Hope you are keeping safe. Kindly see below the latest edition of country updates across the MENA on latest news regarding education in the region.

Visas and Immigration 

UK visa services have now resumed across all visa application centres in the Gulf. Appointments are currently limited, the Priority Visa service is only available in all Gulf states, and the Super Priority Visa Services is not yet available in any location. Services and appointment availability are being kept under regular review. Our current service standard for all visit and student visas is 15 working days. UKVI is now (temporarily) issuing students with a 90-day vignette to travel and collect their BRP in the UK, instead of the usual 30-day vignette.

More information can be found here: https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/en

Advice on entering the UK and self-isolation requirements:

https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control

National Restrictions from 5 January

Going to school or college:

Colleges, primary (reception onwards) and secondary schools remain open for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. All other children are learning remotely until February half term. The Government continue to prioritise the wellbeing and long-term futures of our young people as they study online.

In the circumstances, it is not possible for exams in the summer to go ahead as planned. The Department for Education are accordingly be working with Ofqual to consult rapidly to put in place alternative arrangements that will allow students to progress fairly.

Going to university:

Students undertaking training or study for the following courses have returned to face to face learning:

Medicine, dentistry, subjects allied to medicine/ health, veterinary science, education (initial teacher training), social work and courses which require Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) assessments and or mandatory activity which is scheduled for January and which cannot be rescheduled.

Students who are not on these courses have started their term online, as facilitated by their university or college until at least mid-February. If  students live at university, they should not move back and forward between their permanent home and student home during term time.

Guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home#universities

Travel advice

For travel advice, please visit https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. We encourage institutions who are considering travelling to sign up for alerts. We are also keeping up to date with local government websites for any updates and restrictions, so kindly feel free to contact us if you need any information and we will refer you to the relevant websites.

IELTS

In accordance with local health authority and government guidance, we have resumed IELTS testing across the UAE. The health and safety of test takers and test staff is our number one priority and we have taken the time to put in place all precautionary measures to ensure our customers can test confidently at our test venues.For more information on measures taken, please visit: https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/resume-your-ielts-journey-today . 

For information on test availability please visit: https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/exam/ielts/dates-locations

For more MENA updates, webinars, market insights and other IES services, please go to your alerts settings and select updates from MENA. If you have any feedback or require any additional information, please contact me on dina.kanan@ae.britishcouncil.org

Thank you and stay safe

Dina Kanan

UAE Manager, International Education Services

Egypt:

The Ministries of Education and Higher Education resolve the debate over the completion of the academic year

https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/market-news/ministries-of-education-and-higher-education-resolve-debate-over-completion-of

Contact Information

For more information about Egypt, please contact Sahar Khamis, Head of Education Programmes, Egypt (Sahar.khamis@britishcouncil.org.eg)

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia: Digital campaign to promote studying in the UK in 2021

British Council Saudi Arabia has secured funding to run a digital campaign in a bid to drive up international student recruitment from Saudi for 2021. This is a general paid digital campaign to support the whole UK HE sector in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Covid-19 has had a catastrophic impact on international student recruitment worldwide, including Saudi Arabia. It has also impacted the Saudi scholarship budgets given the decline in the oil prices and the funds available to sponsor students. The market is shifting towards more self-funding students, and the UK’s international education sector, therefore, needs to take action to rebuild recruitment in a challenging and uncertain environment. 

Objective: The primary objective of the digital campaign is to drive applications or enrolments for 2021. The campaign will support the recruitment of UG and PG courses that start in Sept/OCT 2021, raise the profile of the UK HE sector, and promote study in the UK and encourage self-funding students to study in the UK. The campaign will be delivered through a combination of paid social media, display advertising, and Saudi influencers. 

As a part of this campaign, we are also promoting two STUDY UK webinars focusing on UG & PG recruitment. Through the webinars, we will encourage prospective students to apply to study in the UK in 2021 and reassure students the UK is open and welcoming international students in 2021.

You are most welcome to spread the word about webinars with prospective students from Saudi using this link  https://bit.ly/BC-STUDYUK-Webinars

Contact Information

For more information about KSA, please contact Rizwan Safdar, Project Manager, (Rizwan.Safdar@sa.britishcouncil.org)

UAE:

Abu Dhabi private school pupils aged 12 and over to undergo fortnightly Covid-19 tests

https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/education/abu-dhabi-private-school-pupils-aged-12-and-over-to-undergo-fortnightly-covid-19-tests-1.1169927

COVID-19: Ajman suspends in-person classes in schools

 https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/covid-19-ajman-suspends-in-person-classes-in-schools-1.77064954

While students in Abu Dhabi returned to face-to-face learning at the start of this week, for four other emirates in the UAE, schools are switching back to distance learning. Here’s the latest on remote schooling and face-to-face teaching in the UAE

https://whatson.ae/2021/02/uae-schools-return-to-distance-learning-in-these-emirates/

Contact Information

For more information, please contact Dina Kanan, UAE Manager, International Education Services (dina.kanan@ae.britishcouncil.org)