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Saudi Arabia Opens Local Universities for Students from Around the World

Saudi Arabia has launched a new initiative to bring in students and researchers from around the world to study in Saudi universities. Photo: Al-Imam University
Saudi Arabia has launched a new initiative to bring in students and researchers from around the world to study in Saudi universities. Photo: Al-Imam University
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Saudi Arabia Opens Local Universities for Students from Around the World

Saudi Arabia has launched a new initiative to bring in students and researchers from around the world to study in Saudi universities. Photo: Al-Imam University
Saudi Arabia has launched a new initiative to bring in students and researchers from around the world to study in Saudi universities. Photo: Al-Imam University

Saudi Arabia has launched a new initiative to bring in students and researchers from around the world to study in Saudi universities, and benefit from the various academic curricula in its colleges, universities, and institutes.

Minister of Education Yousef Al-Benyan opened the forum on the “Study in Saudi Arabia Initiative” on Monday, in the presence of ambassadors, diplomats, and representatives of international organizations.

The forum aims at showcasing the details of the initiative and the accompanying exhibit exploring the opportunities to bring exceptional students from around the world to study in Saudi universities.

The Minister said Saudi Arabia is a major destination for scientific research and innovation, and that the unlimited support provided by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has helped guaranty a special and sustainable research environment.

Al-Benyan invited the ambassadors and diplomats in the Kingdom to explore the educational opportunities and various academic programs to open the door for collaborations with distinguished researchers from different fields.

He also noted that joining the academic programs in Saudi universities enables international students to benefit from the new curricula and advanced facilities, and offers chances to interact with various cultures and enjoy new experiences and rich educational journeys.

“Bringing students, researchers, and interns from around the world to join the Saudi higher education institutions is an integral part of the kingdom’s view to develop the educational sector and boost its international position. It also contributes to fulfilling the fourth sustainability goal (good education), and boosting students’ flow from around the world and promoting scientific and cultural exchange,” he explained.

Al-Benyan also shed light on the care given to the Arabic language as a universal language, and how Saudi Arabia is the perfect destination to learn it and explore its fine cultural heritage. The economic shifts in the world have placed the Kingdom among the fastest growing economies, which helped create opportunities of technical and vocational development in different sectors including oil and gas, renewable energy, technology, and business.

74,000 students from around the world

Saudi universities have hosted over 74,000 students from around the world, and graduated more than 140,000 students from 160 countries in various specialties and academic levels, who benefited from the exceptional educational level and the high-quality outputs in the kingdom.

Dr. Sami Al-Haisouni, director of the scholarships department for non-Saudi students at the Ministry of Education, said the “Study in Saudi Arabia Initiative” reflects the Kingdom’s commitment to providing the best opportunities in the field of education and cultural exchange for international students. The Kingdom has paid great attention to supporting and empowering international students who have chosen it as their destination for education, he added.

Advanced Saudi universities

Saudi Arabia is a major cultural destination and a fine educational hub that has achieved a significant advancement over the past decades as a result of the guided support to develop the education sector, promote its outputs, and transform the conventional education system into a modern one.

The “Study in Saudi Arabia” platform opens the doors of Saudi universities for those willing to join from around the world to invest and develop their skills, benefit from the outstanding capabilities of the Kingdom’s universities, educational facilities, and research centers that serve all kind of scientific purposes.

The development efforts in the Saudi education sector have leveled up some Saudi universities to pioneering ranks. The Times’ World University Rankings 2023 includes 21 Saudi universities compared with 15 last year; seven Saudi universities were among the best worldwide, according to QS Universities Rankings 2021. The Kingdom has also ranked 36th among the best higher education systems in the world.

Public and private Saudi universities showcased their capacities in the exhibition accompanying the forum. They also introduced their educational and academic programs, seats allocated to international students, admission details, and academic information that students need to learn.

