Education Minister Azzam Al-Dakhil

Education Minister Azzam Al-Dakhil will open on Wednesday the 21st meeting of the rectors and presidents of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) universities and higher education institutions that will discuss common academic development programs.

The higher education summit is being hosted by Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh at the Ritz Carlton.

Commenting on the event and arrangement, Fawzan bin Abdul-Rahman Al-Fawzan, IMSIU acting rector, said that the meeting will discuss a number of issues and themes relating to scientific and academic aspects dealt with by universities and higher education institutions in GCC countries and how to work collectively on academic developments.

“The meeting aims to contribute to the promotion of higher education mobility in the GCC countries,” he added.

Fahd Al-Asker, IMSIU vice rector for higher studies and academic research, who held the preparatory meeting for the mega-event on higher education, said that the agenda for the meeting includes discussions on a number of topics including uniformity in academic curriculum, students at universities and government institutions of higher education, as well as joint investments in education in the Gulf countries.

The GCC countries have made major advances over the last half century in widening access to higher education. Ten universities operated in the Kingdom in 2003. Since then at least 100 universities and colleges have opened and the country’s annual budget for higher education has reached $15 billion to offer better higher education.

Related articles across the web

• Gulf states urge world to do more to help refugees
• U.S. ambassador to Ireland coming home for honors
• 33 years after the Sabra-Shatila Massacre Takfiri calls for "Intifada!" waft from Lebanon's camps
• Gulf firms under pressure from low oil price: S&P
• 33 Years After the Sabra-Shatila Massacre Takfiri Calls for "Intifada!" Waft from Lebanon's Camps
• Calls for "Intifada!" in Lebanon's Camps
• Saudi support hajj betrays Syrians
• Solar Surges in the Middle East and North Africa
• Margot Schloss, Patrick Muncie
• Why the rich Gulf states won't take refugees