This month marks the 11th annual International Education Week, an event celebrated in over 100 countries around the world. It is an opportunity for me to personally recognize the value of international educational exchange in developing mutual understanding and respect between countries and their people around the world, and to celebrate education as a means of empowering and enhancing not only the individual but the society as a whole. As I met with various students and faculty members in the Eastern Province the first week of November, I was reminded of what US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said recently regarding education today. A complete education in the 21st century, he said “must teach our children about their interdependent world… help our children build the skills needed to communicate and cooperate with those from other nations and cultures” and become global citizens and leaders. There is no denying that the world is fast becoming an increasingly interdependent global village in which we all have a stake. Education is a critically important way to build that world that we aspire to have. President Obama said recently, “All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time.” In our brief moment in time, when it is essential to come together in resolving challenges globally – peace in areas of conflict, food security, economic challenges – let us consider the vision of this year's education week: Striving for a Sustainable Future. Educational exchanges are a proven mechanism to develop cooperative relations and sustainable ties between people and countries alike, and to produce leaders willing – and able – to foster these kinds of relationships that make our world a better place. Americans strive towards this goal by sending over 262,000 American students to all corners of the earth and hosting more than 671,000 international students from over 200 countries in our internationally renowned universities and colleges. I encourage even more students to pursue their studies in the United States and to see more American students studying abroad. We commend Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for their tremendous efforts in advancing education for the people of Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah's commitment to providing a solid education to his citizens is evident in many ways, including a budget that allocates 23 percent for education. The Kingdom also supports an annual International Expo for Higher Education, to be held this year in Riyadh in April 2011, which brings hundreds of universities from all over the globe to meet with Saudi students interested in furthering their education. Among its many educational and scholarship programs, the Saudi government offers the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP), which was recently renewed for another five years. This program will send nearly 10,000 of the country's best and brightest young men and women all over the world to obtain graduate and undergraduate degrees. I am honored that over 50% of those newly selected students (more than 5,000 of them) have chosen to study in the US this coming academic year. I am proud that the US, home to over 4,000 institutions of higher learning, remains the top destination for Saudi students. With over 30,000 Saudi students studying in the US now, Saudi Arabia has the highest number of students studying in the US among all Middle Eastern countries. I am happy to have learned that the 2010 Open Doors Report, compiled and just released by the International Institute of Education in the US, has found that while the total number of international student studying in the US in 2009-10 increased by 3%, the number of Saudi Arabian students studying in the US was up 25%. This makes Saudi Arabia the seventh leading “sending country,” moving up from tenth position last year. This reflects the Saudi government's substantial investment in study abroad scholarships and shows that the level of cooperation between our two countries has reached an unprecedented level. To facilitate student travel to the US, I have asked our American Consular offices across the Kingdom to make student visas for Saudi students a top priority. To that end, the Consular Section in Riyadh will host a number of “Super Mondays” in December and January exclusively reserved for KASP student visa interviews. I congratulate and welcome our new guests and friends and promise to do my very best to help them get their US visas in a timely fashion. Our commitment to students does not stop there. We also provide objective and timely information about educational opportunities in the United States and guidance to individuals on how to best access those opportunities through our Educational Advising Offices in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dhahran. Educational exchanges between our two countries go beyond students studying abroad. Institutions also connect cross borders to gain valuable insight from one another and share knowledge and expertise. Many Saudi universities enjoy long-standing US partnerships, such as Jazan University which hosts exchanges with several US universities, including The George Washington University. Prince Naif University for Security Sciences also has partnerships with several US universities, including a recent connection with the University of Georgia on nuclear security. Taiba University recently signed a cooperative agreement with Johns Hopkins Hospital as the Saudi institution develops its own medical school. Equally promising is that several Saudi universities are accredited in the US Qassim University was accredited last month by the American Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. King Abdulaziz University (KAU) obtained accreditation for its community college from the American Accreditation Commission Council on Education and became the first US-accredited community college program in the Middle East. Jubail University has also started the accreditation process with Northern Kentucky University. We congratulate these institutions on these wonderful achievements that help bring out people and countries closer together. In observing International Education Week, we join with our Saudi friends in encouraging and fostering the healthy growth of our youth, our educational systems and our deep friendship. As we work together in close partnership, the opportunities for international connection, educational exchanges and mutual learning increases for our two countries, as does the opportunity for building a lasting foundation for our strong and deepening friendship. James B. Smith is US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia __
