The full text of the executive order聽has been released by the White House.

While there had been advance reports that the new US administration was contemplating such a move, the signing of the order late last week still came as a surprise to many, including affected US government agencies and front-line staff, none of which had received any advance notice or consultation around the implementation of the order.

The move affects more than 17,000 students from the seven countries that are currently enrolled with US institutions, 71% of which (or 12,269 students) are from Iran. Another 2,300 scholars from the seven affected countries are currently in the US as well –聽and again, a strong majority of these professors and researchers (82%) are from Iran.

While the full implications of the executive order are not yet clear, here is what we know so far:

• It prevents citizens from the affected countries, with the exception of those travelling on diplomatic credentials, from receiving a visa to enter the US.

• It requires US officials to put in place strengthened screening processes for visitors to the US, including foreign students. This “uniform screening standard and procedure” is expected to include such measures as “in-person interviews; a database of identity documents proffered by applicants to ensure that duplicate documents are not used by multiple applicants; amended application forms that include questions aimed at identifying fraudulent answers and malicious intent; a mechanism to ensure that the applicant is who the applicant claims to be; a process to evaluate the applicant鈥檚 likelihood of becoming a positively contributing member of society and the applicant鈥檚 ability to make contributions to the national interest; and a mechanism to assess whether or not the applicant has the intent to commit criminal or terrorist acts after entering the United States.”

Over the weekend, US educators were quick to reassure foreign students and scholars that they can continue their studies uninterrupted. However, students are also being advised not to leave the US during the 90-day travel ban. Nor will family or friends from abroad be able to visit students in the US while the ban is in effect.

Aside from those specific points, there has been 聽and protest in the wake of the executive order. Reports indicate it has been inconsistently applied by travel operators, airport officials, and border control staff in these early days of implementation. And it is unclear what additional screening processes will be put in place following the travel ban, or how any such new provisions will affect new students, current students, foreign scholars, and US host institutions.

We will have a more on this story in the coming days, particularly its longer-term implications for US educators and foreign students in the United States.

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These are some of the findings from an annual survey of international students conducted by . IDP鈥檚 Manager, External Affairs, Kim Dienhoff, presented high-level findings from four years of survey data at the recent NAFSA conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

The session focused in large part on reaching students in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). With nearly a third of the region鈥檚 355 million people aged 15 to 25, it is perhaps not surprising that Internet usage, and the penetration of social networks in particular, is high.

Ms Dienhoff paired the IDP survey data with additional research to provide an important summary of social media habits and trends in the region.

Social media usage in MENA was particularly visible during the pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring beginning in 2011, leaving many observers with the impression that major global networks, such as Facebook and YouTube, are widely used across the region.

Internet penetration is high with nearly 90% indicating they access the web from home. A much smaller proportion (34%) say they have Internet access at work. “For marketers this probably means that you need to schedule online activities like chat rooms, Skype sessions, virtual fairs, or webinars in the evening once people are home from work,” notes Ms Dienhoff.

There are of course variations from country to country. Internet penetration varies from 85-90% in Bahrain, the UAE, and Qatar to, at the lower end of the range, 44-50% in Jordan and Egypt. Nearly nine in ten Internet users in MENA use social media every day. Smartphones account for 40% of web impressions in the region (about 45% above the global average), and smartphone penetration ranges from a low of 16% in Morocco to 73-75% in the UAE and Qatar. It is fair to say that, at these levels of adoption, a mobile responsive site is a must for reaching students and parents in the region.

Facebook is your #1 friend

As the following chart illustrates, Facebook is the leading network with a 89% penetration among MENA Internet users. Twitter and Google+ are a distant second and third respectively, but each nevertheless has been widely adopted as well. As with the Internet and mobile usage patterns we noted earlier, the chart reflects national variations as well, including the notably high levels of Twitter usage in Saudi Arabia.

Top five social networks in MENA and selected markets by percentage of Internet users. Source: IDP

Adoption rates are helpful in looking at relative usage from market to market but the absolute numbers of users on each service is arguably the key metric. The following chart reflects the population of Facebook users by country, and illustrates that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, and the UAE have some of the largest populations in the region that are active on this leading social network.

