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PRACTICAL
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Bologna
Country Updates: Southeastern Europe
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FEATURE
Iraq's
students say, 'Welcome back, professor'
    
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Regional
News
Middle
East
| Fewer
Arab Students Seek U.S. Schools
Tougher
visa policies and the threat of discrimination are prompting many
Arab students to shun U.S. universities in favor of those in Europe
and Canada. In many cases, visas are not being issued until after
the start of a new semester, forcing students to wait an entire
year before they can reapply. Applicants are often left in the dark
as to the status of their applications. The downturn in the global
economy has added to this trend, encouraging Middle Eastern students
to choose more affordable options closer to home.
Total
Middle Eastern student enrollments in the United States were down
10 percent (34,803 students) this year. Gulf countries were the
hardest hit: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain sent 25 percent fewer
students to the United States in 2003 than in 2002.
At
the same time, the American University
of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon reported a 41 percent increase in
the number of applications from the Arab World since 2001. Most
of the students come from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Over the past
year, AUB has also been intensifying recruiting efforts in the region.
—
The
Daily Star
November 12, 2003
|
EGYPT
German
University Opens
The first German university based outside Germany opened Oct. 5 in Cairo.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
attended the opening ceremony of the privately financed German
University of Cairo. The curriculum is based on the German higher
education model and is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service
(DAAD). Qualifications obtained in Cairo will be recognized in Germany,
and the university will be an official exchange destination for German
students.
—
German
Academic Exchange Service
Oct. 4, 2003
IRAQ
Fulbright
Scholarship Reintroduced
After an absence of 14 years, the Fulbright scholarship program has been
reintroduced in Iraq. The first of 20 scholarships will be awarded to
Iraqi students in late December, and students will begin arriving in the
United States in January.
Thousands
of university students across Iraq reportedly have applied for the 57-year-old,
U.S. government-sponsored scholarship. Applications for the next Fulbright
round close in March.
—
State
Department Media Release
Oct. 21, 2003
| Report:
Reform Higher Education
For
the second year running, a team of prominent Arab scholars has sharply
criticized the state of Arab education, stating that repressive
governments are preventing the growth of scholarship at universities
and other academic institutions in the Arab world. The report, “Arab
Human Development Report (AHDR) 2003: Building
a Knowledge Society,” was released in October and is supported
by the U.N. Development Program and the Kuwaiti-based Arab Fund
for Social and Economic Development.
The
study, produced by 40 academics from more than 10 countries, concludes
that Arab governments must focus on “reclaiming Arab knowledge”
and building intellectual societies by promoting inquiry and spending
heavily on higher education. Its closing section puts forward a
strategic vision for creating knowledge societies in the Arab world
based on five pillars: guaranteeing key freedoms; disseminating
quality education; embedding science; shifting toward knowledge-based
production; and developing an enlightened Arab knowledge model.
AHDR
2003 makes it clear that, “in the Arab civilization, the pursuit
of knowledge is prompted by religion, culture, history and the human
will to achieve success. Obstructions to this quest are the defective
structures created by human beings — social, economic and above
all, political. Arabs must remove or reform these structures in
order to take the place they deserve in the world of knowledge at
the beginning of the knowledge millennium.”
—
The
United Nations Development Program
Oct. 20, 2003 |
TURKEY
De-secularization
Reforms Dropped
Under pressure from academics and the media, Turkey’s Islamic-based
government has backed off on the introduction of a bill to weaken strict
secular control over
Turkey’s
universities. The bill would have given the government of Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan – a moderate Islamist – greater say over
the composition of the Higher Education Council, which exercises strong
control over the choice of senior administrators at all public universities.
In particular, eight rectors joined forces with the army to condemn the
government’s reform measures, which are seen as an attempt to undermine
the country’s secular education system. The army, which remains
suspicious of the current regime, has toppled three governments in the
past 40 years and remains a staunch supporter of secularism. In October,
thousands of students demonstrated against the reforms in Ankara.
The government
has vowed to end the ban on religious headscarves on university campuses.
The ban was imposed as part of legislation aimed at protecting secularism
in schools, but has led to thousands of students being dismissed from
their colleges.
—
Times
Higher Education Supplement
Nov. 14, 2003
SAUDI ARABIA
5 Medical
Colleges Planned
The Saudi-German Hospital Group has announced plans to open five medical
colleges in Jeddah, Riyadh, Asir, Madinah and Dammam. The project is scheduled
to be completed in 2013 and will be financed by the Saudi government,
local investors and national and international banks.
—
Arab
News
Nov. 12, 2003
55 Private
Colleges Given Licenses
The Higher Education Ministry has issued licenses to establish 55 private
colleges in various parts of the kingdom, according to Abdullah Al-Othman,
deputy higher education minister for educational affairs. He said private
colleges would accommodate about 55,000 students during the next five
months.
—
Arab
News
Oct. 22, 2003
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