Higher education systems worldwide are faced with many challenges. In the midst of a constantly changing economic and social landscape and a rapidly evolving technological environment, universities are shouldered with the complex mission of producing and nurturing the minds that will advance their respective nations.
Globalization further makes change an inevitable reality to which universities should be prepared. The growth in student demand challenges institutions to not only provide equitable access, but to balance massification with quality educational services. Job market requirements force universities to revamp their offerings and be more responsive. The 4th industrial revolution is reshaping the higher education ecosystem, leading us to critically question the future of higher education and the role of universities.
Although most countries and world regions are facing these same issues, the challenge is more arduous for higher education systems in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. The massive expansion of student enrollment in the region for the past decade revealed serious deficiencies of higher education systems in many of the region’s countries. The situation is exacerbated by the uncertain economic and political outlook following the uprisings of the so called ‘Arab Spring’.
MENA is home of about 6 % of the world’s population with an average median age of 25 years, underlining the potential of a young population
Student numbers have risen dramatically in the past decade, with average enrollment climbing from 26 to 41 % between 2007 and 2017 (Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
Youth unemployment rate reached 27% and is among the highest in the world.
The MENA region is an amalgamation of countries that have once shared a common past, but whose paths diverged due to many political and economic factors. The spectrum of MENA countries ranges from high income economies, mainly oil producing countries, to low and middle income economies and counts a handful of fragile states. This makes of MENA an interesting yet a complex region, a feature that is well reflected in its higher education.
MENA HIGHER ED: A KNOWLEDGE SHARING PLATFORM
The context brief above highlights this simple truth: higher education in MENA is in crisis, and strategic reforms are needed! National, regional and international stakeholders are well aware of this. There are myriad of projects and initiatives that are being implemented to bring about substantial changes in the region. New policies are being debated and plenty of resources are being produced.
The objective of MENA HIGHER ED is to shed light on all the higher education developments taking place in the region. To do so, MENA HIGHER ED works to:
Curate news and spread the word about events and key projects taking place in MENA.
Analyze policies and produce research outputs that are of benefit to various stakeholders involved in higher education in MENA.
Collect data and key HE indicators with the objective of creating a unique database and tools for data browsing, extraction, and visualization.
Document and highlight best practices by directly interacting with practitioners and experts in the region.
Create an interface to serve as a virtual networking space for tertiary education practitioners in the MENA region.
By doing so, MENA Higher Ed aims to become a facilitator of cross-border communication among a broad constituency of tertiary education practitioners in the MENA region.
MENA HIGHER ED is as an independent online knowledge platform that curates news and resources and analyzes topics related to higher education in the MENA region.
We hope you find menahighered.net useful and we will be pleased to welcome you into our MENA Higher Ed Community on Slack.
