1. Home
  2. Best in region: Saudi universities stay ahead

Best in region: Saudi universities stay ahead

June 14, 2015

Dhahran, Jun 14: King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) has been ranked first among the region’s Top 100 universities, according to QS World University Rankings 2015.

Saudi universities

According to the report, the American University of Beirut (Lebanon), King Saud University (Riyadh) and King Abdul Aziz University (Jeddah) followed respectively.

Despite its name, KFUPM offers courses in a wide array of subjects, covering traditional disciplines as well as fields of engineering, science and business.

In the QS World University Rankings for 2015, the university is ranked among the world’s Top 200 institutions for computer science, mathematics, statistics and operational research, chemical engineering, civil and structural engineering, electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering.

It also ranks in the global Top 400 for chemistry.

The rankings compare the Top 800 universities globally across four broad areas of interest for prospective students, including research, teaching, employability and international outlook.

Four key areas are assessed using six indicators, each of which is given a different percentage weighting.

Four of the indicators are based on hard data, including student-to-faculty ratio (20 percent), citations per faculty (20 percent), international faculty ratio (5 percent), and international student ratio (5 percent).

The remaining two indicators are based on major global surveys, one of which is the reputation of academics (40 percent) and another regarding the reputation of employers (10 percent).

“With one of the fastest-growing higher education systems in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia offers a number of world-class institutions,” said the report.

“Eight Saudi universities were ranked in the QS World University Rankings 2014/15, and the nation claims 12 of the Top 100 universities in the Arab region, in the QS University Rankings: Arab Region 2015.”

The report pointed out that facilities at the leading universities in Saudi Arabia are second-to-none, thanks to the nation’s ongoing and significant investment in higher education.

Saudi Arabia’s rapid development over the last 50 years has had a strong impact on trade, business, tourism, education, technology, transport, architecture and culture, particularly within the key cities, said the report.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 5,2020

Dubai, May 5: A Saudi ministerial decision issued on Monday allows companies in the private sector to reduce salaries by 40 per cent and allows termination of contracts owing to the economic hardships resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to daily newspaper Al Sharq Awsat.

The new decision was still not published by the cabinet according to the newspaper.

The decision which the newspaper saw a copy of was signed by Saudi Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to regulate the labour contract in the current period, allows employers to reduce the employees salaries by 40 percent of the actual effective wage for a period of 6 months, in proportion to the hours of work and allowing the termination of employee contract after 6 months of the COVID-19 circumstances.

The new decision has also included a provision in which the employer would be allowed to cut wages even he or she benefits from the subsidy provided by the goverment, such as those for helping pay workers wages or exemption from government fees.

The decision also stressed that employers are not allowed to terminate any employee, unless three conditions are met.

1.            First the passing of six months since the measures of salary cut has been taken

2.            Reducing pay, annual leave and exceptional leave were all used

3.            Company proves that its facing financial troubles due to the circumstances.

The memo, which goes into affect as soon as its published in the government’s official newspaper, ensures that the employee will receive his/her salary if on annual leave within the period of 6 months.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 28,2020

Dubai, Jul 28: A heart-broken father who lost his 19-year-old son in a tragic car accident during Christmas last year has sponsored the repatriation costs of 61 Indians stranded in the UAE.

 The special flydubai repatriation flight, chartered by the All Kerala Colleges Alumni Federation (Akcaf) volunteer group, of which he is a member of, departed from Dubai to Kochi on July 25 carrying 199 passengers.

 On this particular flight, I sponsored 55 air tickets," said TN Krishnakumar, a sales and marketing director. He had lost his son Rohit Krishnakumar in a car accident, which also claimed the life of the teen's friend, Sharat Kumar (21).

"All passengers who were registered with the Indian missions were also asked to register on the Akcaf volunteer group website. Each passenger was further vetted, after which we made home visits to ensure that all the applicants were genuinely in need of financial support and repatriation," he said.

Commenting on what inspired him to dedicate himself to community work, Krishankumar said: "When a situation like this comes up, you realise there is no meaning in money. I invested everything I made into my son, and that had crashed in front of my eyes. He was a third-year medical student at the University of Manchester in the UK and had returned home for a vacation when the accident took place. Since then, I have been involved in a lot of social activities. If I do not do this, there is no meaning to my existence."

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Krishnakumar said the group has supported thousands of individuals in need of help. "We supported unemployed people with several hundred bags of grocery kits and other necessary items. We also supported Covid-19 patients by transferring them to the medical facility in Warsan, etc.," he said.

"I come from a very middle-class family. I got a scholarship to study in college, and I studied with the help of taxpayers' money. I have always wanted to give back to society. I have grown immensely in life and now is my time to give back.," he added.

Krishnakumar also sponsors the education of over 1,000 academically gifted school children in Kerala's government-aided schools. He is a life trustee at the College of Engineering Trivandrum Alumni Galaxy Charitable Trust and an active participant towards various educational causes.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
April 2,2020

Ankara, Apr 2: Saudi Arabia on Thursday declared a 24-hour lockdown in all parts of Makkah and Medina cities as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

"The 24-hour curfew will be imposed in all parts of the cities of Makkah and Medina, with a ban on entry and exit from both cities," the Saudi Interior Ministry said on Twitter.

The lockdown starts from Thursday “until further notice.”

All commercial activities inside the residential neighborhoods of the two cities were also prohibited, except for pharmacies, food products stores, gas stations and banking services, the ministry said.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the virus has spread to at least 180 countries and regions, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

Its data shows the number of confirmed cases worldwide have surpassed 962,900, with the death toll over 49,100 and more than 202,700 recoveries.

Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
Related topics

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.