Population of Facebook users by country, 2013. Sources: IDP, Arab Social Media Report-2013

This variance in user counts by market is notable in part because each country carries with it its own language preferences. English and Arabic are by far the most-preferred languages among the region鈥檚 Internet users, with the exception of markets such as Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia where French is the clear language of choice.

Beyond Facebook

Twitter has also been widely adopted by MENA Internet users and the following chart provides a summary of Twitter user counts for selected markets across the region.

Twitter user populations by country, 2013. Sources: IDP, Arab Social Media Report-2013

As the chart illustrates, Twitter is especially well used in Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom accounts, on average, for roughly 47% of all Twitter traffic in the region. And, influenced by the fact that half of the Saudi population of Internet users prefers to use Arabic online, 74% of all Tweets by MENA users are in Arabic (as compared to only 18% in English).

YouTube, while not a social network as such, is one of the largest and most heavily used sites on the Internet, and its content is easily and widely shared on social media. It happens that this leading global video service is also extremely popular in many MENA states.

YouTube reach in MENA. Source: IDP

YouTube is the second or third-ranked site by usage in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Morocco. Across the region, there are 300 million YouTube playbacks each and every day, and Saudi Arabia leads the pack as the #1 market in the world in terms of views per capita.

“YouTube of course is highly valuable to marketers,” says Ms Dienhoff. “So if you don鈥檛 have a YouTube channel you should probably get one. You can use it to house videos that are then used on many other platforms and of course it will help greatly with your SEO.”

Implications for marketers

As the preceding charts and figures clearly reflect, social media usage in the region is highly concentrated around the most-popular social networks and social content sites in the world, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. “The good news is that they are using the same platforms you are already familiar with,” adds Ms Dienhoff. (Not to mention that you can reach the vast majority of prospects in the region in English and Arabic.)

For additional trends and best practices in social media, please see our post “Facebook is still the top social network but other platforms are growing faster.” It includes links to some of our most-popular posts on social media strategy, including tips for Facebook, Twitter, and social video.

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This January, the League of Arab States and the British Council held a that centred on education as a key to economic development in the region and to alleviating the problem of youth unemployment. One of the symposium鈥檚 main themes was improving English education and English language skills, backed by British Council research showing that MENA workers with English earn up to three times as much as non-English speakers.

Why English?

A January 2015 World Bank report stresses that while great improvements in education have been made across the region in access, funding, literacy rates, and gender equality, . These include an overall lack of educational quality and a mismatch between what students are learning and the skills that employers want.

A survey of employers in the region found that employers consider only one-third of new graduates ready for the workplace; the same study found that only one-third of students considered themselves ready to enter the labour market. In addition, school-age populations are on the rise, putting an increased strain on already-taxed public education systems.

A 2012 study undertaken in eight MENA countries by Euromonitor International (and commissioned by the British Council) pointed out that many employment-related problems could be ameliorated by better language education. The study found that salaries were generally higher in the region for English-language speakers.

Employees with better English skills enjoyed salaries from 5% (Tunisia) to as high as 200% (Iraq) more than their counterparts with no English. In addition, it found a correlation between poor fluency (and political instability) and unemployment.

The Euromonitor study noted that private-sector development in many key industries such as IT and software development, telecommunications, and banking/finance would be greatly accelerated by a boost in the number of qualified English speakers.

A long way to go

The Education First (EF) English Proficiency Index (EPI) is a global survey that measures English levels in markets around the world. Its research findings note that, 鈥淭he Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is by far 鈥� In both TOEFL and IELTS test results for several past years, Arabic speakers have placed in the bottom tier of world rankings.

Egyptian students hoping to study in Turkey 鈥� a country that promotes itself strongly as a less-expensive and close-to-home destination for Arabs, with classes held mainly in English 鈥� are often stymied by their lack of academic English skills. Saudi Arabian students hoping to study in the US or UK using government scholarships are usually granted up to 18 months for language study prior to academic work, but they often need even more time still to bring their English skills to the level required for advanced study abroad.

And, similar to conditions in many parts of the world, well-qualified instructors are scarce across the region. According to a British Council survey of over 1,000 teachers in the region, the best-qualified instructors often end up being moved into higher levels of public education, where students and schools are both more interested in high marks over actual fluency.

