Saudi Gazette report WASHINGTON – Minister of Higher Education Khalid Al-Anqari said there are 40,000 vacant positions for doctors and 190,000 vacant positions for engineers to be filled by Saudi scholarship students once they return from abroad, Al-Watan daily reported. Al-Anqari made the statement in response to questions asked by students and reporters who wanted the ministry to open up new specializations under the King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program. Abdulaziz Al-Subayel, former undersecretary for the Ministry of Culture and Information, also called on the Ministry of Higher Education to include liberal arts specializations in the scholarship program. He added that these specializations are as important as other fields and society is in dire need of them. Al-Anqari reiterated the Saudi market's needs to fill the huge number of vacant positions for doctors and engineers, adding that his ministry is giving priority to these specializations for the time being. “Liberal arts specializations are as important but domestic universities are focusing on them,” Dr. Al-Anqari noted. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Al-Muaiqil, director of the Human Resources Development Fund, said there are 3,000 vacant positions with salaries ranging from SR8,000 to SR35,000 a month waiting newly-graduated students from abroad. Students wishing to start work can do so within a week of their return to the Kingdom. Al-Muaiqil told Al-Watan that the fund set up a new online service for students who study abroad. He urged students to sign up for the program, which prepares them for work in the private sector.
