Saudi Arabia offers scholarships to 150 Pinoy undergrads

Some 150 Filipinos may avail of graduate courses offered by Saudi Arabia's government, Philippine ambassador to the Kingdom Ezzedin Tago said. Tago said Saudi Minister for Higher Education Khalid Al-Anqari announced the graduate courses are for Filipinos in various universities in the Kingdom. He said he will encourage Filipinos seeking higher education to apply for the scholarships available in all fields except medical degrees even as he thanked Al-Anqari “for this recent generous development,” Saudi-based news site Arab News reported. Al-Anqari told Tago Filipinos are working in technical and administrative positions in Saudi universities in large numbers, and the Kingdom welcomes them to apply for scholarships at graduate level courses in Saudi universities, the Arab News report said. Tago met with Al-Anqari last Wednesday at the headquarters of the Ministry of Higher Education in Riyadh. Applications Tago said those interested in the scholarships may apply through the websites of the universities or through the Philippine Embassy, which shall send the applications to the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education through diplomatic channels. Presently, there are six Filipino graduate students on full scholarship at the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), which opened in 2009. They are in addition to Filipinos studying Islamic studies in universities in Makkah and Madinah. The Philippine Embassy has urged Filipinos interested in studying in Saudi Arabia to explore local universities' programs through their websites, and to contact the cultural attaché at cultural@philembassy-riyadh.org for further questions. King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh is ranked among the top 200 in the world, according to several ranking surveys, the Arab News report said. It added the 2011 ARWU Shanghai ranking listed the KSU as 261st internationally. Webmetrics Ranking of World Universities placed KSU at 186 globally, top in the Arab world and 19th best in Asia. During the meeting with Al-Anqari, Tago also expressed appreciation to King Abdullah for the scholarship program for young Saudis studying overseas. He invited Saudi students who decide to study overseas to consider Philippine universities, particularly the University of the Philippines at Diliman and Los Baños in Laguna province, as well as other public and private universities. Tago and Al-Anqari also discussed possible cooperation between the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education and the Philippine Commission on Higher Education. Both agencies had signed an agreement on academic and educational cooperation signed between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia in 2005. They also discussed various aspects of bilateral relations between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. — LBG, GMA News