MENA youth are fully aware of the importance of English in terms of employment mobility, but educational opportunities are still often limited to those able to receive private education, given the over-stretched resources of most public educational systems in the region.

Will travel for English

As many challenges as there currently are to greater levels of English fluency in the region, a 5-7% increase in the number of English speakers is predicted over the next few years, and special programmes to nurture this increased language skill are becoming more prevalent in the region.

Probably the most visible example of this 鈥� at least in English-speaking countries hosting large numbers of language learners 鈥� is the King Abdullah Scholarship Programme (KASP) offered by the Saudi Arabian government. In 2013, Saudi Arabia was the top country of origin for students in intensive English programmes in the US according to IIE Open Door statistics 鈥� more than twice the number of China, the next-largest source market. Most of these students intend to continue on to university programmes. Saudi Arabia was the fourth-leading source of students in full-time tertiary academic programmes in the US, according to the 2014 IIE Open Doors report, with more than a 20% increase in numbers from the previous report cycle.

Kuwait is another country exporting its language learners, with Open Doors listing the oil-rich nation as one of the fastest-growing student populations in the US. Kuwait has moved up to be the 7th most-represented country in intensive English programmes in the US.

In-country initiatives

In other MENA countries less able to send their students abroad for further opportunity, in-country programming is key, and reports the British Council is a key sponsor or provider of services in many of these countries. For example:

• In Algeria, the first phase of a nationwide teacher training and curricular reform programme for English education, under an agreement with the Algerian Ministry of Education, began in November 2014. In addition to face-to-face and online education intended to reach every English teacher in Algeria, this Strategic English Education Development for Schools (SEEDS) programme includes a complete overhaul of the English curriculum and testing system.
• Oman鈥檚 English teachers have been able to take Continuing Professional Development courses online using the British Council鈥檚 . The first instalment of highly interactive programme included discussion forums set up for smaller groups of teachers; it was deemed such a success that it spurred a second training programme in 2013/14.
• Two Moroccan universities have adopted the British Council鈥檚 , which enables them to both place students appropriately and to measure progress after students complete certain modules of the LearnEnglish Pathways programme. The early success of this pilot has led to similar e-learning methods being implemented at six other universities across the country.
• For the 1.2 million Syrian refugees and about half that number in Jordan, the need for educational opportunity is particularly acute. In Lebanon, the British Council and the European Union are co-funding a project to help Syrian refugees both with their English and their ability to integrate better into the more pluralistic Lebanese society, entitled Accessing education: language integration for Syrian refugee children. In Jordan, the British Council is working to enhance capacity in all areas of English-language education, including in refugee camps.

Changing lives

Given the current turmoil across the MENA region, and given a large and growing youth population facing more competition for employment, the value of English language skills is clearly highlighted and the success of these and other similar programmes is vital. Nic Humphries, the British Council鈥檚 director of English in the MENA region, says, 鈥淩esearch shows there鈥檚 no doubt that 鈥�

There is no time to waste, both in terms of English language training and improved education in general for young people in the region. The World Bank reports that:

鈥淭he region鈥檚 youth population (up to 24 years old) will surge by about 10 million between 2015 and 2030. This sudden growth in the youth population will create increased demand for educational services at all levels and will place immense pressure on existing educational institutions. Clearly, the persistent, dual challenges of quality and relevance must be addressed before the anticipated surge. If they can, this rising tide of young people could become an engine of growth for the region.鈥�

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Last month, 22 Arab states, accounting for more than 500 universities among them, .

The STI aims to boost education and research in STEM fields by reforming and upgrading universities, improving science education, facilitating international and regional cooperation, boosting scientific research capacity, and increasing financial support for research and development.

In so doing, the STI aims to tackle a number of persistent challenges in Arabian higher education, including reversing a so-called 鈥渂rain drain鈥� from the region. Dr Sultan Abu-Orabi, secretary general of the Association of Arab Universities (AARU), frames the problem this way:

“The Arab world鈥� faces a host of hurdles when it comes to higher education and scientific research including a lack of clear focus in research priorities and strategies, insufficient time and funding to meet research goals, low awareness of the importance and impact of good scientific research, inadequate networking opportunities and databases, limited international collaborative efforts and brain drain.”

