Higher Education signs cooperation agreement with Abu Dhabi Education Council

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Abu Dhabi Education Council, in order to follow up on the affairs of the Council’s students abroad. The agreement was signed by Her Excellency Fatima Al Zaabi, Assistant Undersecretary for Institutional and Support Services, on behalf of the Ministry, and Dr. Mohammed Baniyas, Executive Director of Higher Education Sector, on behalf the Council. The agreement was signed in view of the public interest and the need to regulate the management of student affairs through the Cultural Attachés abroad. It was agreed between the parties to forge closer ties with each other, in order to facilitate the follow- up on the Council’s scholarship students. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, the Ministry is to supervise the 220 Council’s students abroad during the period of validity of the agreement, through the Cultural Attachés and offices of the Ministry, and the Cultural Attaché issues an administrative decision to commission or appoint any staff member it deems appropriate to oversee the Council’s students in the academic, financial, and administrative fields. Based on the agreement signed between the two parties, the Ministry, represented by its Cultural Attachés and offices, is required to issue a letter addressed to the educational institutions that accepted the Council’s students, and pay the tuition fees for the scholarship students and their accompanying children in line with the pre-approved regulations and policies, as well as pay the medical expenses or health insurance for the scholarship students and their accompanying children approved by the Council as the case may be, according to the systems in place at the Abu Dhabi Education Council, and the Council is to provide the Ministry with a list of names and numbers of scholarship students, and mention the degree, specialization, and the duration of study. The Ministry is to attest the educational certificates obtained by the Council’s students according to the systems applicable in the country of study. The Ministry is committed to providing academic acceptance or confirming acceptance of the scholarship student in one of the outstanding educational institutions accredited by the Scholarship Commission of the Ministry. In turn, the Council is to provide the Ministry with copies of the scholarship decisions, and a file including all required papers and documents, in addition to any academic, administrative, and financial follow-up according to the procedures followed for scholarship students by the Council, and within the frameworks used and the guidance given to the academic counselors by the Ministry and Cultural Attachés abroad , and in accordance with the requirements of the Council in this regard, and upon requesting that from the Ministry or from those concerned in the Cultural Attachés directly . It is noteworthy that this agreement and other agreements with all scholarship authorities are in the national interest, in order for the scholarship students from all authorities to be under one umbrella, and this agreement helps the concerned person to obtain accurate statistics on students and their specialties, institutions enrolled in, and how to communicate with them easily through the Embassy of the State to deliver any significant messages to them.