Higher education in transition - KSA & Gulf

 

Saudi Arabia: Higher education in transition  By Francesca Di Meglio    In brief Saudi Arabia is overhauling higher education under Vision 2030 to diversify its economy and boost global competitiveness. Reforms focus on AI curricula, foreign university branch campuses and significantly expanding women's workforce participation Long-term success requires converting rapid expansion into higher academic quality and improved graduate employability outcomes. Saudi Arabia is undergoing a transformation that extends well beyond its universities. Since 2018, women have gained the right to drive, their participation in the workforce has increased, and the Ministry of Education has launched Study in Saudi, a platform to attract international applicants and simplify the admissions process. Changes in visa programmes have also opened new opportunities for international students. At the centre of this shift is Vision 2030, a strategic framework launched in 2016 and aimed at diversifying the nation’s economy beyond oil.  Through initiatives such as the Human Capability Development Programme, launched in 2021, Saudi Arabia is investing in education and workforce development to prepare its population for emerging industries, expand research capacity and strengthen its position in global higher education.  The quest for a stronger economy Saudi Arabia remains the country with the highest number of highly ranked institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to the QS World University Rankings 2027. Ranked 63 globally, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) leads the group of 23 Saudi institutions featured in the rankings. According to a recent QS report, demographic changes and the expansion of higher education will shape the country's future workforce. By 2100, more than 27.5 million people in Saudi Arabia are projected to hold a degree, which will catapult the country’s economy to match its regional partners and cement its place among the 20 largest world economies.  “Our real wealth lies in the ambition of our people and the potential of our younger generation,” said His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, chairman of the Human Capability Development Programme Committee.  Vision 2030 is a reinvention of the country’s economy, with education at its core, from elementary studies through higher education and workforce training. The goal is to create reforms that support lifelong learning, enabling the workforce to adapt as industries evolve, particularly as advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) reshape the workplace.  Learning for work   One of the most significant changes is the growing emphasis on connecting university education with the needs of the labour market. The country's strategy prioritises curricula that develop skills for emerging industries, while encouraging research and closer collaboration between universities and businesses. As the country invests in AI, technology, energy, sustainability and biotechnology, universities are placing greater emphasis on related disciplines. Researchers are also increasingly expected to have practical applications, translating academic knowledge into solutions for industry and society. Nearly 80 percent of Saudi universities have adopted curricula that incorporate technology and AI, with more than 30 institutions integrating AI as a compulsory course, according to the 2025 Human Capability Development annual report. The country also has established strengths in life and natural sciences, including medicine and pharmacy, as well as computer engineering and mathematics, which offer a foundation for its ambitions in research and innovation.  Another key to this revolution in Saudi Arabian higher education is developing international partnerships and gaining prominence on the global stage. QS reports that Saudi Arabia is becoming a destination for international students, with a decline in outbound Saudi Arabian students occurring alongside an increase in international enrolments.  “Historically, KSA’s higher education system focused primarily on domestic needs and religious studies,” writes Devanjali Dutt, Education Lead, Consulting – MENA, and Harshit Magon, Senior Director, consulting MENA at JLL. “However, the twenty-first century saw a shift towards a more global approach, with increased international collaborators, announcements of international branch campuses and new regulations to support this expansion.” Francesca Di Meglio is an award-winning journalist and producer of digital events with more than 20 years of experience covering higher education, business schools, human resources, process excellence, and customer experience. She is the founder of the Still Team Human podcast and blog found on YouTube and Substack respectively

Find out how Saudia Arabia is going global in the full article online.

