The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Overseas Scholarship Program: Targeting Quality and Employment

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to fill the void in academic literature concerning the transition from the King AbdullahScholarship Program (KASP) to the current Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Overseas Scholarship Program.Based on a review of published news accounts and of announcements made by Saudi sources, Saudi officialdocuments and comments from various international sources presented in chronological order, this paper suggeststhat there have been three phases in this transition, from 2015 to the present, namely: Phase One (Uncertainty); PhaseTwo (Establishment of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Overseas Scholarship Program); Phase Three (TheQuality Issue). Saudi Arabia is going through particularly challenging times in the globalized knowledge society andeconomy; this paper encourages the academic community to focus on the moves now being made by the Kingdom toaddress the quality issue within its educational system, bearing in mind the comments of Majlis Ash-Shura memberHuda Al Helaissi when interviewed by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica: “You must give us time: we are ayoung nation… above all, we Saudis are not like you Westerners: we have different values and we intend to upholdthem. We will change in our own way, not yours”.