Education: Key to long-term prosperity

…. The conference was held in the Middle East,…Its purpose was to encourage focused attention on the role of higher education in the region and around the globe as a prime component in any successful national or regional development plan. ………..One tangible outcome was the formation of a consortium among all the private colleges and universities in the region. This is the most rapidly growing segment of education in the gulf, the Middle East and south Asia. Major emphasis on education in the gulf reflects the firm belief that education is one of the keys to prosperity and stability for these young countries in the global century……In the U.S., university students comprise about 5.4% of our population. In Great Britain, the corresponding percentage is 3.4.Across the Arab world only 1.6% of the population is enrolled in colleges and universities. And while we in the U.S. have about 17 universities per one million population and Japan 9.5, the Arab Middle East musters slightly less than one per million. Viewed from the gulf, there is a clear higher education deficit.[View Full Article]