Bahrain's research moment By Jocelyn Suarez   In brief Bahrain is expanding its research capacity as universities take on a bigger role in national innovation and economic development. New applied doctorates, stronger quality standards and industry-linked AI research are helping build that capacity. Long-term success depends on focused research strengths, clear career pathways for researchers and meaningful international collaboration. Bahrain is entering a new phase in its higher education story. Its universities are being asked to do more than educate the next generation of graduates: they are increasingly expected to contribute to research, innovation and the country's wider economic ambitions. In August 2026,  that direction was given a new framework with the launch of Bahrain's national strategy for higher education and scientific research, which lays out 26 initiatives and 37 performance indicators across five objectives. These include building a leading education system, advancing scientific research and innovation, expanding global academic partnerships, strengthening governance and digital transformation, and preparing institutions for future skills. The strategy is explicitly ambitious. At its launch, Education Minister Dr Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma described it as a roadmap for advancing Bahrain's higher education and scientific research system and enhancing its global competitiveness.  Dr Diana Abdulkarim Al Jahromi, Secretary-General of the Higher Education Council (HEC), said the initiatives are intended to strengthen institutional and academic performance, promote research and innovation, align education outcomes with the needs of the national economy and strengthen universities' role in knowledge creation. That ambition is accompanied by a stronger emphasis on measurement, with indicators covering institutional and programme quality, scientific research and innovation, and internationalisation and academic mobility. These include accredited institutions, global ranking placements, growth in Scopus-indexed research publications, the share of STEM students, foreign academic programmes hosted in Bahrain and the proportion of international students. The quality push is also showing up in regulation. HEC now links university and programme licensing directly to performance reviews carried out with the Education & Training Quality Authority and the National Qualifications Framework, a mechanism that Dr Juma says exists so that "no institution or programme operates without meeting internationally benchmarked standards".   The August launch event itself doubled as an accreditation ceremony: 11 higher education institutions received institutional accreditation, and 10 institutions picked up academic accreditation for 93 programmes that met HEC standards. It is also the next chapter in a much longer national project. Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030, launched in 2008, set out an ambition for a more productive, globally competitive and knowledge-based economy, with greater emphasis on innovation, entrepreneurship and high-value sectors. To achieve this, the policy envisaged government and the private sector working together to create the conditions for new ideas and technologies to move towards market readiness. Nearly two decades later, higher education is being asked to play a larger role in delivering that vision. For Bahrain, the next phase moves beyond producing more graduates to building the research capacity, talent, partnerships and innovation infrastructure that can help turn knowledge into wider economic and social value. A new research chapter Some of that transition is already visible. In July, Bahrain Polytechnic announced its first-ever applied PhD programmes: a PhD in Engineering and a PhD in Computer Science, alongside research-based master's programmes in mechanical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. The programmes entered their pilot phase in September. The move marks a significant change for an institution built around applied, workforce-focused education. Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, CEO of Bahrain Polytechnic, described the launch as a significant strategic milestone for the institution and said the programmes had been developed in partnership with industry and aligned with national priorities and the needs of a knowledge- and innovation-based economy. The model is deliberately practical. Research projects must be approved by the institution's Scientific Research Committee and supported by industry partners, with access to data, equipment and technical supervision. The polytechnic has also allocated 18 fully funded research scholarships — 12 for MSc by Research candidates and six for PhD candidates. The projects themselves give a sense of what that applied model looks like. They include machine-learning applications for manufacturing processes, sustainable materials, robotics for inspecting oil storage infrastructure and an AI-driven digital twin project for smart parking in Bahrain. Rather than treating research as a separate academic exercise, the model ties it directly to the country's industrial and technological priorities. It is also part of a wider expansion of postgraduate and research capacity. At the University of Bahrain, the College of Information Technology offers postgraduate programmes in applied artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, machine learning and computational intelligence, software engineering, big data science and analytics, as well as a PhD in Computing and Information Sciences. The university's research infrastructure is beginning to show what it can produce. Its BENEFIT Advanced AI & Computing Lab, for example, reported 53 research papers and 269 citations over four years, reflecting a growing concentration of work around AI and computing. UoB's own description of its research ambitions is revealing: "Research is not a peripheral academic exercise here; it is a national responsibility." Research is increasingly being positioned not as something that sits alongside teaching, but as part of the country's development infrastructure. The question is where Bahrain can build enough depth to make that ambition distinctive. Jocelyn Suarez is Deputy Editor of QS Insights, where she covers ideas, trends and challenges shaping the future of higher education. She is an editor and writer with a decade of experience across digital media, content strategy and journalism. She is closely involved with Singapore's literary and arts scene, including through SingLit Station and the Singapore Writers Festival, and has a longstanding interest in the role of arts and culture in society.

Learn more online.

Also on QS Insights Magazine  Space to grow in Kazakhstan With foreign universities, new AI infrastructure and rising student numbers, Kazakhstan is positioning itself as a higher education hub for Eurasia. The challenge is making that growth work for the whole country. Building a globally competitive system Indonesia is working towards a globally competitive university system by its independence centennial. How can institutions align their ambitions with a national vision for the future?   The UAE’s next chapter From education hub to knowledge ecosystem, the UAE is shifting towards research, talent and innovation.

Russian and Soviet scholars made foundational contributions to modern Ismaili Studies

 Russian and Soviet scholars made foundational contributions to modern Ismaili Studies, particularly regarding the heritage, manuscripts, and spiritual traditions of Central Asian and Pamiri Ismaili communities.

Key Russian scholars and researchers who studied the Ismaili faith and communities include:

Wladimir Ivanow (1886–1970) – Widely considered the pioneer of modern Ismaili studies. He traveled extensively across Central Asia, Persia, and India, collecting, editing, translating, and publishing original Ismaili texts. His work dismantled medieval anti-Ismaili myths and led him to co-found the Islamic Research Association and establish the Ismaili Society. [1, 2, 3, 4]




Aleksey Bobrinskoy (1861–1938) – Count Aleksey Bobrinskoy was an early Russian researcher who traveled to the Wakhān and Ishkāshīm districts of the western Pamirs in 1898. He authored foundational field studies on the local mountain dwellers and religious identity of the Pamiri Ismailis. [1, 2]
Ivan Zarubin (1887–1964) – A prominent Russian ethnologist and linguist specializing in Iranian languages who visited Badakhshan in 1914. He gathered a valuable collection of Ismaili manuscripts from the Shughnan and Rushan districts and donated them to the Asiatic Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. [1]
Aleksandr Semyonov (1873–1958) – A leading orientalist and scholar of Central Asian history, Islam, and Ismaili traditions who contributed extensive academic writings on the culture and history of Ismailis in Central Asia. [1]
Andrey Bertels (1926–1995) – A respected Russian scholar whose research on the legacy and philosophical works of Nasir-i Khusraw—a central figure in Central Asian Ismaili history—remains highly influential. [1]
Military Orientalists and Researchers – Late 19th- and early 20th-century Russian military officers and regional observers (such as Grachevski, Sneif, and Zitf) documented local Ismaili social structures, genealogies, and adherence to Shia Islam in the Russian and Bukharan domains. [1]

You can explore more about these contributions through the The Institute of Ismaili Studies or related academic literature on Central Asian heritage.