The strategy is a long-planned regional response to such issues and, more broadly, the need to better realise the potential of STEM fields for economic development. It was approved at the 14th Congress of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Arab World, held in Saudi Arabia in March 2014.

It encourages Arab States to boost financial assistance for research and development from the current 0.3% of GDP to 3%, with 30-40% of the funding increment coming from the private sector.

The strategy places the focus on 鈥渘ational and pan-Arab higher education and research initiatives in about 14 priority areas,鈥� including agriculture, biotechnology, energy, environment, nanotechnology, space, and information technology. It will be supported by a new online platform for Arab science and technology featuring:

• a database of technological centres and universities;
• a portal for research;
• a directory of scientists, educationists; technologists, and policy-makers;
• science and technology indicators;
• development and innovation activities and projects;
• information on conferences, symposiums and workshops in the Arab region.

Tackling some long-standing issues

As we noted earlier, the STI is squarely aimed at a number of persistent challenges in higher education and research in the region. Chief among those is a concern that research in Arab institutions and research centres is not sufficiently serving the needs of either industry or society.

In a recent post on the science and development website SciDev.net, Moza Al-Rabban, general-director at the Arab Scientific Community Organization (), notes that while a staggering 30,000 research papers by Arab research centres are published annually, and 270,000 papers since 1993, most of these don鈥檛 鈥渉ave any impact on the development of Arab countries or the well-being of their people.鈥�

This disconnect between research and society (and the economy) is cited as a factor in high levels of unemployment in Morocco and Egypt. Students, according to Mahmoud Nasruddin, head of the Centre for Middle-Eastern Strategic Studies (), are chiefly concerned with obtaining a degree to increase their employability. He adds, 鈥淚f scientific research is not linked with development through applicable strategies and identified research priorities, there can be no expected impact, whatever the budget increase.鈥�

Dr Abdalla Alnajjar, chair of the Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF), believes governments are crucial in the pursuit of private-public collaboration. Researchers are motivated to apply their full innovation and creativity skills if public research centres pay their staff a good rate for private sector work. However, Arab governments frequently impose additional taxes on publicly funded research centres that contribute services to the private sector, which can impede collaboration. Mr Alnajjar calls for the delivery of 鈥渋ncentives for researchers who provide services to the private sector and a change in the admission process for graduate students so that it becomes more controlled and takes into account society鈥檚 needs by setting clear priorities for the research they conduct.鈥�

The broader context of institutional collaboration in the region

The approval of the STI was accompanied, also in March, by among institutions of higher learning across the same 22 Arab states. Brought forward at the recent General Conference of the Association of Arab Universities (AARU) in Amman, Jordan, the unified governance proposals emphasise a clearer understanding of the responsibilities and roles of stakeholders in university governance reform in the context of global, national, and regional challenges.

The discussions in Amman suggest a broader interest in collaboration among Arab institutions, both for the sake of improved quality and efficiency and to improve the standing of Arab institutions in world university rankings. Hilmi Salem, a higher education consultant, believes the strategy will 鈥渉elp Arab universities to operate efficiently and be more responsive to the needs of young people, and become sources of knowledge and innovation.鈥�

Speaking to University World News, Martin Rose, country director for the British Council in Morocco, says, 鈥淭he agenda on university governance reform should include looking at greater autonomy and its benefits, developing university brands and competitive marketing to employers and students, and much greater calibration to the external environment in all its manifestations.鈥� Mr Rose highlights as well the need to establish alternate sources of funding for Arab higher education institutions, 鈥渨ithout which there is no hope of providing quality higher education to a fast-growing universe of young people leaving school and looking for higher education and jobs.鈥�

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The 2013 study, the third edition of EF鈥檚 English Proficiency Index, ranks 60 countries and territories around the world by adult English proficiency.

While EF has been gathering proficiency data for several years, there are some important methodological changes reflected in the 2013 rankings. Seven countries – Estonia, Iraq, Jordan, Latvia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, and the Ukraine – have been included in the index for the first time. Three others (the Dominican Republic, Pakistan, and Syria) have been dropped from the index due to insufficient data. And whereas previous editions of the EPI have relied on multi-year data sets gathered between 2007 and 2011, the 2013 ranking is based on a single-year鈥檚 worth of test data from 750,000 adults who took English tests administered by EF over 2012. EF notes the move to single-year data reporting is meant to allow the EPI to track changes in English proficiency more closely year-over-year.