In addition to presenting the Ministry of Education’s approach for studying in Saudi Arabia, the forum provides comprehensive information, figures, and statistics about studies in the Kingdom, advantages, universities, colleges, and institutes, as well as the diploma, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in many fields including computer and Islamic law.

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Varieties

Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
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Greece's 'Instagram Island' Santorini nears Saturation Point

Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP
Tourists queue as they wait to take a picture from one of the balconies. Aris Oikonomou / AFP

One of the most enduring images of Greece's summer travel brand is the world-famous sunset on Santorini Island, framed by sea-blue church domes on a jagged cliff high above a volcanic caldera.
This scene has inspired millions of fridge magnets, posters, and souvenirs -- and now the queue to reach the viewing spot in the clifftop village of Oia can take more than 20 minutes, said AFP.
Santorini is a key stopover of the Greek cruise experience. But with parts of the island nearing saturation, officials are considering restrictions.
Of the record 32.7 million people who visited Greece last year, around 3.4 million, or one in 10, went to the island of just 15,500 residents.
"We need to set limits if we don't want to sink under overtourism," Santorini mayor Nikos Zorzos told AFP.
"There must not be a single extra bed... whether in the large hotels or Airbnb rentals."
As the sun set behind the horizon in Oia, thousands raised their phones to the sky to capture the moment, followed by scattered applause.
For canny entrepreneurs, the Cycladic island's famous sunset can be a cash cow.
One company advertised more than 50 "flying dresses", which have long flowing trains, for up to 370 euros ($401), on posters around Oia for anyone who wishes to "feel like a Greek goddess" or spruce up selfies.
'Respect Oia'
But elsewhere in Oia's narrow streets, residents have put up signs urging visitors to respect their home.
"RESPECT... It's your holiday... but it's our home," read a purple sign from the Save Oia group.
Shaped by a volcanic eruption 3,600 years ago, Santorini's landscape is "unique", the mayor said, and "should not be harmed by new infrastructure".
Around a fifth of the island is currently occupied by buildings.
At the edge of the cliff, a myriad of swimming pools and jacuzzis highlight Santorini is also a pricey destination.
In 2023, 800 cruise ships brought some 1.3 million passengers, according to the Hellenic Ports Association.
Cruise ships "do a lot of harm to the island", said Chantal Metakides, a Belgian resident of Santorini for 26 years.
"When there are eight or nine ships pumping out smoke, you can see the layer of pollution in the caldera," she said.
Cruise ship limits
In June, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis floated the possibility of capping cruise ship arrivals to Greece's most popular islands.
"I think we'll do it next year," he told Bloomberg, noting that Santorini and tourist magnet Mykonos "are clearly suffering".
"There are people spending a lot of money to be on Santorini and they don’t want the island to be swamped," said the pro-business conservative leader, who was re-elected to a second four-year term last year.
In an AFP interview, Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni echoed this sentiment and said: "We must set quotas because it's impossible for an island such as Santorini... to have five cruise ships arriving at the same time."
Local officials have set a limit of 8,000 cruise boat passengers per day from next year.
But not all local operators agree.
Antonis Pagonis, head of Santorini's hoteliers association, believes better visitor flow management is part of the solution.
"It is not possible to have (on) a Monday, for example, 20 to 25,000 guests from the cruise ships, and the next day zero," he said.
Pagonis also argued that most of the congestion only affects parts of the island like the capital, Fira.
In the south of the island, the volcanic sand beaches are less crowded, even though it is high season in July.
'I'm in Türkiye
The modern tourism industry has also changed visitor behavior.
"I listened (to) people making a FaceTime call with the family, saying 'I'm in Türkiye," smiled tourist guide Kostas Sakavaras.
"They think that the church over there is a mosque because yesterday they were in Türkiye."
The veteran guide said the average tourist coming to the island has changed.
"Instagram has defined the way people choose the places to visit," he said, explaining everybody wants the perfect Instagram photo to confirm their expectations.