The Abu Dhabi education department has launched a scholarship programme for Emiratis who want to study in North America.
Worth around $517 million (AED1.9 billion), the scholarship will benefit up to 6,000 Emiratis, the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) said.
The programme, called Khotwa, will allow grantees to study for two years at community colleges in the US and Canada, before transferring their credit to any international or local university to complete their bachelor’s degrees.
“Khotwa will empower students who have not benefitted from our previous scholarships to study at international colleges and universities and graduate as highly competent, effective and productive citizens capable to enrich our national employment pool and play an active role in driving forward our knowledge-based economy,” Sara Musallam, the UAE Minister of State for Early Education, said.
The first 100 grantees will be chosen this year, but the numbers are set to increase annually to reach 6,000 Emirati students by 2028.
Candidates will also be part of a homestay programme, where they will live with a selected local family in North America. If necessary, ADEK is also going to shoulder English language lessons to prepare the scholars.
Successful applicants are set to leave the UAE for their assigned community college and homestay programme in January 2023.
