Educational Reform and the Culture of Democracy in the Arab World

An interview with Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber at UCL on 27 March 2006 provided some fascinating insights into Middle East politics, education and culture.

Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber is the Founder and Chairman of MBI International and patron of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation. A successful self-made businessman, he devotes much of his time to promoting education and democracy throughout the Arab world. In 2005 he was nominated as UNESCO Education, Tolerance, and Cultures to build Peace and Democracy Special Envoy.

The interview was introduced by Professor Malcolm Grant, President and Provost of UCL, who discussed MBI Al Jaber's life works in context of UCL’s global perspective.

Professor Michael Worton, UCL Vice-Provost (Academic & International) then led the interview with MBI Al Jaber with some searching questions about Middle East politics, education and culture.

MBI Al Jaber's positive and proactive stance was nowhere better reflected than in his views on educational reform in the Arab world. His work with UNESCO into this area aims for an updating of the curriculum and wide retraining of teaching staff to ensure that acquire the education that they need to compete on the global stage, ensuring that Arab nations are not held up by what he called an “illusion of wealth” – such as money from foreign aid or oil supplies – but by a true wealth embedded in the education and skills of the nation.