Panels

There are four proposed panels during the conference. Please check back here for the final selection.

1. Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility in Education in the Arab World
2. Public School Reform: Efforts and Challenges
3. The Business of Schools
4. The War of the Electronic Giants and the effect on Education

Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility in Education in the Arab World

Philanthropy plays a major role in the advancement of education. Mainly through the input of funds needed for research and development. When you consider the budgets allocated by countries to the field of education, you may be swayed to think that the amounts being donated through philanthropy might just be a drop in the water. But philanthropists are becoming more and more involved in the direction that their donations are taking and they are becoming more aware that their funds may generate more impact by going into specific areas and aspects of educational reform than just into a pot. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made a significant financial contribution into the school system in the US and continues to pump in 350 million dollars annually. The Walton Family Foundation is the largest supporter of private and public school scholarships. David Packard, one of the founders of Hewlett-Packard has directed more than 75 million US Dollars. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers is one of the known supporters of education through donations from his foundation. The list goes on and on. Without the backing of Gap founders, Donald and Doris Fisher, the KIPP school network would have been capable of achieving such growth and results. Corporations also play a role in giving to education through their corporate social responsibility initiatives. But where are we in the sphere of philanthropy and education in the Arab world? How much is being done? What do we know about it? What can be done?

Public School Reform: Efforts and Challenges

There are, without doubt, efforts being made throughout the Middle East for the reform of public education. Those efforts are met with certain challenges depending on the country that they are made in. Budgetary concerns, demographics, experience, and human resources are some of the factors that come into the equation. What has been achieved so far? How can build on what we have learnt and what can we learn from others have built?

The Business of Schools

The idea for private schools is that they are institutions that offer an added value over public schools. In the countries that have a developed public schools system, the number of private schools is dwarfed by that of the public schools. In the Arab world, the numbers are alarmingly close. Whether it is due to lack of trust in public education or to certain demographical considerations, private schools have been flourishing ever since the 1960s in Lebanon to the 1980s in the Gulf. Private schools have become an interesting financial project to many investors who are not even remotely in the field. So what makes those schools an interesting business prospect? What are the elements that are at play in developing private schools and what are the driving factors behind them? This panel will take a look at what makes schools a lucrative business venture and what are the different challenges facing their successful operation.

The War of the Electronic Giants and the effect on Education

Children in schools nowadays are nowhere near what we were in our school days. They are sharper, blurring faster, and a lot more restless than we were. Thus, they are substantially more bored in the classroom that we ever thought one might be. There is no doubt that the advancements in technology, over just the last decade, has played a major role in reshaping the way students think and interact. Social networking has become the new social playground. Phone applications are getting things done faster that some of our teachers can understand what they are. These technological tools have become such a way of life for our students all over the world, that the companies behind them are now getting engaged in a ruthless war over providing the adequate basket of services. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Nokia, Sony, Blackberry, Acer, HP, Intel… are all technological giants who are moving from their strong areas of expertise to offer the same products as each other. Social networks, search engines, phone applications, music stores, film stores, tv show rentals are all things that the youth of today has adopted as their way to social interaction and information gathering. But how do the effects of these wars reflect on education? Will they reshape education as we know it? Or will the demands of education shape the products to be developed?

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