By Allan E Goodman/New York City
As the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) convenes higher education, business and government leaders in Doha this week, I am struck by the summit’s goal to leverage education to foster mutual respect and understanding among nations.
History and current events demonstrate that such goals can be a challenge to achieve. But I am heartened by the outstanding commitment that the summit organisers and participants have demonstrated to their belief that all students deserve the educational opportunities to develop as global citizens.
Unesco research shows that over 2.8mn students are being educated outside their home countries, a 53% increase since 1999. By 2025, it is projected that almost 8mn students will be educated outside of their home countries. How that growth is achieved, and who gets to participate, will be defining factors in building the capacity of countries to enable their citizens to succeed in global industry and innovation.
Today (November 16), the Institute of International Education will release new data from the annual Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, which is published annually with support from the US Department of State. The report shows that the number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States increased by 8% to an all-time high of 671,616 in the 2008/09 academic year.
The students who come to the United States to study bring international perspectives into their classrooms, helping prepare American students to work with citizens of the world as they embark on global careers.
They also make vital contributions to global research and business capabilities in their home countries and regions, when they return home with new knowledge and language and cultural skills.
The report finds the number of students from the Middle East studying in the United States has increased by 18% over the previous year, to a total of about 29,000 students. The Open Doors report shows the number of students from Qatar studying in the United States increased by 34%, to approximately 500 Qatari students enrolled in American colleges and universities.
In 2008–2009, the US Embassy issued almost 100% more student visas than in 2006–2007, a clear indication that these upward trends are going to continue. In addition, there were nearly 600 more Qatari students enrolled in US institutions in Education City. So the trends are going in the right direction.
Surprisingly, apart from the US students enrolled at Education City, there were only 24 other American students who received academic credit from their home US campuses for study in Qatar. Clearly, there is substantial room for growth and educational partnership between the two nations and to increase the number of students exchanged between the two countries, in both directions.
How can the US and Qatar work together to achieve this goal? In organising the WISE Forum, the Qatar Foundation is leading the way in identifying innovative global education strategies. Qatar’s Education City is a bold initiative that is already making a difference in fostering international partnerships and educating global citizens.
To dramatically increase international education exchanges, higher education leaders in the United States and Qatar will need to work more closely together to build partnerships and mechanisms for co-operation. Educators in both countries should encourage English and Arabic language classes on our respective campuses. And, since American students tend to study abroad for relatively short durations, it would benefit higher education institutions in Qatar that wish to host Americans to develop programmes and partnerships that would enable them to accommodate US students who wish to study abroad for periods of an academic quarter or semester.
They must also work together at all levels to address credit transfer and academic standards, cross-cultural issues, safety and security, and scholarships and financial resources, and to increase the marketing capacity of host institutions in both countries.
Much has already been accomplished. Branch campuses of Virginia Commonwealth University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown School of Foreign Service and Northwestern University have opened in Qatar’s Education City, and are beginning to foster areas of academic co-operation and broaden opportunities for educational exchange.
Other major higher education initiatives elsewhere in the Arabian Gulf, such as NYU Abu Dhabi in the UAE and KAUST in Saudi Arabia, are providing platforms for international academic mobility and excellent opportunities for students from throughout the region and the world to obtain world-class educations in truly international academic settings.
In his speech in Cairo last June, US President Barack Obama noted that education and innovation will be the currency of the 21st century. The leaders of Qatar and the Qatar Foundation have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to developing this currency.
And through their vision to use higher education to bring the world’s best and brightest together to address issues of global concern, they are helping us all see the role that international education can play in making the world a less dangerous place.
n Allan E Goodman is president and CEO of the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit organisation founded in 1919, with headquarters in New York City and a network of more than 20 offices and more than 1,000 member colleges and universities worldwide. |
