Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Minister of Culture Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan announced on Monday the launch of the Kingdom’s first foreign scholarship program for culture. The program would enable qualified young Saudi men and women to pursue higher studies in culture and arts specializations in the world-class universities.

Registration for the cultural scholarship program will open on Jan. 19. The ministry will announce in the coming days all the details about the program, including the mechanisms for application and registration, and the terms and conditions.

The courses that come under the scholarship program include archeology, design, museums, music, theater, filmmaking, literature, visual arts and culinary arts for the bachelor, master’s and doctoral courses.

The program was initiated within the framework of the comprehensive development being witnessed by the cultural sector in the Kingdom.

There will be three main tracks for applying for the program. 1. Saudi male and female students who are currently pursuing studies abroad at their own expense in cultural and artistic specializations. These students will be included in the cultural scholarship program in accordance with the program’s regulations and mechanisms.

2. The program includes those who have previously applied for scholarships to study culture and arts and have obtained acceptance for admission from accredited universities. The ministry will dispatch these Saudis for joining the scholarship program during 2020 as soon as they complete the terms and conditions that make them eligible for the program.

3. It includes male and female students who want to apply to join cultural scholarship program for the academic year of 2021. The ministry will set up, in the beginning of 2020, a comprehensive electronic portal to receive applications from those who want to join the cultural scholarship program.

Prince Badr said that education is the main pillar upon which the Kingdom’s cultural sector is built and that the focus on youth is the basis of any development project for the cultural and artistic sector.

He lauded the utmost keenness and great support that the Kingdom’s cultural sector receives from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense.

He highlighted the importance of this sector in improving the quality of life, empowering national talent, creating opportunities for dialogue, and enhancing the exchange of experiences with other parts of the world.

The minister emphasized that the cultural scholarship program is the first phase of an integrated educational project that starts from general education and does not stop with the university education.

“The program aims at developing Saudi culture in accordance with a comprehensive perspective that places education as a basis for the development of national cadres specialized in the cultural and artistic fields and qualifying and training them to develop capacity-building in the Saudi cultural sector, as well as to meet the growing labor market needs,” he added.