Tribune News Network
Doha
The need for higher education that is relevant to students’ lives, accessible to everyone, and interconnected on a global scale was emphasised by experts at a Qatar Foundation-led discussion during the Doha Forum 2024.
Moderated by Francisco Marmolejo, president of Higher Education and Education Advisor, Qatar Foundation (QF), the session brought together educators from East and West to explore the opportunities, challenges, and risks surrounding globalized learning and international education, in a world that has become increasingly polarized.
The discussion delved into issues such as the impact of rising nationalism, ‘Anti-intellectualism’, and cost on higher education worldwide, and how it can both benefit and come under threat from Artificial Intelligence.
Among the perspectives shared was that of the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF), from which students, faculty, and staff evacuated to Qatar have continued their learning journey at QF’s Education City, through a strategic partnership between Qatar Fund for Development, QF, and the university.
“The arrival of the Afghan students into our ecosystem of education has been very refreshing in many ways,” said Marmolejo. “I’m sure it has helped to change the lives of many of our students just by getting a sense of the challenges and the struggles that these students who have become part of our community have brought with them.
“It has been a very interesting, and life-changing, experience for students who otherwise might not get that exposure, and which I’m sure will affect the way they see the world, and see themselves as global citizens, in the future.”
Ambassador Said T. Jawad, chairman of AUAF, stressed the importance of international partnerships in higher education, saying: “There are problems that cannot be solved through one model and in one place – there is every reason to be collaborating, both in terms of our needs as institutions and in terms of solving human problems.
“We all need to think about the relevance of the education we offer, and to be thinking about new technologies and how we deploy them in a way that doesn’t undermine the process of thinking or creativity.”
Dr Fanta Aw, director and CEO of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, told the panel that higher education should not “let a good crisis go to waste”, and that organizations and institutions in the non-education sphere can work in collaboration with the higher education sector to harness opportunities.
“With some of the diseases and epidemics we’ve seen, we’re also seeing the emergence of technology that is enhancing our ability to problem-solve,” said Dr. Aw. “And what is interesting is that much of this is being created by people who benefit from international education – for example, former international students have been the major engine for change in areas like AI.”
Universities have a responsibility to serve their societies as well as their learners, according to Dr Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, who warned: “Unless we provide access for all students, we are not fulfilling our obligations to our students and to our societies, and we are violating that social compact.”
Dr Ahmad Dallal, president of the American University of Cairo, cited several reasons for his view that “international education has a big problem” – violence leading to student and faculty deaths; increasing nationalism “and the ideological projects being imposed on institutions of higher education”; the cost of education and its “return on investment”; and technology.
The panelists also spoke about the uniqueness of the international education model at QF’s Education City – where branch campuses of international universities stand alongside QF’s Hamad Bin Khalifa University – and how it stands as an example of collaborative learning through enabling students from more than 120 countries to have multiple educational experiences.
Meanwhile, speaking at the Doha Forum, Dr. Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States, praised QF’s unique ecosystem of education, which she experienced during a visit to Education City during her time in Qatar.
“Looking out at all of those world-renowned learning institutions, I thought of the incredible minds, cultures, and ideas coming together,” said Dr Biden, whose visit to QF included touring one of its international partner universities, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar.
“I met a medical student who is studying why the risk of ovarian cancer goes up with a particular gene mutation. Another student is designing a surgical device that can clean the lens of a camera during an operation – without removing it from the patient’s body. That will make surgeries more precise.
“It’s promising work. But what fills me with even more hope is meeting the people who are powering those discoveries. Students from Qatar – and countries from all around the world – at an American academic institution, located here in Doha, uncovering health breakthroughs that have the potential to improve people’s lives in this region and globally.”
