Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH — Saudi universities may offer seats for foreign students to complete their post-graduate or university education in the Kingdom, Minister of Education Ahmed Al-Issa has said. "This will be included in the new organizational structure of universities currently being studied by the Committee of Experts of the Council of Ministers," he told a press conference here on Sunday. The minister shed light on the 7th international conference for higher education which will be held in Riyadh on April 12 under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. He said the conference will be held under the title, "Saudi universities and Vision 2030: Knowledge is the future fuel". It will be inaugurated by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense. Al-Issa said that about 25 speakers from the Kingdom and abroad will attend the conference in which 380 universities will participate. He said the system of scholarships in private universities in the Kingdom was stopped for revision and therefore the bursaries for medical students were halted. He said there are about 15,000 Saudi demonstrators studying various specializations in renowned international universities. The minister, however, made it clear that the conference will not discuss the employment of Saudi scholarship students, but rather how to bridge the gap between the university output and the actual needs of the labor market.
