RIYADH: Temporary suspensions of some Saudis' scholarships abroad have motivated underachieving students to improve, Abdullah Al-Mousa, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education for Scholarship Affairs, has said. Al-Mousa told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that the measure had been deemed necessary for less than three percent of students enrolled on the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarships Abroad Program – 2,168 out of approximately 100,000 male and females. “If they improve their grades and pass, they will rejoin the scholarship program,” he said. “They have shown rapid improvement, however, and have learned in two months the equivalent of a year's worth of studies.” Majed Al-Harbi, the director of the Scholarships Abroad Program at the Ministry of Higher Education, meanwhile, said two forms of financial guarantee would be issued for sixth-stage scholarship program students, one required for admission to universities in countries hosting scholarship students, and another entailing an “embassy letter” for the application of entry visas at foreign embassies, notably European ones. Al-Harbi, speaking at one of the scholarship program forums held to acquaint students with educational, legal, travel and safety issues before leaving the Kingdom to study, ruled out changing “mahrams” – male guardians accompanying women students while abroad – once women have completed the registration process. “It cannot be done because it involves numerous technical procedures concerning every female scholarship student,” he said. The Sixth Phase Scholarship Students Forum Project of the Scholarships Abroad Program, has meanwhile published a guidebook to help prepare students for their experience studying outside the Kingdom. The Scholarship Students' Forum Guide provides them with psychological, social and academic advice to enable them to make the most of the opportunity to study abroad.
