Kuwait hopes to increase number of scholarship students to Canada

Kuwait hopes to increase number of scholarship students to Canada, especially in the field of medicine, says the country Undersecretary of Higher Education Dr. Khalid Al-Saad says. In an exclusive statement to KUNA, late on Monday, Dr. Al-Saad said that the aim of his visit to Canada is to participate in the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) 45th Annual Conference, held in Ottawa. He said that he was invited to talk during the Canada-Arab Forum, which is held on the sidelines of the conference, about Kuwait's scholarship programs and objectives "to encourage Kuwaiti students to pursue their studies in Canadian universities." "We hope that our scholarships to Canada increase as Canada has strong programs and high level and quality of teaching and education," he stressed. He added that his visit to Canada is also an opportunity for him to meet Canadian education officials as well as to meet up with the Canadian universities "to encourage them to increase the number of seats for Kuwaiti students, especially in the medical schools." The Canada-Arab Education Forum explores ways of supporting both Arab world and Canadian education sectors to connect to their mutual benefit and in support of their students' and countries' heightened expectations. It looks at partnerships and models within the field of education. Dr. Al-Saad presented a working paper to the Forum on the "Overview of the Scholarship Program of the State of Kuwait" during a panel entitled "Models of Scholarships and Student Support." He indicated that his working paper shed light on many points, namely historic background of Kuwait's scholarship program, saying "the program started in the Early 50's due to the absence of institutions of higher education or universities at that time." He added that "the scholarship destinations were limited to neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Egypt." He said that his paper also pointed out to the current status of the scholarship program, saying "destinations shifted from neighboring countries to developed countries, such as the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany and Ireland." He pointed out that the scholarship majors also shifted from humanities to Engineering, Business and medical Sciences. Dr. Al-Saad added that his working paper also discussed the objectives of the scholarship program, saying "it is considered an opportunity for the Kuwaiti students to be exposed to new cultures, new values and mindsets, as well as setting the Kuwaiti students to compete in international universities in order to become effective participants in world globalization." He stressed that "each graduating scholarship student is a bridge of friendship between Kuwait and his country of study." Dr. Al-Saad indicated that he also discussed the merit program, "which entitles students to financial incentives when joining highly ranked universities in their field of study." He added that he also discussed the future plans for the scholarship program, where "there is a plan to increase the number of scholarship students and to diverse and increase the scholarship majors." As for his visit to Washington D.C., he said that he met up with Kuwait's Ambassador to the U.S. Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah and discussed issues related to the Cultural Office. He added that he also met up with the Cultural Office in Washington D.C. during which they discussed the students' affairs, the needs of the Office and the future plans to improve the supervision and monitoring of the students. As for the number of Kuwaiti students studying in Canada, he indicated that there are currently only 67 undergraduate students, 35 graduate students and 110 medical residents in Canada, and he hopes to increase this number to over 500 scholarship students. Dr. Al-Saad said that he will also meet Kuwait's Ambassador to Canada Ali Al-Sammak during which they will discuss the possibility of having a cultural attach{ in Canada, as well as opening a cultural office there in the future. The CBIE conference examines "motivations, expectations, ambitions and targets for international education;" and work on leading to "clearer understanding of the role of international education and greater effectiveness" in setting and achieving the goals.