EF has noted in the past that its test data reflects the patterns seen in smaller, more scientifically controlled studies. However, one necessary caveat in interpreting the EPI rankings is that the EPI is not a statistically controlled study. The test subjects completed a free test online on a voluntary basis and as such, may not entirely reflect the overall English proficiency of a given country.

As has noted of previous EPI reports:

鈥淸The test subjects] were by definition connected to the Internet and interested in testing their English鈥he test will obviously not reach poor and rural folk who lack Internet access. So if a country has an urban elite who are good with English, and a lot of rural poor people who cannot take the test, its score might be relatively inflated. In another country where nearly everyone is online but English skills are mediocre, the scores might be relatively depressed.鈥�

Even so, the EPI is an ambitious global benchmarking study for English proficiency and the study report contains not only the 60-country ranking but also more in-depth country profiles, including regional breakdowns, for 11 major world markets.

Among its key findings for 2013, the EPI report notes:

• Some Asian countries, notably Indonesia and Vietnam, have realised significant gains in English proficiency since the tracking study began in 2007, and the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have seen real proficiency improvements as well.
• In contrast to most European states, English proficiency has declined in France over the survey period. As the report notes, 鈥淭he seven countries with the strongest English are all small European nations, whose size compels them to adopt an international outlook.鈥�
• The Middle East and North Africa are the world鈥檚 weakest regions in English, and poor levels of English-language proficiency is a persistent competitive disadvantage for Latin American economies. 鈥淢ore than half of the countries in [Latin America] are in the lowest EF EPI proficiency band,鈥� notes the report.

The 28 top-ranked countries on the 60-country EPI ranking for 2013.

The 2013 EPI provides as well several headline-grabbing correlations between English proficiency and economic and social development. As the report notes:

鈥淗istorically, speaking a second language, or more specifically, speaking a highly valued second language, was a marker of the social and economic elite鈥� However, globalisation, urbanisation, and the Internet have dramatically changed the role of English in the past 20 years. Today, English proficiency can hardly be thought of as an economic advantage at all. It is certainly no longer a marker of the elite. Instead it is increasingly becoming a basic skill needed for the entire workforce, in the same way that literacy has been transformed in the last two centuries from an elite privilege into a basic requirement for informed citizenship.鈥�

EF reports positive correlations between national EPI scores and such indicators as exports per capita, gross national income per capita, service exports, and quality of life. Writing in the Harvard Business Review EF Senior Vice President Christopher McCormick adds:

鈥淩esearch shows a direct correlation between the English skills of a population and the economic performance of the country. Indicators like gross national income (GNI) and GDP go up鈥� [The 2013 EPI] found that in almost every one of the 60 countries and territories surveyed, a rise in English proficiency was connected with a rise in per capita income. And on an individual level, recruiters and HR managers around the world report that job seekers with exceptional English compared to their country鈥檚 level earned 30-50% higher salaries.鈥�

The 2013 report observes a weaker correlation to quality of life indicators such as life expectancy, literacy, and standards of living, and acknowledges that the link between English proficiency and human development is 鈥渕ore tenuous.鈥� Countries that rank in the low and very low proficiency bands on the EPI reflect variable quality of life indicators. However, EF notes that no country ranked in the moderate or higher proficiency bands falls below the 鈥淰ery High Human Development鈥� benchmark on the Human Development Index.

The relationship between national EPI scores and corresponding rankings on the Human Development Index.

EF attributes the correlation between English proficiency and economic development (and so on to social development) to the important role that English skills play in driving export economies, attracting foreign investment, boosting service exports, and enabling international business and cultural links.

The report concludes by outlining some international best practices for building English proficiency. These can be understood as observed characteristics of countries with high EPI scores and include the following:

• Making English skills development part of the core curriculum in schools;
• Investing in English-language teacher training;
• Including testing for English proficiency in national exams, including completion and entrance exams at the secondary and post-secondary levels;
• Setting national standards for English training programmes.

