Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh said the Saudi Arabian government is ready to sponsor more Malaysian students to further their studies at several universities in the Kingdom. He said this year Saudi Arabia would take 40 students for several courses related to Islamic studies, which was double the number offered previously. "Most of them study at the Riyadh, Medina and Mecca universities and the new intakes this time around will also be offered to do other courses like medical and engineering besides Islamic studies," he told reporters after a welcoming ceremony for Malaysian students from Saudi Arabia here Sunday. He said the number of students (40) was just one per cent of the total number of foreign students studying in Saudi Arabia.Shafie said with the readiness of the Saudi government, the Malaysian government was also reciprocating by offering to sponsor their students to study in this country, although it was still at the discussion level. Asked whether the Malaysian government had sponsored Malaysian students to study in Saudi Arabia, he said: "No. Most of our students are studying in Cairo and at the moment, we have more than 300 students there." On the memorandum issued by the Umno Youth movement to review the meritocracy system, he said the system would not be amended immediately but the proposals would be studied first. Meanwhile, he also asked corporate bodies and private companies to perform their social responsibilities by sponsoring outstanding students to further their studies at the local and foreign universities.