BUiD’s Registrar and Chief Administrative Officer participates in Alhambra U.S. Chamber Gulf Higher Education Conference

Hugh Martin, Registrar and Chief Administrative Officer at The British University in Dubai, participated in the inaugural Gulf Higher Education Conference organised by Alhambra U.S. Chamber. Hugh was a panel member with Phil Noble, Fellow of the Kennedy School at Harvard University, and Nancy Gleason, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, NYU Abu Dhabi, moderated by Professor Yusra Mouzughi, President of the Royal University for Women in Bahrain. In the panel titled, ‘New models of mobility: Virtual exchange programmes, hybrid learning, and other modalities’, they discussed the need for international engagement that goes beyond the traditional student and staff mobility.

Hugh stressed the point that the vast majority of the world does not have the infrastructure or the technology to deal with online learning; virtual and hybrid are therefore divisive models which weaponise rich Western education systems against the developing world. He posed the question: what solutions do we have for these inequalities to ensure an already two tier system doesn’t become more iniquitous?

The conference was held virtually on 10-11 October 2021. Attended by over 1,000 delegates from across the world, it brought together education leaders, government ministers and influencers and offered the opportunity to rethink higher education in light of the pandemic, especially with regard to developing a strong tertiary sector in the Middle East. The Alhambra U.S. Chamber has been providing educational services in India, the Middle East, Western and Eastern Europe, China, and Turkey since 2009.