WISE Participates in Education Conference of 'Belt and Road' Countries in China

The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), recently participated in discussions on education reform efforts, challenges, and opportunities for collaboration within countries that lie along the historic Silk Road.

The meeting was organized and hosted by the National Institute of Education Sciences in Beijing, China, with the support of ten education institutions in the country. The ‘Belt and Road Education Dialogue’ brought together representatives of more than 44 countries from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and eastern and central Europe, in Beijing from November 26-29. The gathering formed part of the Belt and Road Initiative of China, which focuses on education reform as well as economic and social issues.

WISE was invited to present and contribute to the Beijing discussions around critical education issues in the region. Dr. Ahmed Baghdady, Manager of Research and Content Development, WISE, gave a presentation on the status of cross-border higher education and opportunities for collaboration among the Belt and Road countries. The dialogue also included meetings to plan for a large-scale education research project to be conducted by country representatives and presented at the 2018 edition of the conference.

Dr. Baghdady commented, “This is a very important initiative for the Belt and Road countries that represent a large percentage of the world’s population. Schools and higher education are critical for development of these countries and a cornerstone for a strong knowledge-based economy in this region.”

The closing ceremony of the dialogue included the announcement of the research project and the 2018 Belt and Road Education Dialogue.