Who’s Who: Amal Shuqair, deputy minister for scholarships at the Saudi Ministry of Education

Amal Shuqair
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Updated 14 November 2022
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Who’s Who: Amal Shuqair, deputy minister for scholarships at the Saudi Ministry of Education

Amal Shuqair was recently appointed deputy minister for scholarships at the Saudi Ministry of Education, responsible for preparing the Kingdom’s scholarship programs and supervising their implementation.

Her key responsibilities include preparing and updating the policies, regulations, systems and controls regulating the process of enrolling and sending students to study abroad, reviewing scholarship countries and recommending updates in accordance with the program’s objectives.

She also plans partnerships with international organizations to improve scholarships and supervise their implementation, designing programs appropriate to national goals, implementing procedures related to the affairs of students’ scholarships, and studying applications.

Prior to her current position, Shuqair served as assistant deputy minister for classification development at the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing from April 2020.

During her time in the role, she helped to submit development and regulatory proposals to the deputyship, and supervised the progress of business, processes, procedures and services provided in the general administration, following up on facilities and monitoring the quality of projects.

She was also a member of the secretariat of the committee for organizing labor accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She joined the e-government program, Yesser, from 2019 to 2020 as a senior adviser, where she helped design and implement digital transformation strategies and supervise the implementation of e-government initiatives and products for Vision 2030 programs.

In 2018, she was a strategic and planning adviser in the Saudi Federation of Cyber Security and Programming to build and design federation strategy and operational plans.

From 2017 to 2018, she was the deputy ministerial adviser and general director of sectoral nationalization and female employment programs at the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

Shuqair gained a bachelor’s degree in computer science from King Saud University in 2000, a master’s in industrial engineering from the University of Central Florida in 2011, and a Ph.D. in computer engineering in 2015.


Saudi foreign ministry condemns Iranian drone attack on US embassy in Riyadh

General view of the USA embassy in Riyadh. (AFP file photo)
Updated 03 March 2026
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Saudi foreign ministry condemns Iranian drone attack on US embassy in Riyadh

  • The embassy issued a shelter in place notice for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam

RIYADH: A statement from the Saudi foreign ministry on Tuesday condemned Iran’s attack on the United States Embassy building in Riyadh after preliminary assessments indicated two drones targeted the facility.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said eight drones were intercepted and destroyed near Riyadh and Al-Kharj. The incident caused a limited fire and minor material damage to the embassy, with no reported injuries.

Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its right to take all measures to defend itself and its interests, including the right to respond.

Reports from early Tuesday described a loud blast and visible flames at the American embassy, with black smoke rising over Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, where many foreign missions are located.

The US Embassy issued a security alert for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, announcing it would remain closed and that all routine and emergency American Citizen Services appointments were cancelled. The shelter-in-place notice remains active, and American citizens were advised to avoid embassy premises until further notice.

The embassy also urged travelers to review the most recent Security Alerts, reconsider travel plans in case of possible disruptions, and prioritize their safety and that of their families.