Royal push for higher education

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah on Sunday approved several educational projects, including a college of Shariah and law at Dammam University and a college of arts and sciences in Rijal Al-Mae, under King Khaled University, based in Abha.
“The royal approvals covered the restructuring of several colleges, including the college of public health and health information and college of nursing at Umm Al-Qura University, college of arts and designs for girls and college of home economics at King Abdulaziz University,” said Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari.
The Higher Education Council, which is chaired by King Abdullah, also approved the establishment of new departments at several universities, the minister said.
It has endorsed the agreements signed by Saudi universities with their foreign counterparts and the National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment.
“The council also agreed to extend the services of 36 members of teaching staff at different universities and to set up a higher education fund,” Al-Anqari said.
Meanwhile, Al-Anqari said his ministry has embarked on a new era of quality, productivity and efficiency. “Our priority is to raise citizens who are patriotic and who can differentiate between truth and falsities,” he told a seminar on the National Strategy for Protection of Fairness and Combating Corruption in Riyadh.
He said the ministry has been exerting greater efforts to promote fairness and transparency. “The Saudi leadership gives officials full freedom to work and encourage them to be responsible individuals,” he said.
Monitoring agencies in the Kingdom should work for strengthening the values of fairness and the rule of law, the minister said. He noted the remarkable progress achieved by the Kingdom’s higher education, with the number of public universities reaching 25 and private universities 10.