Regional
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Middle
East
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Schools Laying the Foundations for New Market
Not
long ago, one of the few places in the region teaching graduate-level
business programs was Egypt’s American
University of Cairo. Times are changing, reports Business
Week, and enthusiasm for Western-style management education
– master’s in business administration (MBAs) and short
executive courses — is starting to spread throughout the Arab
world. In addition, schools in the United States and Europe are
making strides to accommodate them.
In
May, for instance, Barcelona's IESE
Business School graduated its first class of 40 Executive Development
Program (EDP) graduates in Cairo after four weeklong sessions. EDP
was the first step in a multiyear plan to train professors in the
region and, ultimately, to help establish a new business school
in Egypt called Nile University of Technology (NileTech). NileTech
had hoped to enroll its first class of MBA students in June.
France’s
INSEAD has plans to open a
satellite center in Beirut, Lebanon, in the next six to 12 months
to serve as a hub for its Middle East case-writing and conference
work. London Business School
has run Worldclasses in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), since
February 2001, and will host its third class in Jordan at a cost
of about US$7,500 per person. Ashridge,
a business school based just outside London, has a 3-year-old office
in Dubai to help sell its short courses to privatizing companies
throughout the kingdom and region. The University
of Virginia's Darden School of Business has taught new business
concepts to 120 rising managers from Bahrain since 1999. A class
of 21 students started in July.
What
is driving the demand? Networking opportunities with professionals
from more economically developed countries. Politics also plays
a role in some countries whose policymakers want to increase the
number of local citizens, rather than expatriates, in key positions.
In the UAE, many financial institutions are following government
guidelines that urge them to “emiratize” their staffs,
creating huge demand for leadership lessons. Still, schools with
regional experience say doing business in the Middle East can be
taxing. Georgia State University’s Robinson
College of Business, which ran an MBA program for working professionals
with Cairo University and graduated
55 MBAs, pulled out of the region in 2002, when it became too difficult
to travel to and from Egypt and raise money in the wake of the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The school, however, still helps run
marketing courses for Egyptian professionals in partnership with
the Alexandria Institute of Technology.
For
the Western business schools, profit margins are not, for the time
being, the driving motivator – partly because tuition fees
by the laws of supply and demand are much lower than in the West.
More significantly, the opportunity to gain a stronghold in the
region is motivating schools to establish themselves regionally
to help boost their reputation and networking opportunities back
home.
—
Business
Week
June 28, 2004 |
BAHRAIN
Medical
University Launched With Irish Help
The Medical University of Bahrain
officially opened in July at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Shaikh
Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and officials from the Royal
College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), who have been closely involved
in the evolution of the new university.
As a constituent university of the RCSI, the new medical university initially
is offering a six-year degree program in medicine, with plans to offer
more specialized programs in the near future. A specialized teaching facility
will be attached to King Hamad General Hospital, which is currently under
construction. The college welcomed an initial enrollment of 60 students
in August.
—
Bahrain
Tribune
July 29, 2004
Kingdom
University Opens for Business
With curriculum support from United Kingdom-based University
of Westminster, classes at Bahrain’s new Kingdom University
commenced in September at its temporary campus in Zinj.
The university
is offering 11 bachelor’s degree programs, mainly in the fields
of information technology, business and management. The university also
will be offering master-level programs in January. A permanent campus
is under construction in Hamad Town and is expected to be operational
within three years.
—
Gulf
Daily News
Sept. 6, 2004
EGYPT
Religious
Schools Get the Boot
The Egyptian government recently decided to convert more than 6,000 Islamic
secondary schools run by Al-Azhar
University into secular public schools. As a result, the 12 or so
religious subjects normally featured in a traditional Islamic curriculum
will be pared back to one: the same religious education class taught at
public schools.
Moreover,
ongoing construction of more than 500 new Islamic schools will be halted.
Al-Azhar said it was not notified of the decision, and government opposition
leaders say the Mubarak regime, under pressure from the United States,
is deliberately targeting Al-Azhar. Relations between Al-Azhar and the
United States have been tense ever since the Grand Imam Sheikh Mohamed
Sayed Tantawi declared a jihad against Americans after the invasion
of Iraq. He later retracted the statement, over which the Bush administration
had voiced concern. A U.S. congressman also has requested that Al-Azhar
be added to the watch list of terror organizations.
