Sharjah 24: His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, mentioned in a telephone interview on the “Direct Line” programme, hosted by Hassan Yaqoub Al Mansouri, Secretary-General of the Sharjah Media Council and broadcast on Sharjah Broadcasting Authority (SBA), “I want to explain the reason for lowering the approval rate for scholarships offered by the Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority (SEWA) to high school students to 70% instead of 85%, because some may be surprised as to why this change was made. The University of Sharjah accepts 70% average students, so what is SEWA's rationale for refusing to award the scholarship to a student who has already been accepted?"

300 students
"Knowing that the vast majority of applicants for SEWA’s scholarships far exceed 70%, but we have reduced the rate to adhere to the University of Sharjah's acceptance rate, and the number of students who failed to be accepted is not small, as it exceeded 300 students, so we lowered the average so that they can be accepted," His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah added.

Required majors
His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi went on to say: "I also want to clarify another point, many people are waiting for postgraduate studies at a time when it has become clear to us that postgraduate studies in the past have been heavily focused on certain specialisations; society does not require all of these graduates, for example, in the specialisation of law. If 50 PhD holders in Law graduate each year, this number exceeds society's needs, so we must now prioritise accepting postgraduate studies in medical and engineering colleges, so that we have a tally of doctors and engineers, and inventors and creators appear among them.

Sources' reliability
“We also face another problem in postgraduate studies, about which the university's doctors and professors complained to me personally, because the doctorate is not taught in classes with multiple students; rather, the doctorate is taught to a single student only, so that the doctor can take care of this student to graduate at a high level of knowledge. Despite this, some students present their studies with undocumented sources, which is a total hassle because it wastes the time and effort of the professor, as he or she revises and filters the information to keep only the correct and reliable parts, and it is also a waste of money, as well as the time of the student who wishes to advance his education.” His Highness continued.

"As a result, I propose to the university that I sit with the PhD students and give them a lecture, reviewing the process of documentation," His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi said. "Even if he/she is from a bygone age, not everyone who contributed knowledge may be utilised as a reference or we can take from him/her. If someone claims, "I heard or attended," there are grounds for scientific research and this is considered a degree of testimony, If, on the other hand, someone says, "I was told," this is an open sentence that the recipient should look into; who told you? To obtain a doctorate, a postgraduate student should not collect material from a variety of sources at random, without first having established the foundations and rules of documentation.” 

"As a result, the university must set restrictions in this area," His Highness concluded. It has no choice but to reject the student who begins his research career in this manner. It does not work now because this student has a government grant, whereas at other universities, the student's study is rejected, and in some cases, he is suspended from studying for two years. The student must follow the principles and rules of his study because he will one day become a doctor and be responsible for future generations' studies. What will he teach his students if he lacks these foundations?

Arrangements for postgraduate studies
"Now we have a lot of students applying to join postgraduate studies," His Highness Sharjah's Ruler remarked. "They claim they have yet to receive an answer. We advise them to be patient since the matter is with me, and there will be a lot of preparation and scrutiny. For instance, there was supposed a lecture to be held. A talk about scientific research, However, the university organised it in a way that was not what I intended because it was open to all students, including PhD and bachelor's students, so how can we talk about "scientific research" with a first-year bachelor's student? Because the goal of this lecture is to produce actual knowledge gains for PhD students on how to conduct scientific research and evaluate information's authenticity and reliability, which will not be understood by a first-year undergraduate student, I cancelled it. The debate and scientific level of the questions posed by undergraduates will be unrelated to the lecture's topic, preventing them and PhD students from benefiting from it.”

Valuable lecture
"Now I am offering to the university once more to give the lecture to the postgraduate students," His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi continued, "and I requested that you please make your plans to see the PhD students, not as you did the first time by scheduling an open lecture."

Candidates lists
"Yesterday, I received the different specialisation applicants' list for postgraduate studies, and I will arrange, God willing, with the university, so that those enrolled in the programmes will be willing to acquire knowledge that benefits society, because students exert their personal effort and spend their money," His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah said, "as well as the doctor's time and effort in supervising their research."

“We are now encountering a problem in the number of applications for postgraduate courses in particular fields, such as law. The number of applications outnumbers the number of doctors supervising this discipline, and the law in this country exists and does not require all of these numbers, students in this case should choose another study that the community requires.” His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi stated.

New theories
His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, said at the end of his talk. “The PhD student must present a study that was not previously offered at the university. Originally, the idea of PhD studies was to come up with research that had never been done before and to verify a novel hypothesis that would benefit society."