The construction projects of the Ministry of Higher Education have not been affected as the cost of construction materials has soared on inflation and regional building boom, said Minister of Higher Education Khaled Bin Muhammad Al-Anqari. “No project has been cancelled or withdrawn from contractors for short of funding,” he said. The minister's comments came during a signing ceremony of university projects across the Kingdom worth SR1.33 billion. “The new projects have been ordered by King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and have been funded by the ministry's budget surplus,” he said. The new projects are expected to be completed within two years. To diversify its portfolio of universities throughout the Kingdom, the ministry has already started 35 huge projects in Jizan, Najran, and Hail worth at least SR3 billion, Al-Anqari said. With the rising number of high school graduates in the Kingdom, which is expected to reach 300,000 this year, the projects come as a step forward to accommodate all of them with ambitions of higher education. As more higher education institutions are still being built in the Kingdom, a big number of Saudi students have been sent abroad under the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Scholarship Program to pursue their education. About 17,000 students have been sent to the US alone since 2004. But it has become increasingly difficult to admit that large number of Saudi students in one country like the US or Australia, forcing the ministry to encourage students to find universities in other countries. Many Saudi applications to Australian universities have been lately declined because of the quota allocated for Saudis in Australian universities. The Ministry of Higher Education has taken measures to decrease the number of Saudi students seeking college admission in Australia. – Okaz __
