Iraq

First Round of Iraqi Scholarship Winners Set to Arrive on US Campuses

The first round of Iraqi students on a new and ambitious government-sponsored scholarship program will be arriving at U.S. campuses throughout the country in the next few weeks. The program, the Iraq Education Initiative, is an initiative designed to help rebuild Iraq’s system of higher education by providing study opportunities at universities in the United States and Britain—and eventually Australia, Canada, France, and Japan—to Iraqi students who will then be required to return home and join Iraq’s academe.

The total cost to the Iraqi government in the first year is an estimated US$55 million, during which some 600 students are expected to take part—half in the United States and half in Britain. Approximately 200 students have been admitted to programs at 22 American institutions, including the University of Iowa, the University of Kansas, Oregon State University, West Virginia University, and campuses of the University System of Ohio. An additional 310 applications are pending. Most will be studying at the graduate level, with master’s-degree students forming the largest contingent.

The Academy for Educational Development, a nonprofit organization focused on international education, health, and development, is helping to run the program in the United States. The American organization is tracking admissions and has asked participating universities to expedite admissions procedures for the Iraqi students.

The University System of Ohio is the only statewide system taking part in the program, and six of its 14 universities have agreed to allow the Iraqi students to pay in-state tuition rates. The Ohio system expects to enroll as much as a third of the initial group of Iraqis, said its chancellor, Eric D. Fingerhut.

The universities are offering provisional admission to the Iraqi students contingent on their becoming proficient enough in English to enroll in their programs. The students have up to a year to meet the required fluency standards. By the application deadline of August 31 last year, more than 6,000 applications had been received, from which 800 finalists were selected based on academic merit.

– The Chronicle of Higher Education
May 30, 2010

Saudi Arabia

Government Commits Large Slice of Budget to Education

In its 2010 budget announcement, the Saudi government announced that a massive SR137 billion (US$36.5 billion) would be devoted to educational improvements in the Kingdom, in what is being described as an education system overhaul.

The initiative to revamp the existing academic structure is part of a 25-year strategy to bring the Saudi system in line with development and labor market needs, said ASF Karim, CEO of Edutech, a leading educational solutions and services provider involved in the reforms.

Saudi Arabia is one of a number of oil-rich countries in the Persian Gulf region that is spending heavily to diversify its economy away from a reliance on hydrocarbons by focusing on training future cadres of domestic workers with appropriate skills to drive future national initiatives.

According to officials form Edutech, part of the initiative will focus on providing pioneering eLearning solutions. Edutech officials say that the overhaul of the education system will raise the demand for innovative, technology-driven learning solutions to back several key projects in some of the newer universities in the Kingdom.

Currently, the country is spending SR11.8 billion ($3.1 billion) on a project that aims to promote overall development among students through increased knowledge as well as growth in their physical, professional, psychological and intellectual capabilities. The government has also announced infrastructure plans that will see the construction of new schools beginning this year.

– Trade Arabia
May 23, 2010

United Arab Emirates

American University to Establish Second Campus

The American University of Sharjah (AUS) is planning to build a second campus in Abu Dhabi next year, joining New York University as the second American university in the capital. The university plans to offer vocational training programs, in addition to undergraduate and graduate university programs.

The Sharjah campus offers 13 graduate programs as well as 26 majors and 42 minors at the undergraduate level. The location of the new campus has yet to be decided. The new campus will also offer preparatory classes for high school students hoping to enter further education. Currently, approximately 20 percent of students attending AUS take foundation classes of up to a year before they are ready to enter a bachelor’s program. The practice is common at universities across the country. About 94 percent of students who join UAE University, Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology require some preparatory work before starting their university programs.

– The National
May 19, 2010