Culture & Education | Monday 9 January, 2017 9:43 am |

The sixth Gulf Education Conference and Exhibition will be held in Jeddah on Feb. 22-23 at the University of Business and Technology.
The conference will be attended by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani, other experts and officials in the education sector and representatives from the private sector.
The secretary-general of the Federation of GCC Chambers, Abdulraheem Hassan Naqi, highlighted on Thursday at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) the importance of exploring in-depth the challenges facing the type and quality of education in the GCC.
He said the number of students in the GCC is expected to grow annually at around 1.8 percent to 11.3 million in 2020. Saudi Arabia comprises 75 percent of GCC students due to its large population.
Hussein Alawi, director the University of Business and Technology, said the two-day conference will host 200 Gulf academics and experts and 60 international experts. He said this presents a real opportunity to emerge with important recommendations to improve education and overall development.
He added that the conference is being hosted at the university for the first time, after being previously hosted in Abu Dhabi and seeing tremendous success.
JCCI Secretary-General Hassan bin Ibrahim Dahlan stressed the importance of education in shaping young minds and guiding their interests.
He said the role of educational institutions in the GCC is critical to push forward development by graduating students with awareness of national issues and capabilities to uphold social responsibilities.
The transformation toward a knowledge society must start with reform of the education system in particular, he added.