HEI Delegation Visits British Universities

In the framework of strengthening relations with the international universities accredited by the Supreme Education Council, the Higher Education Institute had recently sent a delegation to visit the universities of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Cardiff and Bernil. The purpose of the visit was to follow up on Qatari students studying in the United Kingdom and help them resolve issues and manage difficulties.

The delegation was chaired by the director of Scholarships Office, Ms. Hessa Al Aali, in addition to other Scholarship officials including Mr. Ali Al Buainain, Mr. Eid Al-Hajri, Ms. Maryam Al Ziara and Ms. Nour Al Ansari.

According to Director of the Scholarship Office, the delegation met with officials from different universities to raise awareness of the programs and services offered to Qatari students. The university officials, for their part, informed the delegation about their admittance policies. The discussants acknowledged the importance of signing (MOU) between the Higher Education Institute and the universities and the need to continue direct communications via satellite (e-meetings) for follow-up.

The meetings covered many topics related to the scholarship programs in Qatar including the decision of SEC to terminate the foundation program in British Universities. Al Ali explained the rationale behind taking this decision in light of presence of other alternatives present in Qatar such as the Academic Bridge Program. She invited the officials at the University of Manchester to review the academic curriculum of the academic bridge program and assess its significance.

During their meeting with Brunel University officials , the delegate discussed the situation of special needs students. HEI officials demanded the provision of adequate housing and services for this category of students and for special caring at the time of exams.

Furthermore, the HEI officials asked the universities to send early reports on Scholarship Students who wish to change their fields of study to enable them to study their cases and take informed decisions that will benefit the student without affecting the scholarship plans of the office. They also requested the universities to send invoices for tuition fees on timely manner to allow the HEI to complete the financial procedures. The delegation discussed with British universities some individual cases of Qatari students studying in universities on case-by-case basis.

The delegation also met with a group of Scholarship students to discuss and follow up on different issues regarding their studies in the UK . The delegate emphasized the need for students acquire high attendance score and to familiarize themselves with the rules and regulations of their respective universities in order to blend in with the academic society.