Towards an Inner-Arab Mobility Programme for

Exchange of Students and Staff

Abdallah Al-ZoubiAdvisor, Association of Arab

UniversitiesVP, Princess Sumaya University

for Technology

• Dramatic changes and progress in the Arab World will only occur if there is a political vision and will from the highest levels of the state.

• The political upheaval in the Arab World is telling of the need for a speedy change.

• Arabs are in need of a renaissance that is built on modern education and science base with its triad of basic research, technology transfer, and societal involvement.

• Globally, mobility may contribute to preparing students for the global workforce with a labour pool that has reached approximately 3 billion workers in 2012 with predicted 205 million unemployed in 2014.

• Mobility may also enhance university-industry collaboration regarded as essential for all graduates, regardless of whether they stay at home or live abroad.

• Currently there are 4.5 million international students representing 7 % of all tertiary enrolments globally.

• 308,000 Arab students studied abroad in 2012, representing over 3.6% of the total student body in Arab higher education.

• USA, UK, France, Australia and Germany were the top 5 host countries for international students in 2012.

• The number of students from Saudi Arabia in the USA alone has reached 111,000 in 2014.

Country Universities Colleges and HE Institutions

No. of Students

No. of Faculty Members

Public Private Total

Algeria 48 2 50 56 1500000 20500

Bahrain 3 13 16 - 34388 1670

Egypt 24 19 43 82 2550000 92000

Iraq 40 2 42 49 596319 32000Jordan 11 17 28 3 340000 9558

Kuwait 1 8 9 9 55389 2200

Lebanon 1 32 33 17 225000 20082

Libya 14 6 20 - 400000 12784

Mauritania 1 7 8 5 18500 650Morocco 15 4 19 - 623375 12700

Oman 1 7 8 16 120000 4890

Palestine 3 11 14 36 275587 7500

Qatar 1 7 8 - 29226 1200

Saudi Arabia 26 10 36 32 1357702 64689

Sudan 32 11 43 105 726894 14830

Syria 6 20 26 4 650000 12500

Tunisia 13 18 31 168 439619 24878UAE 4 29 33 49 104838 3180

Yemen 10 30 40 7 334752 11800

Total 254 253 507 683 10,381,589 349,611

Arab Higher Education in Numbers, 2014.

Country Total No. of Students Abroad

Favourite Destination

Country No. of Students

Algeria 24,751 France 21,804Bahrain 4,096 UK 1,112Egypt 16,217 UAE 2,948Iraq 14,465 Jordan 2,959

Jordan 16,825 UAE 4,313Kuwait 10,686 USA 3,605

Lebanon 13,089 France 4,567Libya 6,431 UK 1,755

Mauritania 3,939 France 1,362Morocco 44,161 France 28,778

Oman 10,049 UAE 5,186Palestine 17,637 Jordan 7,337

Qatar 3,410 UK 1,252Saudi Arabia 62,535 USA 33,066

Sudan - - -Syria 18,222 UAE 3,525

Tunisia 18,911 France 11,134UAE 8,526 UK 3,089

Yemen 14,943 Saudi Arabia 5,539Total 308,893 - 143,331

Arab Students Abroad, 2012.

Country

Receiving

Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Mauritania

Morocco

Oman Palestine Qatar KSA Sudan

Syria Tunisia UAE Yemen Total

Sending

Algeria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0Bahrain 10 184 86 211 504 21 0 0 5 18 19 15 494 - 86 0 12 53 1718Egypt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0Iraq 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0

Jordan 35 673 455 2959 1722 170 76 9 28 1079 7337 219 3295 - 1990 44 58 843 20992Kuwait 10 87 238 157 123 0 <5 <5 <5 112 27 <5 753 - 140 <5 6 35 1688

Lebanon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0Libya 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0

Mauritania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 0Morocco 80 10 22 60 57 13 24 169 1326 181 139 0 90 - 48 166 92 197 2674

Oman 29 70 838 171 112 132 0 0 0 13 0 33 70 32 13 179 30 1722Palestine 0 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 <5 0 <5 0 <5 <5 <5 - <5 <5 <5 <5 <70

Qatar 103 217 0 169 638 27 167 32 57 0 223 747 209 - 295 103 43 533 3563KSA 249 269 2403 171 1991 387 685 28 457 229 192 2104 125 - 2669 121 92 5539 17711

Sudan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Syria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0

Tunisia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0UAE 299 467 2948 2197 4313 963 1252 120 32 256 5186 3816 0 1289 - 3525 114 2148 28925

Yemen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0

Total 815 1793 7088 5970 7445 3748 2319 425 1881 531 6991 14189 392 6200 - 8785 561 482 9378 78993

Inner-Arab Students Mobility, 2012.

Number of European Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Scholarship to Arab Universities.

Arab Erasmus Mundus Action 2 Scholarship Distribution to Europe in the Period 2007-2013.

The following is a list of projects among the latest mobility programmes developed in the Euro-Arab framework in the period 2010-2014:1. AVEMPACE I-III: coordinated by TU-Berlin, ME2. Dunia Beam: coordinated by the University of Pavia, ME. 3. EPIC: coordinated by Cardiff Metropolitan University, ME.4. PEACE: coordinated by the University of Santiago de Compostela, ME.5. HERMES: coordinated Aix-Marseille University, ME.6. PHOENIX: coordinated by University of Almeria, ME.7. WELCOME: coordinated by Politecnico di Torino, Egypt and Lebanon.8. FATIMA AL-FIHRI: coordinated by University of Deusto, NA.9. AL IDRISI II: coordinated by Universidad de Granada, NA.10.BATTUTA: coordinated by Université de Rouen, NA.

1. The establishment of a new pan-Arab programme for exchange of students and staff amongst Arab universities and institutions of higher education is envisaged.

2. It may follow the European Erasmus Mundus programme which has facilitated short-term mobility for over three million students and staff in the past 25 years. 3. The proposed scheme aims at supporting inner-Arab university cooperation.

The type of mobility may follow the distribution shown in table:

Type of Mobility Distribution

Undergraduates 30%

Masters 25%

Doctorates 15%

Academic Staff and Researchers 20%

Administrative Staff 10%

The main features of the proposed programme may be summarized as follows:

• The programme should follow the structure of the Erasmus Mundus Action 2 programme and a similar workprogramme should be adopted in determining the number of and organizing mobilities.

• The programme should begin with an initial stage that should last for 3 years.

• Mobility for staff and students from Middle East and North Africa and GCC countries and vice versa.

• A European component should also be included.

• Mobility is organized within a consortium of a maximum of 10 Arab and EU universities. Preference will be given to Arab universities which are members of AArU.

• Financial issues concerning the cost and management of mobilities should come from various sources.

• The selection process should follow standards and procedures similar to those of EACEA.

• Special attention will be given to disadvantaged groups and populations in vulnerable situations and needy and outstanding Arab students.

• Refugee and Migrant Students should not be overlooked.

Thank You