MEDIA RELEASE
King Abdullah scholarships all set at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic
Bay of Plenty Polytechnic is delighted to announce it has been approved as one of only four ITPs (Institutes of
Technology and Polytechnics) in New Zealand able to accept King Abdullah Scholars from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The King Abdullah Scholarship Programme (KASP) was launched in 2005 and now invests some NZ$2.8 billion into the
programme each year. It has 60,000 students studying in over 30 countries with New Zealand being chosen as one of its
top five providers.
The Polytechnic has had an involvement with Saudi students since 2011. This latest collaboration will see dozens more
complete qualifications and will bring an added boost for the local economy.
“The KASP scheme has been established and tailored to meet Saudi Arabia’s needs as far as labour, employment and
infrastructure are concerned,” said Anne Young, Polytechnic International Manager. “Bay of Plenty Polytechnic is very
excited to be contributing to meeting these needs and giving students applied skills that they can take back to Saudi
Arabia.”
All of the KASP students enrolling into the Polytechnic programmes will be utilising the unique pathway opportunities
that are possible through the Polytechnic’s relationship with other tertiary providers, including the University of
Waikato, AUT and Otago Polytechnic. Pathway opportunities encompass students completing a two year diploma course before
pathwaying directly into the third year of a degree.
The Polytechnic has already had a sprinkling of Saudi students studying at the Windermere Campus but formalising the
relationship will enable future growth.
Final approval was given by the Saudi Government Ministry of Higher Education and by the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission
earlier this month. The Polytechnic has already started to enrol KASP students into its July intake programmes.
Ends.