Muscat, Oman: The number of Omani students awarded scholarships to study abroad has risen this year. Hilal al Masheri, deputy director of external scholarships, Oman inistry of Higher Education (MoHE), said, “Currently, there are three kinds of scholarships available to students desirous of pursuing higher education in foreign countries, and the number of students benefiting from them has increased in all three categories.”
In the first category, the full scholarship, the government bears the full expenses, including tuition fees, pocket money, health insurance and air ticket of the student, Masheri said. “In 2010, we had 90 students availing full scholarships, and this year we already have 130 students who have benefited from it.”
In the partial scholarship category, 75 per cent of tuition fees, health insurance and an annual ticket is provided by the government. Eighty-three students received partial scholarships last year, while this year there are 85 beneficiaries in the category.
In the third category, scholarship grants offered by other countries to Omani students are channeled through the MoHE. Last year, 85 students benefited from such grants. This year, 139 students went abroad, supported by these scholarships, Masheri said.
Of the foreign grants, 86 scholarships are offered by GCC countries, 35 by Russia and ten by Cyprus. In addition, Qatar offered eight special scholarships this year. “Nearly 150 new scholarships are expected to be offered by European Union countries,” he said.
Among the most preferred destinations for study are the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. The most sought-after fields are medicine, science, information technology and engineering.
Some of the problems faced by Omani students who go abroad pertain to language barriers, interaction with the local population, finding accommodation and homesickness, he added.
© Muscat Daily
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