Much attention will be given to the national rankings in the EPI, and how the fortunes of individual countries rise or fall from year to year. However, these broader linkages between English proficiency and development – not to mention between English skills, investment in language training, and related government and education policy – are at least as interesting. These indicators can all reflect a country鈥檚 progress in strengthening its English proficiency but also its potential and characteristics as an international education market for the long term.

Check out 黑料官网 Monitor’s Language Learning category.

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Iraq study programmes and scholarships

Foreign education became a possibility for local students when the in Iraq launched the Iraq Educational Initiative, which was tasked with sending Iraqi students to pursue graduate or undergraduate studies at accredited foreign universities.

The programme began in 2009-2010, and as well as some that teach in English, to send students to that are accredited with the Ministry of Higher Education and appear on UNESCO鈥檚 list of international universities. The first year 612 students were sent, and in 2011, 1,000 scholarships were awarded. The students are mostly seeking PhDs, and are primarily pursuing studies in engineering, agriculture, computer science, and hard sciences.

Right now, there is up to US $200 million in scholarships available for studies abroad. For example, the Human Capacity Development Program in Higher Education (HCDP) provides US $100 million in scholarship support solely for students from Iraq鈥檚 autonomous Kurdistan region, and to date more than 4,000 Kurdish graduates have been awarded scholarships to study for masters and PhDs in international universities.

International organisations have appeared on the scene in Iraq as well. Through its Iraq office, the UN has been staging training workshops since 2005, and more recently the World Bank has offered . The US has contributed millions of dollars to , and is preparing to launch a US $1 million English as a second language programme in Baghdad. Foreign oil companies are also required to fund Iraqi education and training programmes.

Other scholarship programmes include the MENA Scholarship Program for Middle East and North Africa, (funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the , the Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future (for PhD or postdoctoral study in the physical sciences, engineering and related disciplines), Erasmus Mundus Lot 8, and .

The Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research provides some enlightening numbers. According to a Ministry announcement, as of March 2012, a total of 22,000 scholarships had been awarded for masters and doctoral students to study around the world. Among the receiving countries were the US, UK, Canada, Japan, China, Indonesia, France, Germany, Italy, India, Russia, Sweden, Austria and Denmark.

Matters have moved forward in the area of international interchange as well. In September 2012 Iraq held the at the Al-Rasheed Hotel. The slate of activities included workshops and meetings with officials from HCED and the Ministry of Higher Education, face-to-face discussions with scholarship students about their admission requests, and opportunities to meet officials from the US, British, Australian and Japanese embassies in Baghdad. No dates have been announced yet for the 2013 Fair.

Iraq on the mend

Concurrent with the increases in Iraqi and foreign scholarship capital, efforts to repair the higher education sector have gathered momentum. New Education Minister Ali al-Adeeb is spearheading a three-year higher education reform plan that involves giving financial and administrative independence to universities.

鈥淗e intends to create 15 specialised universities that emphasise scientific fields, including medicine, petroleum studies and engineering.鈥�

In addition, a 10-year, first-of-its-kind was announced last December to help ensure quality education for the country’s 33 million citizens, especially the most deprived children and youth.

This is significant, because not only did more than 80% of universities sustain damage during and after the 2003 invasion, but the impossibility of holding classes, along with the loss of thousands of professors, brought about a general decline in academic standards and literacy.

Yet today, the sector is fighting to regain its footing and in so doing is producing thousands of students willing and eager to study abroad.

Factors determining study destinations

Students tend to choose where to study based on whether they are self-funded or government-funded.

Students who are self-funded are more price conscious, and therefore look toward countries like Malaysia, Turkey, Cyprus, and India as study destinations. English-medium programmes of study are most desired (only about 5% of Iraqis study in Turkish, for example).

Conversely, students on government scholarships have a broader range of options, and typically choose study destinations in the west, with the top choice being the UK or US.

The UK is also popular due the fact that they have a consulate in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, and therefore, for those on government scholarships, obtaining a visa can be a fairly smooth process.

The United States is expected to expand services offered at the Erbil consulate this spring or summer, which should bring immediate results in terms of a market shift away from top recipient countries and towards the US.

Editor’s note: As anticipated, beginning 25 June 2013, the US Consulate General Erbil . Iraqi residents can now apply for a range of non-immigrant visas for travel to the US, including student visas, tourist visas, business visitor visas, and temporary worker visas at the Consulate General.

