The signing of an Agreement for Mutual Cooperation between the Scholarship Coordination Office (SCO) Board of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) took place on Monday, 10 March 2008, where the TRA launched its project «Be’tha» (Arabic for Scholarship) to sponsor 100 Emirati from both genders that are academically distinguished and from all over the Emirates of the UAE, to study in the world’s leading universities abroad, majoring in ICT and related subjects. The Signing Ceremony took place at the SCO Offices in Abu Dhabi, where the signatories were H.E. Ahmad Mohammed Al-Huimeiri, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and the Vice Chair of the SCO Board, and H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Board Member and Director General.
The Agreement aims at promoting the statues and role that has been achieved by the President through sponsoring the academically distinguished students, in enforcing the UAE educational development in all majors that are established in accordance with the needs of the country. It also aims at fulfilling the increasing demands for National human resources specialized in the ICT domains and relevant majors; bearing in mind that the national graduates in these domains are not coping with the present rapid progress of the sector and its expected future development.
In this respect, H.E. Ahmed Al-Humeiri expressed his gratitude to the wise leadership of H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayid Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President & Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and H.H. Gen. Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayid Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for their support and sponsorship of the SCO students. He also thanked H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayid Al Nahyan, Minister of Presidential Affairs, that supervises and follows up with the SCO progress and achievements. Al-Humeiri stated: “The instructions of H.H. the UAE President have removed the obstacles facing the national student to acquire the proper education in the world’s most prestigious universities, due to the accurate standards that the SCO follows, where it has become the primary source for providing the national institutions with qualified national human resources in accordance with the highest academic standards. The SCO graduates that are working now in different government institutions have reflected the very positive image of the SCO and its high academic statues.” Al-Humeiri also expressed his admiration for the TRA initiative that reflects the proper approach to sponsor the academically distinguished national students.
In his turn, H.E. Mohamed Al Ghanim clarified that «Be’tha» Project via this Agreement is in accordance with the TRA strategic plan for 2008 – 2010, stating: “After evaluating the present statues of the national human capital that is specialized in ICT, we discovered that the number of the national graduates that are specialized in these fields does not satisfy the growing need of this sector and the development it witnesses annually. Thus, the TRA launched «Be’tha» for a specific number of students within a specific timeframe as the first step to become probably a beginning to a permanent cooperation between both sides, serving the UAE community in general and the ICT Sector in specific.”
Al Ghanim continued: “It is really our pleasure to be among the first national institutions to recognize that sponsoring education and academia is the perfect way to develop the society and support it with young energetic skills, stressing on the importance of sponsoring and supporting the successful national initiatives and the seeking of national institutions to be an active part in serving the national society; where the SCO is considered a vital step towards such goals.”
The SCO of the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs, however, supervises H.H. the President Scholarship and was established in 1999. The SCO manages the scholarship academically and supervises the distinguished students that study in the most prestigious universities abroad such as Harvard, Oxford, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, and California Berkley. The SCO also coordinates with different government institutions, nominating their graduates to work in them.