—
Al-Ahram
Weekly
August 2004
IRAN
Diploma-Mill
Closure Reflects Greater Problems
The Ministry of Science, Research and Technology has ordered the closure
of the American University in Hawaii, an outfit that describes itself
as a “multimedia global university” with offices in Tehran
and many other cities around the world. Radio Farda reported
Sept. 20 that students, including officials from the Tehran Province Justice
Department and several ministries, did not have to attend classes, and
that the institution reportedly issued 8,000 degrees in exchange for payments
that ranged from US$6,300 to $26,000. Tehran Province Justice Department
spokesman Abbasali Alizadeh said Sept. 14 that the government does not
recognize degrees from the institution.
The situation
with the Hawaiian-based virtual institution reflects several problems
that have not been resolved, reports RFE/RL. First, it provides
hope that a university education will make it easier to get a job in a
country with double-digit unemployment. Second, it reflects the tremendous
demand for a limited number of university places —
young Iranians surveyed recently described their greatest problem after
employment as the university entrance exam, the Iranian Labor News Agency
(ILNA) reported in May. Third, it reflects a corrupt system in which state
officials use fake academic credentials to receive higher salaries.
Although
the institution in question is headquartered in the United States, it
does not have regional accreditation or the right to advertise itself
as a degree-granting institution. The state of Hawaii, by way of its Office
of Consumer Protection, has filed suit against American University
Hawaii Inc. for alleged violation of various provisions of Hawaii’s
Unaccredited Degree Granting Institutions Law. The case is scheduled for
trial in November.
—
RFE/RL
Sept. 22, 2004
IRAQ
International
Partnership Results in New Degree Program
Although most of the hoped-for and promised international academic partnerships
in Iraq have not materialized because of spiraling security concerns,
a few projects are moving ahead, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The Chronicle highlighted one program in particular: a degree program
in crimes, evidence and technology created by San
Diego State University professor Joseph Ghoughassian and Mahamood
Abdul Husain, president of the Commission of Technical Education in Iraq.
The two-year
program will train Iraqi law-enforcement officers in human rights, criminal
procedure and evidence gathering. Mr. Ghoughassian designed the curriculum
and is seeking US$45 million from the U.S. government to build a forensic
laboratory. The government has not yet responded to his request. The program
will enroll 50 students this month at the Technical Education Institute
in Baghdad, from where it may expand to the institute’s Basra and
Mosul campuses.
—
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Aug. 13, 2004
ISRAEL
College
Merger Plans Making Slow Progress
Since 1994 there has been a steady rise in the number of tertiary-level
colleges in Israel, and a growing percentage of students are applying
to study at them rather than at universities. In 2001-02, according to
the State Comptroller’s Report, 100,000 students, representing 46.2
percent of all postsecondary students, were enrolled at colleges. Of 54
institutions recognized by the Council for Higher Education (CHE), 46
are colleges.
In 1999,
CHE initiated a plan to reduce the number of colleges in 2005-06 through
consolidations and mergers. Haaretz newspaper reports that very
little progress has been recorded, however, with only one proposal for
the merger of five colleges in Galilee having been submitted to CHE. However,
even this proposal fails to propose desired consolidation measures by
calling for the preservation of the positions of the five college presidents,
directors-general and managing committee chairs.
—
Haaretz
5-Day
School Week Approved
The Knesset Education Committee approved amendments to existing laws in
August that will enable the implementation of a five-day school week this
school year.
The five-day
week, which would make Friday a nonschool day, is one of the changes recommended
by the Dovrat Committee on educational reform (see May/June 2004 WENR).
The elimination of Friday classes is meant to enable a longer school day
on the other five days. However, the Education Ministry is also asking
the committee to postpone implementation of the longer school day until
2010, which means that the lost Friday hours would not be made up during
the rest of the week.
—
Haaretz
June 30, 2004
SAUDI ARABIA
Ministry
OKs Private Medical College
Ibn Sina Medical College, the first private medical school in Jeddah,
commenced classes this year following approval from the Ministry of Higher
Education. The college is affiliated with King
Saud University in Riyadh. It enrolled the first 100 students into
its medicine and pharmacology departments this semester.
—
Arab News
Aug. 16, 2004
Education
Reforms Create New Administrative Body
In an effort to boost standards of education, Saudi Arabia recently decided
to set up a committee to oversee higher education and a national center
to review the education system. The Higher Education Commission for Education
Policies and the Higher Education Council have been merged into a single
body, the Supreme Education Council.
