Yemen is a democratic republic with many political parties of which the overwhelming representation in the parliament is for the General People’s Congress (67 percent), that is the government party, followed by Islah, Islamic party (26 percent). Being governed by the overwhelming government party, Yemen is reasonably politically stable with not enough room for fierce competition in elections despite the fact that the majority of people accuse the GPC for the pervasive corruption in most of the public sectors.
Yemen is one of the least developed countries in the world and the poorest in the Middle East with a population of over 21 million growing at a very high rate (3 percent) with a very low per capita GDP of USD 460 and an inflation rate of 9.6 percent. About 60 percent of the population is under 16 and about 65 percent live in the rural areas.
It is an oil dependant country but the administrative corruption in the government has slowed the economic development and hampered the strategic objectives of the developmental projects funded by International donors: a thing which causes the World Bank to report Yemen negatively and lessen its loans to 34 percent in 2005.
Efforts now are being exerted and negotiations held for the favor of Yemen to obtain the membership to the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) but the low economy level of Yemen is still an obstacle in the way of making this possible.
Strong family ties and tribal sense are two major features about Yemen. Word of mouth from a senior relative has a strong impact on the decision of the other family members. Yemen is a Muslim country with conservative Islamic habits. Foreigners are expected to respect such habits.
The larger part of the country is rural and lacks most of the basic infrastructure needed, such as electricity and water grids, though the major cities are relatively developed. Internet access has increases over the last two years and become available in most of the public and private sectors especially after the president’s decree to make the connectivity free for public and reduce the fees of the usage. Acquisition of mobiles has also largely increased amongst educated as well as non-educated people.
Illiteracy is one of the problems which Yemen is still facing; its rate is about 55 percent of which females take the larger part and which increases in the rural areas. Yemen also suffers from considerable impairment in both education and health, however there are many international organisations and public plans to improve these two sectors.
The obligatory education in Yemen consists of two parts; Primary and Secondary. Primary starts from age six to 15 leading to a certificate level and secondary from 16 to 19 leading to Al-Thanawia General certificate. Both are delivered through public and private schools governed by the Minister of Education. Then the student can choose between continuing Higher Education through Diplomas, Bachelors and Masters by joining universities governed by the Ministry of Higher Education or vocational training through community college and institutions governed by the Ministry of Vocational Training. The first language is Arabic but English is taught from year seven in all the public schools and from year one in some of the private schools. There is a British project conducted now to start English language from grade five in the public schools.
The USA is the principal competitor in attracting wealthy Yemeni students to its education. Canada and Australia have recently started to test the waters. An analysis of recent statistics indicates that Education UK has achieved a better market share in Yemen over the past four years than ever before. There is an increasing demand for English in the UK and the high interest in Chevening scholarships can be taken as a chance to promote Higher Education and the Learning Zone, as well as the other services of The British Council.
Increasing internet access among young people can open up another chance to promote our services and target new markets with new products such as distance learning. Creating networks between suitable educational agents in Yemen and educational institutions in the UK will pay off.
The new Education UK brand can bring about a large impact if well built and communicated with a strong positioning strategy.
The impending Partner Teaching Centre (to be set in the University which houses the Learning Zone) should also play a strong role in enhancing the marketing activities for both the Education UK and the Learning Zone.
The prospective Points based system for visas may help minimise the rejection rate of students applying to study in the UK Although the restricted visa situation and visa high rejection rate have dissuaded many students from choosing the UK as a study destination, the embassy has promised to extend its visa services from 2007.
The security situation is not comfortable in some areas in Yemen, which caused the FCO to recommend against travel to these areas. This factor makes many foreigners fear traveling to Yemen as a whole.
There is only one British Council office in Yemen which is located in Sana’a, the Capital of Yemen. The services offered through our Marketing and Information division include English Language Placement; educational advising and counseling; Education UK promotion and the Learning Zone (our partner library); and is planning to reopen a partner teaching centre in 2007. The British Council Yemen keeps good contacts and has a good positioning in the market.
Our office has recently embarked on activating its marketing efforts particularly with Education UK through many local activities including presentations at international schools, participation in international education exhibitions and working cooperatively with our offices in the Middle East to ensure consistency and efficiency in this regard.
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