Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said that enrollment of girl students in the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals KFUPM) is a step toward achieving a number of goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. The minister's reaction came following the announcement of the university to open admission to the bachelor's degree for girl students for the first time, starting from the next academic year of 2021-2022. For the first time in its history, KFUPM announced on Monday that it would open its doors for women students to pursue their bachelor's degree courses. Prince Abdulaziz, who is also chairman of the University's Board of Trustees, lauded the support of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to strengthen the education sector in general, and university education in particular. "The university education is receiving the leadership's support and promotion that continuously pushes it to score outstanding achievements and to take steps that contribute to developing the competencies and capabilities of the sons and daughters of the country so as to enable them to contribute to building a bright and promising future for their country," he said. The minister emphasized that the university's decision to enroll girl students comes at a time when the leadership and the people of Saudi Arabia are celebrating the fifth anniversary of the launch of Vision 2030. "This is an important step toward achieving a number of vision goals, which seek to empower Saudi women and support their full participation in the comprehensive renaissance that the Kingdom is witnessing in all fields, by giving girls an opportunity to acquire knowledge and refine their skills in all areas," he said. Prince Abdulaziz noted that the enrollment of female students in the university will enable them to benefit from a long-standing national academic institution, which enjoys prestigious international academic standard, and a distinguished ranking among the universities of the world, especially in various fields of science and engineering. He said that 20 percent of the total admissions for the next academic year will be for girl students, and in the following year, the university will aim to raise the female student's admission rate to 40 percent. The admission will continue after that based on competence and abilities in accordance with the admission rules for male and female students at the university. "We are sure that the female students who will graduate from the university will be a matter of pride for the university, just like its male graduates, whose number reached nearly 40,000 graduates," he added. The university said on Monday that the application for male and female students will be available during the period between July 13 and 18. The university will introduce more than 34 new specializations at the bachelor's level, focusing on the requirements of new technologies and the new economy, as well as specializations of strategic importance to the Kingdom, including drone technologies, electronic defense systems, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. It is noteworthy that the university had announced the launch of 32 new master's degree programs, in a range of sub-specialties, that keep pace with the transformation of the national economy into a diversified, digital and knowledge-based economy. These included the following new specializations: Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and Block-Chain Software, Autonomous Robotics and Systems, Data Science, Quantum Computing, Computational Analytics, Materials Science and Engineering, Petrochemical Engineering, Polymer Science and Engineering, Industrial Catalysis, Computational Materials and Modeling, Wireless Communication Networks, Sustainable and Renewable Energy, and Engineering Vitality and Supply Chain Management. The university took the decision for women's enrollment as part of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which called for the empowerment of women and qualifying them in all specializations. The university started enrollment of female students for the postgraduate courses on Sept. 1, 2019.
