to ensure equal opportunities for students coming from abroad to join universities. Currently, only 5 percent of total available seats in the country's higher education institutions are allotted to Egyptian students from abroad. “This ratio should change in view of the large numbers of students coming from different countries,” said one participant. The parents said the education authorities must introduce a system for continuous evaluation of students and hold examinations at the end of each term instead of conducting annual examinations covering the entire syllabus. The meeting urged the ministers to coordinate with the concerned Saudi departments to establish more schools teaching Egyptian curriculum, especially in the Kingdom's remote regions. The participants also urged them look into the exaggerated fees charged by local Egyptian schools, which many parents cannot afford. The non-availability of textbooks was another problem raised at the meeting. It was revealed that some books for the second term were not made available yet even though the exams are scheduled for April. Favorably responding to the requests, the two ministers provided some instant solutions to the problems. Minister of Higher Education Musaad suggested sending representatives of the Egyptian community in Saudi Arabia to the meetings of the Supreme Council of Universities. “We are keen to extend contacts with Egyptians abroad and, of course, I agree that extra fees that expatriate students pay to join universities must be canceled,” he said and advised community leaders to submit a written complaint to his office in this regard. Musaad reaffirmed his ministry's “total rejection of the concept of making expatriates bear the cost of superfluous expenses of universities.” He promised to bring forward the date of application for university admissions to the beginning of July for the convenience of students coming from abroad. Regarding allotment of university seats for expatriate students, the minister explained that a minimum of 5 percent seats would be given to students from abroad. “The ratio is calculated each year after considering the number of admission requests from abroad and at home,” he said. Musaad authorized the issuance of a decision to allow all students who have obtained a minimum “pass” in qualifying examinations to register for postgraduate studies after adding extra classrooms in universities. Musaad agreed to receive an expatriate delegation at the Supreme Council of Universities to convey the community's point of view with regard to “achievement” tests. Meanwhile, Minister of Education Ghoneim approved two term exams during the academic year for students abroad, similar to the practice back in Egypt. He also promised to sort out the textbooks issue. He said starting next academic year, CDs of the books will be sent to the consulates for printing to accelerate the printing process and avoid possible delays. He also promised to study the abolition of follow-up certificates (from grade 1 to 9) requested from students of international schools. Ghoneim his ministry would study the application of a unified contract for teachers and also to facilitate the procedures for granting vacations to teachers to enable them continue with their jobs abroad. Responding to concerns raised by university professors regarding their promotions, the higher education minister asked them to submit written requests stating their demands and concerns.
