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Egypt

British University to Open in September

The British Embassy in Cairo has announced that the British University in Egypt (BUE) will open in the city of Al Sharouk just outside of Cairo in September this year.

The non-profit BUE will initially offer degree programs in engineering, information technology, computer science and business. The new institution is backed by three British universities – Loughborough, Strathclyde and Leeds – with support from the British Council. The university will be staffed by 70 percent British faculty, together with Egyptian professors.

— AME Info
Jan. 13, 2005

Israel

Applications for New Law Schools Rejected

Applications from several colleges and universities, including Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, to open new law schools in the south of Israel have been rejected on the grounds that the country has enough lawyers. Backed by the Israeli Bar Association, the rejections were issued by the Council for Higher Education’s Planning and Budget Committee.

According to the Israeli Bar Association, Israel currently has one lawyer for every 200 people. However the universities reject this argument, pointing to the absence of law schools in that part of the country. A number of the colleges have declared their intention to appeal the decision.

— Haaretz
December 12, 2004

Jordan

Kingdom Seeks to Increase its Share of International Students

Students from 14 universities gathered at a workshop in Amman in December to discuss ways of improving Jordan’s higher education system. The workshop focused on the results of a questionnaire that surveyed 800 international students to find out what they like and do not like about Jordan’s system of higher education. Questions focused on registration procedures, quality issues and the fairness of professors.

Ministry officials said the questionnaire was part of a larger initiative to increase the number of international students in the Kingdom from the current 20,000 to 100,000 by the year 2020.

The country has seen an increase in the number of foreign students enrolling at its universities in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United Sates as those previously inclined to seek a western education began to look elsewhere for higher education opportunities. Competitors in the Gulf states, particularly Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, also began expanding their higher education systems to accommodate the growing number of Arab students who are seeking alternatives to studying in the United States.

At present, 75 percent of all international students enrolled at Jordanian universities are from Arab countries, with the majority of them coming from the Palestinian Authority, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

— Jordan Times
Dec. 13, 2004

Lebanon

Baccalaureate Renamed

From academic year 2000/2001, the title General Secondary Certificate (shahaada thaanawiya amma) has replaced ‘Lebanese Baccalaureate’ as the name of the secondary school leaving certificate. The secondary tracks have also been revised from 2000/01 to include:

• Social and economic sciences (uloum iqtisadiya wa ijtima’iya)
• Life sciences (ulouom al-hayaat)
• Humanities (insaniyaat)
• General Sciences (uloum amma)

Maximum scores for the new certificate exam in the four tracks are 560, 570, 530 and 480 respectively.

— AMIDEAST
Feb 11, 2005

The United Arab Emirates

The UAE Seeks to Retain Students

The Ministry of Education and Youth recently announced a 20-year plan to upgrade the country’s curriculum and teaching methods. The UAE boasts one of the highest enrollment rates for higher education in the world. Currently, 90 percent of the country’s high school graduates enter college or university.

However, a large number of these students pursue higher education studies overseas usually in the United Kingdom or the United States. The increasing presence of foreign university branch campuses in the UAE has led to a noticeable decline in the number of students going abroad for higher education.

— AMIDEAST
January 2005

New Branch Campus to Open in Dubai

General Motors University, a corporate management training initiative set up in Detroit in 1997 is scheduled to open a branch campus at the Dubai Men’s University in 2005.

It is hoped the move will facilitate the university’s effort to provide high quality, career oriented education for United Arab Emirates nationals. GM sees this as a first step in an effort to establish a series of automotive training programs across the Middle East and to cover GM’s regional internal training.

— Khaleej Times
December 12 th 2004

Dubai Knowledge Village to Expand

Knowledge Village, a learning center established in 2003 that hosts branch campuses of foreign universities, will soon double in size to accommodate between 25 and 30 international universities that will accommodate approximately 36,000 students.

It is estimated that the project will take two years to complete. In addition to hosting academic service providers, professional training centers and a host of other business and consultant services, Knowledge Village also currently enrolls 6,000 students at the following institutions:

• Birla Institute of Technology and Science (India)
• British University in Dubai (UK)
• Islamic Azad University (Iran)
• Mahatma Gandhi University Off Campus Centre (India)
• Manipal Academy of Higher Education (India)
• Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Pakistan)
• University of Wollongong (Australia)
• University of Southern Queensland in Dubai (Australia)

— AMIDEAST
January, 2005