The two-day ICEF Middle East Scholarship and Partnership Summit, a joint venture between ICEF, Gulf Conferences and the Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, returned to Muscat for the third time over February 16 – 17.
The summit aims to create new opportunities for the 200,000 Middle Eastern students studying abroad by offering scholarships, training programs, and international education partnerships. It attracted over 100 higher education institutions from 20 countries—including the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, and Italy—looking to establish collaborations with scholarship organizations, government representatives, and universities from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, as well as Iraq and Libya.
Opened by the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, HE Dr Rahma bint Ibrahim Al Mahrooqi, saying in her opening speech “Oman is fully committed to furthering collaboration with international universities, regional stakeholders and partners in academic exchange and technology transfer…I truly believe in this scholarship summit and that it will mark the occurrence of even higher levels of collaboration between higher education providers to advance education, innovation, and international communication to achieve social progress and prosperity for all.”
Day one of the summit set the scene with 30 expert speakers, including senior government officials from Gulf countries, who provided their perspectives on the prevailing national and regional trends, as well as projected governmental responses. Representatives from key study destinations, including the USA, UK, and Germany, discussed the value of scholarships to both students and their home countries, while senior education and private sector representatives from Gulf countries focused on collaborative endeavours, detailing the importance of aligning the training capacity of education institutions with the evolving needs of business.
In addition to the programme, there was a workshop for Omani university leaders and Ministry officials. ICEF CEO Markus Badde saying “During the ICEF Middle East Scholarship and Partnership summit we were delighted to co-host a workshop with NAFSA entitled: ‘Comprehensive Internationalisation for Omani Higher Education’. This four-hour session for university leaders and ministry officials featured Dr. Fanta Aw, CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, and Craig Riggs, Editor-in-Chief of ICEF Monitor. The session set the context for international student mobility and focused on how to develop a compelling strategy to position Oman as a premier study destination in line with the country’s ambitious Vision 2040. The informative presentations and fruitful discussions around infrastructure, curriculum, student support, marketing & recruitment and the necessary future government policies are sure to help shape a transformative education landscape that will soon attract international students to Oman.”
The event was very well received by all that Koala has spoken with.
The Koala congratulates ICEF, Gulf Conferences and the Sultanate of Oman’s Ministry of Higher Education for hosting it.
