THE ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN SHAPING THE YOUNG ARAB WORLD Christopher Vas Griffith University
Overview of the presentation Key facts of the region People in the GCC Education system Arabs and international education Pathway programs Middle East students in the west - Middle East students in Australia Key marketing strategies GCC government initiatives & opportunities for universities Student testimonials
Key facts of the region Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain) Comparatively high literacy rates of around 78 82% in the GCC region High expatriates concentrated in the GCC countries ( more than 50% in total in the GCC workforce) Increasing support from the local governments to support education of younger Arabs ( 23% of UAE s total budget was allocated towards education in 2001) Middle Eastern countries generate about 7% of the world s international fee paying students studying in an English speaking country
People in the GCC Family forms the basic unit of the Arab society - The father is the head of the family and acts as the disciplinarian and authoritative figure - Usually fathers are responsible for the sons while mothers look after the daughters - Children in the Arab world are not allowed to seek individuality Authority in the Arab world is associated with age and sex - Experience and wisdom is associated with age while males dominate the Arab society Honour and dignity are tied to a family s reputation rather than an individual - Arab society gives prime importance to one s status and older Arabs believe that if God wanted one to be important in this world then he would be born in a high-status family - It would be considered highly unthinkable of an engineer or a doctor from a highstatus family to wash his own car or even clean his house - Arabs mostly prefer white collared jobs and consider blue collared jobs to be of low status which could disrupt one s family reputation.
People in the GCC - Expatriates Expatriates were initially employed to take up blue collared jobs but over the decades expatriates have risen the ranks taking up higher level management jobs. Huge expatriate population from the subcontinent, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and also S E Asian countries like Philippines. Country UAE Oman Qatar Kuwait Bahrain Saudi Arabia Percentage of expatriates in the workforce 93 % 64.3% 80 % 80.4% 38 % 55.8% Country UAE Oman Qatar Kuwait Bahrain Saudi Arabia All GCC countries Percentage of expats in the country 63.6% 19.88% 72% 57.2% 34.6% 21.61% 38.4% USA. Department of State. Internet http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/ (August 2004)
Education system Education is free in all government schools for Arab nationals only Clear distinction between sexes in schools in countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait etc Education is often taught to students like religion and students have to respect their teachers, never to question their teachings We cherish our great culture and heritage, and rightly so. But we have lost its great tolerance and openness. We teach Science, but we still have taboos. - Abdulkarim Al-Iryani, former Yemeni prime minister Yale university graduate Due to the expatriate population, a large number of international schools exist in the GCC which follow the British, American, Indian system of education In UAE, the demand for IT, communication technology courses grew by 917.5% & 166.7% over the last 6 years with the biggest drops in Arts sector.
Arabs and international education Arabs have a long standing relationship with international education - Sultanate of Oman Sultan Qaboos Bin Said studied in England - Former Yemeni prime minister Abdulkarim Al Iryani studied in the US - King Abdullah II Bin Hussein of Jordan studied Political Science in the US - Dr. Ahmad Chalabi, Iraq studied at Chicago University and MIT Having seen students from China, Japan, parts of Europe study in the US & UK, Arabs long believed that these were the ideal places for higher education and continued to send their children to these countries Local governments are generous enough to send quality students on scholarships to these countries for higher education Students often go through a Foundation year program prior to their undergraduate degree program (3 years) On completion of their studies overseas, Arab students take up high salary high position jobs in their respective home countries Prestigious universities like Cornell, Texas A & M, Harvard are looking to set up establishments in some of the Gulf States
Pathway programs GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION PROGRAM MODEL Two streams dependent on student s mainstream program Business and Technology A thorough preparation for courses in the bachelor s program through the strong academic content in the foundation program Students have the option of negotiating a project based subject relevant to their undergraduate program to help develop a better understanding of what they will be studying at university GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY POSTGRADUATE QUALIFYING PROGRAM MODEL Focus on research methods and academic communication courses An individual research project giving each student the opportunity to concentrate on his/her career options on completion of the master s program
