Muscat: Oman's Ministry of Higher Education on Saturday announced a week's deadline for meritorious Omani students to register for some of the 28,400 local and foreign scholarships up for grabs this upcoming academic year.
Financial allocations towards scholarships were significantly augmented earlier this year on the directives of Qaboos, Sultan of Oman. They were part of a sweeping package of grants and financial gestures announced by the government in the wake of protests and sit-ins that erupted in parts of the Sultanate during the first quarter of the year.
As a result of the additional funding made available to the ministry, around 1,500 new foreign scholarships have been created, alongside 7,000 local scholarships. This takes the total number of local and foreign study seats funded by the Omani government to an unprecedented 28,400 scholarships.
The figures spell good news for private higher education institutions which largely thrive on government-funded scholarships for their commercial success. According to Hamad bin Hamoud al Balushi, Director General of the Directorate General of Scholarships, around 9,800 government funded seats are now available to students at higher learning institutions within the Sultanate.
Earlier this month, the ministry's Higher Education Centre began receiving applications for local and foreign scholarships at a specially designated centre opened at the College of Law in Muscat.
Representatives of a number of leading international universities, notably from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, were also on hand to offer career counseling and advice to prospective students.
Aspiring students have until August 20th to submit their scholarship applications for the 2011/2012 academic year.
