Cultural Office in UK to regulate study abroad

The Cultural Office in the UK would more firmly regulate the study abroad of Kuwaiti students, starting from the selection of their language courses and all through actual study, head of the office Mohammad Al-Hajri told KUNA on Monday. Al-Hajri added that the students would be distributed among proper institutions and geographical locations without too much concentration in any one destination of study, and it is crucial that students only register for language courses and support with institutions accredited by the office, most particularly in their first year. Any registration with an institution not accredited by the office shall not be considered, he pointed out, and the majority of students who shied from the office's advice in the past came to regret their decisions and suffered academically, as well as socially. Certain destinations of the past are no longer allowed, he noted, after several problems and failure of the institutions involved to cooperate to resolve them. Students were allowed appropriate compensation, such as re-study of the first year at no charge. Gulf authorities were apprised of the difficulties with these institutions so that other Gulf students are spared the suffering, he remarked. The official urged all students accepted for scholarships in the UK to apply for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) evaluation if they wish to start study in the next semester, starting in September, and are also urged to seek information regarding visas. "As always, our students are the homeland's ambassadors, and they should act accordingly," Al-Hajri stressed as a final word of advice.