Education is the focus of our re-engagement with Iraq. We are working in partnership with Iraqi institutions and individuals to
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reconnect Iraq with the international educational community |
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share the UK’s experience to help design Iraqi solutions to Iraq’s challenges |
Our goal to help bring Iraq back into the international education community has come a step closer with the exciting start of a new partnership between technical colleges and institutes in Iraq and the UK.
We brought 15 senior managers from Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Mosul, Kirkuk, Sulaimania and Arbil to the UK in June for a 3 week visit organised with the Association of Colleges and seven UK partners - Greenwich Community College, City College Brighton & Hove, Preston College, Huddersfield Technical College, Halton College, Warwickshire College, and Derby College. They were matched by specialism and in three cases existing links with the UK’s Iraqi diaspora community. The visit focused on curricula, course types, leadership and management, governance, quality assurance, and training and learning methodologies.
Technical education is vital to the skills development needed for Iraq’s industrial and economic regeneration, and the visit was also an eye-opening experience for everyone in terms of building friendships and cultural exchange. The visit ended with an award ceremony at the House of Commons attended by the UK Minister of Skills and Vocational Education and the Secretary for International Development. The training and awards incorporated the quality standards for management and teaching in UK FE colleges set by FENTO (UK Further Education National Training Organisation.)
We are forging UK-Iraqi Higher Education partnerships to support postgraduate study, international links and capacity building. Several exciting events have taken place over the last few months. In January of this year, an International Symposium organised in collaboration with the Iraqi Higher Education Organising Committee and the University of Westminster www.wmin.ac.uk/iraq-he/. examined the current situation of Iraqi higher education and research institutions and an examination of their rehabilitation and development.
The issues raised in this symposium have inspired further projects including short term training courses for Iraqi higher education representatives. By the end of March 2004, 90 Iraqis had visited the UK, and 180 had attended training courses in Jordan.
Senior Iraqi University leaders from Northern Iraq including the Heads of Salaheddin, Dohuk and Kirkuk Universities and leaders from the Universities of Mosul and Tikrit.
The group discussed university leadership and management with Sir Graham Davies, Vice Chancellor of the University of London, and Geoffrey Copland, Vice Chancellor of University of Westminster. They visited Royal Holloway College and participated in a specially arranged seminar with UK university representatives and publishers.
The five delegates followed an intensive programme in Wales looking at the issues of devolution and diversity in Higher Education through visits to University of Wales Institute Cardiff, Cardiff University and Aberystwyth University as well as the National Assembly.
Association of University Administrators (AUA) annual conference
The AUA conference www.aua.ac.uk in April was attended by 8 Iraqi delegates from universities throughout Iraq. They found this a great opportunity to learn about new developments and network with hundreds of AUA Members from UK universities and higher education colleges. The delegates then went on to university attachments at the Institute of Education, Birkbeck College, University of Liverpool, Robert Gordon University, University of Leeds and Leeds Metropolitan University.
Organised by the British Council and the University of Birmingham, these courses are designed to provide senior Iraqi administrators and academics with a greater depth of knowledge and expertise in university administration, leadership and facilitate partnerships between UK and Iraqi higher education institutions. 24 Iraqi university heads have so far completed the intensive three week course.
A team of Iraqi Computer, Civil and Environmental engineers from the Universities of Basra, Babylon and Al Qadisia visited Liverpool John Moores University, Halton College, Salford University and Liverpool University in May. This visit follows up that by the heads of these Iraqi universities in January and was intended both as an introduction to new developments in UK engineering in higher education and to stimulate curriculum development, highlight teaching and learning best practice and research collaboration.
We also manage the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Chevening scholarship programme in Iraq www.chevening.com. Around 50 outstanding young scholars will pursue UK postgraduate study this year. A first group of 8 Chevening Scholars started their studies in February 2004.
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