Pathway programs The program was very helpful because it taught me how to organise my time and studies. It taught me how to write at university level and how university life is. The research project was the most interesting course as I got a good background into my degree -Khaled Alnkhailan, Bachelor of Criminology & Criminal Justice The postgraduate qualifying program helped me a lot in research & academic writing. The research project helped me particularly in gaining the experience to do research and organising my writing in appropriate style - Khalfan Al-Rashidy, Master of Journalism
Middle East students in the West Middle Eastern students 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 studying in USA (All Sectors) N/A 8576 (H.E) N/A 38545 34803 N/A UK (Higher Education H.E) 4102 4589 4817 5325 5529 6500 AUS (All Sectors) 940 1063 1691 3169 3860 (1585 H.E) 4816 (2158 H.E) For this section only, Middle East refers to all countries in this region as classified by relevant countries in their statistical reports Enrolments in the US from the Middle Eastern region dropped 10% from 2001 to 2002 across all sectors - Key markets that dropped were Saudi Arabia 25% (4175), Kuwait 25% (2212) and UAE 15% (1792) We are looking almost everywhere in an effort to provide an alternative to the US for our students wishing to study abroad, especially Canada, Australia and New Zealand - Abdul Aziz Al- Husseinie, Acting Director of Scholarships at the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education
Middle East students in Australia 2003 2004 (till June) Growth (till June) Iran 346 410 118.4% Saudi Arabia 85 111 129.4% Oman 283 298 105.3% UAE 135 137 101.48 Egypt 79 66 83.54 Turkey 264 231 87.5% In 2003, Australia experienced a total growth of 24.8% across all sectors from the Middle Eastern region with an increase of 36.2% in the higher education sector. The percentage of Arab students in the US is still much higher when compared to Australia. In 2002, approximately 6% of the international students studying in the US were from the Middle Eastern region compared to 1.4% in Australia. In 2003, the ratio grew to 1.6% of the international student population in Australia.
Key marketing strategies Establishing a local contact or even an in-country representative in the region to provide first hand market information - In-country representative can source projects and build strong relations with organisations, individuals at high posts in the region Use of media must be carefully pursued. Although the Internet is popular with students, the decision making individual of the family unit might consider a personal meeting with the representative more appropriate to seek more information about the program, university or even support system that is available for Muslim students. A conservative approach should be used while advertising in this region, keeping in mind the religious inclinations of people in this region Using an interpreter while speaking to students at schools or exhibitions Constant visits to the market to speak to students at school, meetings with government heads, organisational representatives to foster relationships Providing information about campus and social activities available for students, support system that is in place to meet the student s religious and dietary needs (halal food) etc Very importantly, marketers and representatives visiting the region must be aware of the cultural sensitivities of each country while doing business.
GCC government initiatives & opportunities for universities Localisation plans of each country enhancing the support provided for education to young Arabs in the region - Zakat fund set up by Qatar government - Sanad program by the Omani government UAE government s Vision 2020 policy document aims at improving the organisational structure of the Ministry of Education and Youth (MoEY), modernising national assessment methodology, introducing IT at all levels of schooling are opportunities for universities to provide their expertise in these areas and working alongside with the government Knowledge Village, University City in United Arab Emirates (UAE); Education City in Qatar National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia) in UAE constantly works with organisations to help place local graduates in employment
Student testimonials Laith Al-Ghafri, B Civil Engg (Oman) Yousuf Al-Halyan, B Aviation (UAE)
Special thanks to my students Laith Al-Ghafri, Yousuf Al- Halyan, Khaled Alnkhailan, Khalfan Al-Rashidy, Ahmed Al-Siybai who assisted me in my research work. A big thanks to the English Language Institute & the International Office at Griffith University for all the support. Thank You!!! Christopher Vas (c.vas@griffith.edu.au) Griffith University