For historical reasons, the Kurdish region is 鈥淧ro-颅American鈥� (for instance, Americans don’t even need a visa to enter the region). Erbil is booming due to oil revenues, with regular flights and new hotels continually opening. The cultural capital of the region 鈥� Sulaymaniyah 鈥� has some regular flights and has a regular 3-hour bus service to Erbil, making it fairly easy to combine the two cities on one recruiting trip.

If a student wishes to study in a country that doesn鈥檛 maintain a consulate in Iraq (i.e. Canada or Australia) he or she needs to travel to a neighbouring country such as Turkey or Jordan to obtain the visa. This adds time and effort to the entire process of preparing to study abroad. For recruiters, familiarity with the always shifting landscape of scholarships, funding and visas is a must.

Recruiting tips for Iraq

Mr David Anderson, vice president of ELS Language Centers, shared his insights on recruiting in Iraq at last December鈥檚 AIRC (American International Recruitment Council) conference. The conference brought together 185 participants from several countries, including a range of associations and government agencies. The conference format included workshops targeted at institutions and agencies, a broad range of sessions on policy, recruitment solutions, and technology, and several participant-led small group discussions.

Anderson warned of various obstacles in Iraq recruiting, including banking transfer difficulties, an absence of locally offered TOEFL iBT, GRE and GMAT programmes, and lingering safety concerns, but pointed out that, as in other Arab regions, the quality of students is high. Other useful tips Anderson offered to recruiters were:

• Find foreign graduate departments that can provide some sort of conditional acceptance pending the student鈥檚 completion of language studies.
• Iraqi students don鈥檛 possess credit cards, so look for education departments that accept alternative forms of payment.
• Recruiters working with US-based institutions should keep in mind that Iraqi students are generally unfamiliar with the details of American higher education, such as admissions, visas, GRE, and SEVIS compliance.
• Student placement is generally decided by the HCED (Higher Committee for Education Development) office in Baghdad.
• Aim for bilateral agreements with departments within Iraqi universities to guarantee a number of slots.

Mr Mustafa Wshyar Abdullah from local agency Rony offers more useful advice from the perspective of someone who has spent years working and living in Iraq. In his opinion, the most useful tool of all for recruiters is having solid connections with institutions in Iraq, and having a good relationship with government officials.

Iraq may demand more legwork than some of the region鈥檚 primary markets, but with the higher education sector retrenching and recovering, generous scholarships available, and students eager to study abroad, the potential rewards there are numerous.

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Each country module covers primary, secondary, and vocational schools as well as higher education.

Recruiters and admission officers of institutions may find them to be a useful resource when assessing the level of foreign students applying for a programme at their institution.

The country modules are also beneficial for anyone who seeks detailed information on a specific country鈥檚 education system or grading system, or examples of diplomas.

Understanding the education and grading system is also useful for students who are thinking about studying abroad. Prospective students can read in detail how education is organised overseas and they can get a first impression of what their diplomas are worth.

The country modules are available in English (and Dutch) and are freely accessible. They are updated regularly, with five new modules added each year.

At present, the following are online: Albania, Aruba, Austria, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China, Croatia, Cura莽ao, St. Martin and BES islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, International Baccalaureate, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Surinam, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

Please see the Nuffic website for all available country modules.

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This was the message shared at one of the dozens of educational seminars held at last month’s in Dublin, Ireland. Each year, more than 4,200 higher education professionals from over 80 countries gather for The European Association for International Education’s main event. Amongst the many sessions on offer, 黑料官网 Monitor had the chance to attend one entitled “Social media in disrupted markets,” which shared tips and lessons learned when using social media for marketing, communications and public relations in disrupted or difficult markets.

In this context, a “disrupted market” is one where something prevents the normal use of global social media platforms. That might be a particularly acute disruption, such as a natural disaster or political or economic crisis, or it could be a more persistent condition, such as censorship or comparable government policy, in a particular national market.

China as a disrupted market

With 513.1 million Internet users in China, this is clearly a market that many international student recruiters want to tap into. But as we know, China also features several barriers to the free flow of information online, most notably the framework of restrictive policy and technology that is often colloquially referred to as . The Chinese effort to control online communications employs both technology and manpower on a vast scale. For example, the platform, a microblogging service with more than 120 million registered users, reportedly has 700 dedicated censors and keyword blocking tactics in place.

