The King Abdullah Scholarship Program
When I decided to travel abroad, my first choice was Canada. I chose Canada because besides enjoying my vacation, I would study English while discovering the Canadian culture. I intended to spend only four months in Canada because I thought that was enough time to discover the Canadian culture, learning English, and enjoy my vacation. However, when I arrived in Canada, It dawned to me that there is so much to learn about the Canadian culture. In addition, to most Canadians, their education is their first priority. For these reasons, I changed my mind and decided to start with an English program and then pursue a bachelor’s degree program. It was impossible to accomplish all this in four months. In order to successfully finish the English program, I needed to stay in Canada for a minimum of 1 year. I would then need an additional 4 to 5 years to successfully complete my bachelor’s degree program.
The time factor was a formidable obstacle to my goals. When I left my country for Canada, I had planned on only staying for four months, a decision which was based on my vacation and on the money I had. The amount of money I had could only sustain me for four months. I almost gave up on my dream of finishing my studies in Canada. However, my breakthrough came from talking to one my friends about my situation. While in Canada, I made friends with several people from different countries. My friend, who was from Saudi Arabia, suggested that I apply for a scholarship from the Saudi cultural bureau. Saudi cultural bureau provides scholarships to financial-constrained students who want to complete their studies. It had never crossed my mind before.
It seemed the perfect solution to my problems. I searched for more information about Saudi cultural bureau and on how to enroll. After a thorough research, I contacted the Saudi culture mission. I was informed that they had the King Abdullah scholarship program which covers tuition fees, health insurance and any other justifiable expenses. I decided to do my best to join the King Abdullah Program. However, I found out that it is not easy to get into the King Abdullah scholarship program due to its requirements. One of the requirements is that one must be enrolled as a student. Despite these hurdles, I was finally accepted into the scholarship program.
The king Abdullah scholarship program finances students to study in some of the best Universities for studies in English, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and doctorate degrees. This program is beneficial to me and to most Saudi students because it helps us to achieve our goals in many ways. First, it enables Saudi students to study in the best universities around the world. Secondly, it enables Saudi Arabia to build up professional and qualified Saudi staff in the work environment. Lastly, it also helps Saudis to increase their cultural and educational experience with countries worldwide. This program has selected country to which students are sent to study depending on the major they chose. Those countries include United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, Australia, Italy, Germany, Poland, New Zealand, Hungary, Singapore, Austria, South Korea, Japan, India, Malaysia, The Netherlands and South Africa. The program provides study opportunities to in several academic majors including medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and medical fellowship, medical science: medical laboratories, medical technology and physical therapy, engineering: electrical, civil, mechanical, chemical, industrial, environmental and communications engineering. Computer: computer science, computer engineering, networks, and many other majors such as law, accounting, marketing, finance and insurance.
The Ministry under which this program is offered has several conditions for acceptance into the scholarship program in each level of study. One must meet those conditions to qualify for the scholarship. It is worth noting that all data must be entered correctly because if any data is found to be wrong in any way the scholarship will be canceled. Any Saudi national can receive a King Abdullah scholarship by meeting the seven general conditions for acceptance. First, the applicant must be a Saudi citizen. Secondly, he/she must not be a government employee. He/she must study full time. The applicant must reside in the country he chosen. The applicant age must be within the specific conditions for each level of study. The applicant degree must be one approved by the Ministry; to ensure this condition is met a copy of the degree program must be presented and if it was granted by a non-Saudi University a copy of the degree program must be presented in Arabic. Finally, a female applicant must have a legally male companion who will travel and remain with her during the whole period of her study.
There are also a number of specific conditions for acceptance in the program depending on the degree that a student wants to study. Because I am going to study a bachelor’s degree, I will only discuss the specific conditions that pertain to this degree. First of all, the secondary school grade must not be less than 90%. Secondly, the applicant must pass an aptitude test with a minimum score of 80%.Thirdly; the applicant must pass an achievement test with a score of at least 80%.Lastly, no more than three years must have passed since the student graduate from high school.
In conclusion, the King Abdullah scholarship program is one of the best programs that help students to continue their studies and improve their skills in the degree program that they intend to study. Although it is not that easy to enroll in the program, it is possible if one follows the instruction correctly and agrees with the terms and conditions. Once you got the scholarship from the government everything will change and you will have a perfect life abroad.
References
Abaalkhail, F. A.-M. (2011, November 20). SCHOLARSHIPS AND STUDENT SUPPORT: The Saudi Model in Canada. Retrieved September 20, 2012, from http://web.cbie.ca: http://web.cbie.ca/conference/data/2011/Panel2_Faisal_Mohammad_Al-Mohanna_Abaalkhail.pdf