The Ismaili communities of the Pamir region (spanning Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan and northeastern Afghanistan) and those of Hunza and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) in Pakistan share a deep, interwoven history. They are bound by the same spiritual allegiance to the Aga Khan, yet their paths have created a beautiful mosaic of overlapping traditions and distinct local evolutions. [1, 2]

---

1. The Deep Connections (The Shared Heritage)

• The Legacy of Nasir-i Khusraw (Da‘wat-i Nasir): The most foundational link is the 11th-century Persian poet-philosopher Nasir-i Khusraw. He introduced the Ismaili da‘wah (mission) to the Central Asian Pamirs. Centuries later, traveling da‘is (missionaries) and Pirs from Badakhshan (such as Sayyid Shah Ardbil and his son Sayyid Hussain) journeyed across the high mountain passes into Hunza. They converted the ruling Mirs of Hunza in the early 19th century, structurally grounding Hunza’s faith in the Central Asian tradition. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• 
  
  
  
• The Chiragh-i Rawshan (Luminous Lamp): This is the ultimate ritual bridge between the Pamirs and GB. Originating in Central Asia as a way to sustain faith during times of historical concealment (taqiyya), this solemn funeral and remembrance ceremony revolves around a single lit wick lamp. It is accompanied by the rhythmic, soulful chanting of Quranic verses, Salwats, and the mystical poetry of Nasir-i Khusraw. The ritual was officially brought to Hunza upon the death of Mir Shah Saleem Khan I in 1823, performed by a Pamiri Pir.
• The Wakhi Transnational Corridor: The Gojal region (Upper Hunza) is primarily inhabited by the Wakhi people, who migrated there directly from the Pamir valleys over the centuries. The Ismailis of Gojal speak the same Wakhi language (an Eastern Iranian tongue) and possess the exact same ancestral folklore, musical structures, and seasonal celebrations as their counterparts in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

---

2. The Cultural and Regional Divergences

While their core spiritual theology is identical, geographic isolation and distinct political histories under British colonial rule (for GB) and the Soviet Union (for the Pamirs) created localized expressions of faith and culture:

Feature	Pamiri Ismaili Traditions (Tajikistan/Afghanistan)	Hunza & Gilgit-Baltistan Ismaili Traditions
Traditional Architecture	Centered on the ancient Pamiri Chid. A sacred house design featuring a four-tiered square skylight (representing earth, water, air, and fire) and five structural pillars that symbolize the Ahl al-Bayt (Prophet Muhammad, Imam Ali, Bibi Fatima, Imam Hasan, and Imam Husayn).	Centered on fortified, multi-tiered stone-and-timber architecture (like the iconic Baltit Fort or traditional Kha houses). While influenced by Central Asia, the internal layout adapted to local Himalayan and Karakoram microclimates and materials.
Linguistic Landscape	Dominated by Eastern Iranian languages (Shughni, Wakhi, Rushani, Ishkashimi). Persian remains the primary literary and liturgical language used in religious text recitations.	Multilingual and distinct. While Upper Hunza speaks Wakhi, Central/Lower Hunza and parts of Yasin speak Burushaski—a mysterious language isolate with no known connection to any other language family on earth. Shina is also widely spoken in Gilgit town and surrounding valleys.
Pre-Islamic Cultural Syncretism	Retains rich Zoroastrian influences. Fire symbolism, purification rituals involving wild rue (Isfand), and specific solar calendar alignments for the spring festival of Navruz are deeply embedded.	Retains Shamanic and Animistic influences. Traditional folklore in Hunza includes historical references to the Bitan (a local shaman who would fall into ecstatic trances to communicate with mountain fairies or peris). Harvest festivals like Ginani are highly central.
Modern Development Trajectory	Surviving decades under the officially atheist Soviet regime, Pamiri Ismailis historically preserved their identity through clandestine home majalises and Chiragh-i Rawshan rites.	Experiencing an uninterrupted, rapid socio-economic transformation over the past 50+ years, fueled heavily by the institutions of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). This has resulted in some of the highest literacy rates in Pakistan, particularly for women.

---

3. The Contemporary Reconnection

Today, these communities are closer than ever. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the opening of cross-border channels, and transnational cultural festivals (like those hosted by the University of Central Asia or youth camps organized by Ismaili institutions), artists, musicians, and scholars from both regions regularly collaborate. When a Pamiri rubab player performs in Gulmit or an elder from Hunza visits Khorog, they do not find strangers—they find a mirror image of their own spiritual and cultural souls.