The British Council, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Higher Education & Scientific Research, ISESCO  - Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization - and the African Development Bank, is organising a two day conference exploring ‘The Future of Higher Education in the MENA Region’ on 21st – 22nd February in Mohammedia.

This conference is planned as part of a series of conferences which will map out the future thinking concerning Higher Education in the MENA region, bringing together the region’s experts, in dialogue with partners from the UK, The conference will be tackling principally the themes of Governance; Quality Assurance and Employability.

Officials from the Ministry of Education, university presidents, academics and active members of local and regional NGOs will attend. The conference has attracted high level participation from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Jordan and the UK to promote dialogue and debate across the MENA region.

The Conference’s main objectives are :

• to outline a common vision for the long-term future of Higher Education in MENA;
• to recognize and explore the centrality of globalisation and the internationalisation of Higher Education in MENA;
• to place at the centre of national and regional strategies employment and employability in MENA – fitting students for the changing job market;
• to identify the location of student voice in Higher Education;
• and finally to explore and emphasize the role of Quality Assurance in raising standards and meeting long-term expectations.

This conference is part of British Council’s global programme Internationalising Higher Education’, promoting policy dialogue and debate to inform systemic change enabling the delivery of effective Higher Education to meet the needs of 21st Century economies and societies.