Iraq

15 New Universities by 2020

Iraq’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research announced recently a plan to create 15 new universities by 2020. The expansion plan, announced by Ali Al-Adeeb in February, will complement an existing initiative to improve quality standards at current institutions of higher education of which there are 19 state universities, 17 colleges, 23 polytechnics, the Iraqi Commission for Computers and Informatics and the Iraqi Board for Medical Specializations.

– Ministry of Higher Education
February 9, 2011

Jordan

Ministry Looks to Develop Polytechnic Sector

Jordan’s Ministry of Higher Education said in February that it wants to establish polytechnics across the country in order to ease the growing pressure on universities.

According to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Wajih Oweis, the government is currently drafting a new higher education law to replace the temporary law currently awaiting review in the lower house of parliament. The centerpiece of the new law is the establishment of polytechnic schools at public universities to replace the proposed ‘technical academy initiative’ which sought to transform community colleges into vocational institutes.

Owais noted that the establishment of polytechnic schools would help reduce the burden on universities at the undergraduate level, and predicted that the move would decrease demand on university faculties by 50 percent.

– Zawya
February 28, 2011

Qatar

HEC Paris begins Classes

In February, French business school HEC Paris began classes in Qatar, launching an international executive M.B.A. program aimed at managers in the immediate region. The launch is part of the school’s efforts to broaden its international presence. In addition to France, it currently has programs in Russia, North America and China.

The program is offered in conjunction with the Qatar Foundation, an education and research organization. The program will be in Doha, although students will have the opportunity to take some core classes on other campuses, including in Paris. Students will also choose from six concentrations, ranging from entrepreneurship to energy management.

The school originally expected a small class of roughly a dozen. Instead, 31 enrolled, including a handful of students from Australia and North America.

– HEC News Release
February 14, 2011

Saudi Arabia

Oil Company Backs Education

Last year Saudi Aramco, a government-owned company, paid for the education of 1,922 graduate and undergraduate Saudi students, including 1,138 in North America, 439 in Europe, and 217 within Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco, which employs 55,000 people, also supports a College Preparatory Program that gives Saudi secondary-school graduates the skills they need to succeed in international universities. The company runs the equivalent of community colleges that give thousands of Saudi youth the technical skills they need for employment. In addition, it has other extensive collaborations with Saudi and international higher-education institutions. In 2009, Saudi Aramco set up a “university relations” division to manage such partnerships.

In an interview with The Chronicle of Higher Education, Khalid A. al-Falih, president of Saudi Aramco, said that the company is leveraging its relationships with foreign customers and nation states around the world. This is to encourage them to help build relationships with Saudi universities, including King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, two universities that the oil company is strongly affiliated with.

– The Chronicle of Higher Education
February 8, 2011

Ministry Plans Online University

In February, the Higher Education Ministry announced a plan to establish an online university. “We have been trying to establish an electronic university for the last one-and-a-half years to provide bachelor and masters degrees,” said Muhammad Al-Ouhali, Deputy Minister for Education Affairs.

He said the proposed university would establish partnerships with internationally renowned online universities. “We’ll also establish education centers in different parts of the Kingdom to serve students joining the university,” he told reporters. Al-Ouhali was addressing a press conference in Riyadh in February at the second international conference on electronic and distance education.

“Distance education is not a better choice for all groups of students. However, it serves people who cannot avail of regular education facilities due to different reasons such as geographical distance or job circumstances and age differences,” he pointed out.

– Arab News
February 20, 2011

Turkey

Exponential Growth in Foreign Academics

A decade ago, the number of foreign academics at Turkish universities was marginal. Today, there are enough to staff an entire major institution in the United States, reports the Hürriyet Daily News.

The more than 1,300 new academics at Turkish universities have been drawn to the country by a combination of increased opportunities in Turkey, and fewer ones at home. According to statistics from the Higher Education Board (or YÖK) there are currently 1,310 foreign instructors and professors working in Turkey, with many in Istanbul. This represents an almost 60 percent growth from five years ago.

The rapidly accelerating growth of wealthy new private universities, set up by foundations as required by Turkish law, has also contributed to the boom in foreign academics. But whether the schools are drawing new talent with their high quality, rather than just their ample funding, is a subject of debate.

– Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review
February 3, 2011

Initiatives Introduced to Attract Foreign Students

Looking to increase enrollments among foreigners, the Turkish government recently introduced legislation to provide general health care coverage to the nearly 17,000 international students currently studying in the country. According to the new regulation, students and their dependents will now benefit from state health care coverage by paying the equivalent of about US$60 a month.

Since Turkey’s governing AK Party came to power, 63 new institutions of higher education have been founded – bringing the total number of universities in the country to 139. Even so, the number of foreign students has fallen far short of expectations, with a 1,500-student drop in the past academic year alone, and fewer international students this year than a decade ago.

Some of the reasons for this downward shift, besides the previous lack of access to health care coverage, are believed to include poor overseas promotion, and high tuition fees of the country’s private universities – which range between $11,000 and $25,000 (prices on par with quality institutions elsewhere across Europe and North America). In addition, the headscarf ban at Turkish universities is also believed to deter many female students and families from the Middle East – as well as those from Turkey itself.

According to the country’s Board of Higher Education (or YÖK), as many as 44,204 Turkish students attend universities overseas.

Besides the new health care coverage option, the Turkish government has announced its intentions to tackle more of the problems preventing foreign students from coming. According to YÖK president, Yusuf Ziya Özcan, the goal is to actually double the number of students in coming years. Planning includes cooperative agreements with universities abroad and a new campus in Istanbul to house top foreign university branches.

– Today’s Zaman
January 30, 2011