—
Arab News
Aug. 20, 2004
Duke
to Collaborate With Girls College
Effat College,
a women’s college in Jeddah, and the Pratt
School of Engineering at Duke University have signed a memorandum
of understanding to establish together a new engineering curriculum for
the college. The initial purpose of the agreement is to carry out collaborative
activities between Effat College and the Pratt School in order to further
the common interests of both institutions. The first phase of the program
was set to begin this fall.
The initial
focus of the first phase will be in the field of computer engineering
as Effat already offers degrees in computer science and information technology.
Pending approval by the Ministry of
Higher Education, additional degree programs are being considered
in architectural design, biomedical engineering and electrical engineering.
—
Arab News
Sept. 15, 2004
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Ministry
Publishes List of Recognized Institutions
The Ministry of Higher Education
and Scientific Research has published a list
of recognized institutions and accredited programs. New institutions on
the list include the Gulf Medical College and the British University in
Dubai (See July/August 2004 WENR).
There is also a waiting status given to those institutions not yet accredited,
of which there are estimated to be more than 20.
—
AMEinfo
June 24, 2004
Birmingham
School Inks Deal With BUiD
The University of Birmingham recently
signed an agreement with British University
in Dubai (BUiD) (See May/June 2004 WENR)
to offer three master’s programs in education through BUiD’s
campus at Knowledge Village.
BUiD is one
of eight overseas institutions with a campus at the Dubai-based, multi-institution
higher-education zone known as Knowledge Village. BUiD is billed as the
first research-based graduate university in the region. Three universities
– Birmingham, University of Manchester
Institute of Science and Technology and Edinburgh
– currently operate three specialized institutes at BUiD offering
master and doctoral programs in the fields of education, engineering and
informatics. The university began its first semester of teaching in September.
BUiD has
achieved official candidacy from the Ministry
of Higher Education in the UAE and has submitted all of its programs
for accreditation.
—
Khaleej Times
Aug. 20, 2004
Harvard
to Oversee “Healthcare City”
Harvard Medical School
broke ground in May on a branch campus that will be instrumental in the
development of a medical campus in Dubai, which will be known as Healthcare
City. The Harvard Medical School Dubai Center is the school’s
biggest international project ever. Harvard will train medical staff,
direct research and provide quality control for the entire project.
Harvard joins
a number of other U.S. institutions that recently have been contracted
to provide medical expertise, services and training to the region. Joslin
Diabetes Center of Boston just opened a treatment center in Bahrain,
while Cornell University recently
launched a medical school in Doha (see November/December 2002 WENR).
In addition, the Cleveland Clinic
will help run a hospital under construction in Saudi Arabia.
Dubai Center
is by far the biggest venture for Harvard
Medical International (HMI), the 10-year-old nonprofit subsidiary
set up by the medical school to advise health-care providers abroad. Through
HMI, Harvard has worked in 40 countries, but the Dubai project is the
first overseas bricks-and-mortar branch of the medical school since a
Shanghai campus closed in 1915.
—
The Boston Globe
May 31, 2004
Branch
Campus Opens Despite President Being Left in the Dark
The University of Southern
Queensland (USQ) has continued with plans to open a branch campus
at Knowledge Village —
a higher-education precinct — which had been developed without the
USQ vice chancellor’s knowledge. An investigation to discover how
three senior management figures could launch an overseas operation without
the knowledge of the university head and its governing council is currently
ongoing. The three administrators have been placed on leave and had their
computers impounded for the purposes of the investigation.
USQ in Dubai,
as the new branch is known, opened Sept. 25 with Vice Chancellor and President
Professor Bill Lovegrove stating that he is “excited by the lifelong-learning
opportunities that we will be able to offer the people of the gulf region
via the university’s internationally recognized, flexibly delivered
degree and diploma programs.” The university said it already has
processed more than 300 applications from Arab undergraduates. That figure
is expected to rise to 1,300 over the coming academic year.
Mr. Lovegrove’s
announcement ended two weeks of speculation about the campus’ status.
In an interview, he said he learned of the venture after opening an application
letter sent by an academic. He added that the affair has been “quite
an issue internally.” The announcement came at a time when the Australian
higher-education sector is intensifying its efforts to attract Arab students,
especially those shut out of the United States because of new visa restrictions.
—
The Australian
Sept. 8, 2004
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