VACANT SEATS IN SAUDI UNIVERSITIES

Saudi universities have so far admitted 200,621 students for the new academic year (2009-2010) and this represented 80 percent of available seats, a report issued by the Ministry of Higher Education said on Saturday. “There are many vacant seats in most universities,” the report said. Girls represented 48.5 percent of the newly enrolled students. The largest numbers of students (53,226) were given admission in the last week of Shaaban. The ministry said there are 68,232 seats vacant at government universities, including 29,507 for boys and 38,725 for girls. This is in addition to more than 11,000 seats available at private colleges and universities. Saudi Arabia has been giving utmost importance to education and training to meet its growing development requirements. In the last four years, 12 new universities and several colleges have opened in different parts of the country. In a recent statement, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari said private universities could play a bigger role in absorbing students who otherwise have to go abroad for higher studies by offering attractive courses and quality education.