Don O鈥橬eill of in Ireland explained that these issues are not unique to China. Known as the ‘SICK’ nations (Syria, Iran, China, North Korea), the practice of blocking content is widespread. Even Germany, Pakistan and Thailand have been known to block YouTube at times as well. This illustrates that specific domains can be blocked in such systems, including potentially those of individual institutions or other providers.

Why are so many countries enforcing such restrictions? The power of social mobilisation is the real fear, not negative comments about the government. As a statement from King, Pan and Roberts in the June 2012 issue of Harvard Institute for Qualitative Social Science points out:

鈥淐ontrary to previous understandings, posts with negative, even vitriolic, criticism of the state, its leaders, and its policies are not more likely to be censored. Instead, the censorship programme is aimed at curtailing collective action by silencing comments that represent, reinforce, or spur social mobilisation, regardless of content.鈥�

O鈥橬eill found that, based on a survey of Chinese students who had been in Ireland for at least one year, two-thirds of them spend ten hours or less on social media each week. The main reason they use it is to stay connected with family and friends, but social media use is increasing. Recruiters should understand that most Chinese students still prefer face-to-face over virtual interaction because they won’t always believe what they see online.

According to O鈥橬eill, 鈥渢he Great Firewall is not going to disappear in the short term.鈥� Therefore, in such environments, where global platforms may be routinely filtered or blocked, one solution is often to rely more on national platforms, which, while still subject to monitoring or censorship, would be less likely to be disabled outright.

O’Neill notes the best social networks in China to start with include QQ (with 40.3 million users) and (a Facebook equivalent with approximately 100 million regular users). Those interested in video should experiment with , the equivalent of YouTube (it merged with Tudou in Match 2012). Above all, he suggests having a native Mandarin speaker to manage your social media presence in China.

Sudden disruptions in the US

While many may associate developing nations with the words “disruptive markets”, Dr Jeffery T. Johnson, Dean of Students at School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA reminded the audience that an unsettled market can happen anywhere. He stressed, 鈥渋t can, will, and does happen鈥� when referring to possible catastrophes such as fire, earthquakes, floods, terrorism, hurricanes, tsunami, outbreaks, and protests.

Being based in the southeast of the US, Dr Johnson is well experienced in such disasters. Year after year, just as university classes were beginning for the autumn term, several intense storms hit the coast of Louisiana in late August or early September (Hurricanes Katrina in 2005, Rita in 2005, Gustav in 2008, and Isaac in 2012).

Suffice it to say that in the Katrina aftermath, Tulane was faced with a disruptive situation. They had three immediate priorities: decide when the university would reopen, keep people on the payroll, and reach out to higher education associations to see who could take displaced students.

Dr Johnson attributes their quick rebound to the administration’s preparation and the communications plan they had in place. Having multiple copies of alternate staff email addresses and phone numbers on hand is essential, so that you can reach people as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the infographic below outlines how colleges should approach social media as a crisis management tool. And Dr Johnson reminds us, 鈥淭he Internet can go down, but the uniting power of texting remains strong.鈥�

Sometimes, there is even a silver lining – such disasters can transform universities. For example, after Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University went through a massive renewal plan that strengthened the institution in the long run, and there was a marked increase in service learning activities and volunteering opportunities.

But once the situation is resolved, it’s important for schools to conquer the dilemma of how to market to prospective students in the wake of a disrupted market.

When recruiting students to a destination that could be potentially disruptive, Dr Johnson advises, “be honest with families and prospects about the risks.”

The power of social media during disrupted times

At the end of the day, the community-enabling influence of social media is well-established and widely documented across a wide range of social and political contexts around the world. For example, the Occupy Wall Street protests spread to 950 cities in 82 countries, thanks to the power of social media during this time. And protests considered to be inspired by the Arab Spring have taken place on every inhabited continent, with varying degrees of success and prominence.

The Arab Spring protests particularly illustrate the effective use of social media to organise, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and Internet censorship (see graph below). As such, they demonstrate as well the increasingly broad reach and importance of major global platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Source: EAIE 2012

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