The Saudi government is providing exceptional facilities for the benefit of Yemeni students residing in Saudi Arabia in order to facilitate their access to higher education. The assistant cultural attache at the Yemeni consulate in Jeddah Dr. Mohammed Al-Ahdal told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Saudi government waived the acceptance requirements for Yemeni students whose acceptance to various Saudi government universities including King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah was delayed. This action is in accordance with the affiliation system and recognises the conditions in Yemen which the Arab coalition forces led by Saudi Arabia are working towards improving.

He stressed that the acceptance of Yemeni students at Saudi universities as part of the affiliation system came after the Saudi government agreed to take into account the circumstances of the war in Yemen and ease the burden that it has caused them by waiving the requirements for acceptance. Saudi Arabia grants Yemenis residing there 360 competitive grants annually and the Yemeni government is working to make these grants non-competitive so that students are accepted quickly and don’t have to wait for long periods of time as they do with the competitive grant.

Al-Ahdal added that there are 700 undergraduate and postgraduate Yemeni students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah and the university administration is making every effort to provide them with sufficient facilities.

The cultural attache at the Yemeni consulate Abdullah Al-Awlaki visited King Abdulaziz University. During his visit, he met the university’s dean Dr Abdul Rahman Al-Youbi and discussed pending issues to accept and register candidates for cultural exchange scholarships.

Al-Ahdal described the cultural attache’s meeting with the dean as successful and fruitful and said that the dean was understanding of the Yemeni students’ circumstances and promised to solve all obstacles that they face so that they can complete their undergraduate degrees.

The meeting concluded with an agreement to postpone the completion of issues related to the acceptance of latecomers and speeding up of awarding non-competitive grants so that undergraduate students and graduate students can start their studies in the first term.