Saudi students losing interest in studies at Arab universities

The ongoing political turmoil in Arab countries has drastically reduced the number of Saudi students studying at universities in Yemen, Egypt and Sudan.
Students have instead opted to study in non-Arab countries, either through government scholarship programs or at their own expense.
While there were several hundred students studying at Yemeni universities in 2011, there are now scarcely 80 students at these universities after Saudi education authorities stopped sending students to the volatile country, which has suffered from a breakdown in security in the last three years.
Around 60 percent of the 500 students studying at Yemeni universities in 2011 are from the Kingdom’s southern region. Most used to study at the University of Science and Technology.
Ali Abdul Rahman, a Sudanese professor at the University of Khartoum, told Arab News that the ongoing political turmoil in Sudan has reduced the number of students coming from Gulf countries by 30 percent.
“Sudanese cities, which include major universities, have been abandoned by Gulf students altogether due to the bad security situation,” he said. “This has had a negative impact on the local economy of these cities.”
Egyptian universities, meanwhile, have become a hotbed of frequent protests by Mursi supporters, mainly students, since his ousting last July.
The protests have largely ended in clashes with security forces since a government decree in November granted police access to university campuses without prior permission.
The political turmoil in Egypt has forced Saudis to seek other options for higher education.
Gulf universities in the United Arab Emirates represent one of these options.
Some want their children to study in Bahrain. “University fees are very high, but they have no other option,” said one source.
“Egypt has become a risky country, so I decided to send my children to the Gulf, where there are good universities and it is safe,” said Abdullah Al-Otaibi, who has two sons studying in Bahrain.
Adel Al-Quraishi, a Saudi who is getting ready to go abroad, told Arab News, “I do not like to study at Arab countries despite the low cost of living and good academic programs since the security situation in these countries is volatile.”
“There are many other non-Arab countries that offer premier academic programs, such as Malaysia,” he said.
Jordanian universities are still top Arab university destinations for Saudi students, while the country has ambitions to build a solid system of higher education.
Ammar Al-Sheikh, a Saudi student in Yarmouk University in Jordan, told Arab News: “The number of Saudi students has increased over the past five years.”
“Jordanian universities have succeeded in attracting many students from Gulf countries.”