The Ministry is taking steps to delay the launch of the foreign scholarship plan for next academic year, reports Al-Qabas daily. This comes during preparations for officials of the Ministry of Higher Education to meet the representatives of the US Embassy to find out the consequences of the US Immigration Department’s decision and to handle any issues involving Kuwaiti students.
The daily quoting a source said this action was taken for several reasons including uncertainty of the global crisis created by coronavirus pandemic, expectation of a second wave that might hit some countries, the Health Ministry’s recent recommendation not to travel, and uncertainty regarding the resumption of studies in public schools, as well as recent decisions of the US Immigration Administration to not renew visas of foreign students. “Although there are two options to either launch the scholarships now or postpone it, the decision of the US Immigration Administration not to allow students whose studies were transferred “online” to enter the United States and leave if the decisions for this system were converted, led to the tendency of not presenting the scholarships in the current period,” he added.
The daily, quoting the sources, revealed that there were still options to several possibilities, confirming the discussions were continuing on the perceptions of the proposal and the postponement, he pointed out that the decision of the US Immigration Administration to not allow students whose studies shifted to “online” to enter the United States and leave if the decisions shift to this system, support the directive against launching scholarships in the current period.
The source said the decision of the US came as a surprise to the Ministry, and those concerned had begun studying the proposed alternatives, and there is the possibility of reducing the number of seats for Kuwaiti students to the United States, while others see the need to stop them temporarily until the American decision is settled, especially after the lawsuits filed by American universities, on the recent decision.
The Ministry planned to meet with representatives of the US Embassy to determine the consequences of Immigration Administration’s decision and the future implications, so that Kuwaiti students are not affected. He stated the ministry is also heading to study alternative destinations for scholarships, especially after the academic accreditation body prepared lists of accredited universities in a number of countries where students were previously enrolled to study, in addition to new destinations, including Austria. He noted that “if the ministry decides in the interest of students to stop the scholarships to the United States temporarily, there will be alternatives for quality education destinations as well”.
After the Ministry prepared a detailed report on the plan for scholarships abroad that includes specialties and universities scheduled to open the usual time, despite the coronavirus crisis, and sending the report with changes in light of the recent developments to the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Saud Al-Harbi.