Abdul Karim Al-Dhyabi Okaz/Saudi Gazette TAIF — The Ministry of Higher Education is working on plans to attract non-Saudi professors from various fields of specialization to teach in Kingdom universities and offer them Saudi citizenship, Dr. Muhammad Al-Ouhali, the ministry's undersecretary for educational affairs, has said. Dr. Al-Ouhali was addressing the seventh meeting of the representatives of Saudi universities at University of Taif. “It is an established fact that exchange of global expertise in academic fields helps improve educational levels at educational institutions,” he said. “Most of our universities are staffed with Saudi professors; we still need to benefit from global expertise and offer lucrative offers to non-Saudi professors to work here. Saudi citizenship is one of these incentives,” Dr. Al-Ouhali added. Recently, some 1,500 post-graduates who studied abroad through the King's scholarship program have been appointed in several universities. There are plans to attract more Saudi professors as well, the official said. On a different note, Dr. Al-Ouhali said the ministry strongly supports any moves on the part of universities and schools to benefit from global electronic curricula, especially in the fields of engineering, medicine, and science. Dr. Abdul Elah Banajah, President of the University of Taif, said more focus should be given to developing strategies and incentives to attract more professors while at the same time designing new solutions to bolster cooperation among universities in all fields.
