Memorandum from Margaret Hodge MP
Letter to the Secretary of State, Foreign
and Commonwealth Office, from the Chairman of the Committee, 13
January 2003
I have received the enclosed BRISMES Report
on Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the United Kingdom[8].
This is a subject which the Foreign Affairs Committee has discussed
in its inquiry into foreign policy aspects of the war against
terrorism and I and my colleagues are aware of the great advantages
which a tradition of excellent scholarship in such studies confers
on this country. I therefore share the concern expressed in the
BRISMES Report at the decline in teaching of a range of languages
and related studies in the UK.
I would welcome an explanation of what the Government
is doing to arrest and reverse the decline in Middle Eastern and
Islamic studies at institutions of higher education in the United
Kingdom, and of what strategies are in place to ensure that appropriate
expertise is available as required in both the short and the longer
terms.
Chairman
Foreign Affairs Committee
13 January 2003
Letter from the Minister of State for
Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education to the Chairman
of the Committee
Thank you for your letter of 13 January to Jack
Straw, copied to Charles Clarke, about the importance of Middle
Eastern and Islamic studies in the UK. I am replying as this comes
within my area of ministerial responsibility.
I was very interested to read an enclosed copy
of the BRISMES Report. I agree it is vital, especially for young
people, to get a better understanding of other countries' cultures
and values. We have made it a priority to attract more international
students in our universities to the UK. I am pleased that so many
students from the Islamic world choose to study in the UK each
year, and I welcome the quality and diversity they bring to the
UK's higher education experience. Similarly, many UK students
spend time abroad in Muslim countries as part of their degree
courses and some undertake research programmes as part of their
PhD studies. For example, the University of Manchester has an
exchange programme in partnership with the University of Alexandria
in Egypt. I believe student exchanges are a great way to get a
better understanding of other countries.
You may also know that Cathy Ashton launched
our national languages strategy "Languages for All: Languages
for Life" in December last year. This aims to find ways to
actively reverse the trend of declining numbers of students taking
language courses. In the annual funding letter to the Higher Education
Funding Council for England. Charles Clarke asked universities
and colleges to support us by making a positive contribution to
our strategy.
In addition, the British Council have recently
launched a new five-year initiative "Connecting Futures".
This aims at building deeper mutual understanding, learning and
respect between young people from different cultural backgrounds.
To help improve understanding between the UK and countries with
significant Muslim populations, they are focusing initially on
activities between the UK and Egypt, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan,
the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. This initiative
gives the opportunity for dialogue and co-operative projects between
young people most likely to shape the future of their countries
in the future.
Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further
and Higher Education
February 2003
8 Report: Middle Eastern Studies in the United Kingdom:
A Challenge for Government, Industry and the Academic Community,
BRISMES, June 2002 (www.dur.ac.uk/brismes). Back
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