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JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has stopped sending its students to a number of foreign and Arab universities, the Ministry of Higher Education has announced.

This move follows a diplomatic incident that arose after the ministry limited the universities in Australia where graduate students could study to the so-called Group of Eight major schools, which includes Australian National University and the universities of Melbourne and Sydney.

The move was perceived as a slide against Australian universities outside of the elite schools, according to a report recently in The Australian.

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QUNFUDAH – Dr. Ibrahim Bin Ali Assiri, Dean of the University College in Qunfudah, said the college has accepted the largest batch of secondary school graduates since its establishment.

He said 600 students have been enrolled in the college as against 500 in the last academic year.

Assiri said the enrolled students will join the Faculty of the Islamic Studies and will study different subjects such as Arabic language, English language and Islamic studies.

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NAJRAN – Students at the Applied Medical Sciences College at Najran University gathered at the colleges building to express their dissatisfaction over the timetable for courses and a study plan made by administrators.

The timetable applies to the first year preliminary students and also to the finalist students, a matter that made the latter protest to the administrators. Students who tried to make their voices heard by officials at the Ministry of Higher Education criticized the administration for creating confusion by adding and omitting subjects.

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RIYADH: The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has finalized a plan to set up a human rights panel in the region. This new regional commission for human rights, which will have independent and impartial experts as its members and office bearers, will deal with human rights issues and ensure more accurate auditing of the human rights records in the region.

“The move to set up this regional panel comes following a recommendation made by the GCC foreign ministers in a meeting last month,” said a statement released by the GCC General Secretariat on Wednesday.

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JEDDAH – The Cabinet has instructed the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) to continue monitoring the Marat cement factory to the north of Riyadh and ensure its compliance with environmental standards.

Ministers asked the PME to measure emissions from the plant every six months and analyze samples at PME-approved laboratories to ensure they do not exceed permitted levels. The Cabinet also ordered that the regional municipality be provided with the emission measurements.

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RIYADH – A number of female academics and engineers have called for female students to be allowed to enroll at King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran.

They have argued that there are no religious restrictions preventing females from studying at the university and that they will not mingle with males because they could have separate sections.

Dr. Hassa Aal Al-Sheikh, Dean of the Womens College at Al-Yamamah University in Riyadh, said females will benefit significantly from studying at KFUPM because it is one of the most important and prestigious universities regionally and internationally.

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RIYADH – Dealing with plagiarism and academic dishonesty – in particular student services shops where such illegal activities take place – requires the joint efforts of the ministries of Higher Education, Culture and Information and other authorities, according to a leading  academic.

Dr. Muhammad Al-Harbi, the adviser at the Ministry of Higher Education and Professor at King Saud University (KSU), said the ministry has no authority to shut down student service shops which violate intellectual property rights laws.

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MAKKAH – Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah signed Saturday a contract to build 45 buildings with 1,350 housing units for its academic staff.
The contract was signed by Bakri Assas, acting president of the university.
The new housing complex will include mosques, schools, parks and shopping centers. The project will be financed by the Ministry of Higher Education, Assas said.
Meanwhile, the university is now moving towards an electronic system to create an e-university for all its academic and service transactions with students and staff, Assas said after watching a presentation by the electronic solutions company Holool (Arabic word for Solutions).
The university will have 140 professors when its students on scholarships return from Australia soon. A team from the university recently visited Australia to check on the progress of the 140 students, 70 males and 70 females who are doing their Master’s and Ph.Ds at Australian universities.
The team participated in the Saudi Career Day Expo in Australia, which was inaugurated by Khaled Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education. – Okaz/SG

RIYADH – The Ministry of Higher Education is planning to include a drugs awareness program in the higher education curriculum.

Minister Khaled Al-Anqari, speaking at the launch of a ministry workshop in Riyadh on Tuesday to discuss plans to increase awareness of drug abuse, described the Kingdom as a country “targeted by drug dealers” and called on educational bodies to promote awareness of drug abuse.

“The Kingdom, despite its vast area and numerous border points, works to ensure that all measures are in place to protect people from the dangers of drugs and to impose the severest punishments on smugglers,” Al-Anqari said.

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RIYADH – Five ministries are involved in working out a plan to ensure that students sent abroad on the Kings scholarships program can find employment in the public and private sectors when they return home.

Officials from the ministries will participate in a forum being organized by the Ministry of Higher Education on Sunday which will review all job openings.

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