WENR, September/October 2003: Africa Printer friendly version

World Education News and Reviews

November/December 2003

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

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

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

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.