More than 40 British centres of higher education to seek student recruitment at the16th Gulf Education and Training Exhibition

The pavilion will host participation from more then 40 centres of higher education, making it the largest participation ever from any country in the history of the show.

"Higher education is the key to creating a talent bank of skilled professionals for the regional markets. IC&E's vision has always been to set standards of excellence while providing educational options to students from the region. Over the years we have endeavoured to gather leading global education providers at GETX. The extensive British participation at the 16th GETX has further highlighted the show's standing as the leading Middle East exhibition for the education and training industry," said Anselm Godinho, Managing Director, International Conferences and Exhibitions, organisers of GETX.

One of the revered lights of global medical education, the Royal College of Surgeons from Ireland (RCSI), will be amongst the higher education giants to be hosted by the UK pavilion. Founded in 1784, in Dublin, Ireland, the RCSI has some of the most famous medical doctors and researchers amongst its alumni. RCSI has always welcomed students from as far a field as South Africa (admitting native African students, even as the country was under apartheid rule), the Far East, the Indian Subcontinent and the Arab World.

Its association with the Arab world has deepened considerably since, during the 1970s, RCSI was asked to provide courses and examinations leading to the Fellowship examinations. The first centre was established in Kuwait, followed by the King Faizal University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and then King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Currently, RCSI administers surgical examinations in Saudi Arabia (two centres), Bahrain, Jordan and Malaysia. In addition, courses and examinations for the Fellowship of the Faculty of Radiologists are provided in Kuwait.

At this year's GETX, the college will seek to further expand its student base amongst the abundant talent available in the region. This move is particularly significant at a time when governments across the region are increasing investment in developing medical facilities in the region, along with equal emphasis on investing in advanced medical education and research.

For the University of Gloucestershire, this will be sixth time it will be participating in the show. This year, the University will seek to highlight two new study courses that have been launched within already acclaimed schools of study. The University of Gloucestershire Business School, which has taught specific elements of law on some of its programmes for many years, has now launched its own Law LLB (Hons) degree. The degree, which has been fully validated and is approved by the Law Society and the Bar Council, will commence in September and, currently, has 30 places remaining for suitable students.

On the other hand, the University will also seek to focus on another area of special significance to the markets in the Middle East. The importance of good human resource management (HRM) has long been recognised in high growth regions such as the Gulf, as being key to the success of organisations in both manufacturing and service sectors as well as in the expanding public services. There is, therefore, an urgent need for specialists in human resource development. The one year Masters Degree program, MA Human Resource Development, aims to deliver not only the skills required to manage the training function, but also provide in-depth understanding of the learning and development process. This is a programme of study that will meet the needs of training specialists employed within organisations, as well as those who wish to operate as independent consultants. The next intake for this programme is in September 2004.

For students interested in developing a career full of creativity, the University of Portsmouth will showcase its programmes in Creative Technologies and Enterprise Dynamics. The Department of Creative Technologies at the University of Portsmouth is an exciting new venture, pulling together a diverse range of staff including those with expertise in computer programming, web programming, artificial intelligence, music technology, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual reality, web design, computer games and video production. It is presently running three undergraduate courses that include BSc Entertainment Technology, BSc Computer Animation and BSc Digital Media. The Department also contributes significantly to two more study programmes, namely BA Film Studies & Entertainment Technology and BA Computer Animation.

In October 2004 several new courses will be introduced. Among these are four new 3-year degree programmes, BSc Computer Games Technology, BSc Music and Sound Technology, BSc Enterprise Dynamics in Entertainment Technology and BSc Enterprise Dynamics in Computer Games Technology. In addition, the department is launching two new courses directly intended to attract suitably qualified Computing students into direct entry to the final year. These are BSc Creative Computing and BSc Multimedia Programming.

The UK pavilion will also host numerous other acknowledged leaders in higher education, such as the University of Edinburgh, De Montfort University, Brunel University and the Nottingham University Business School.