Kazakhstan University Head Sees Opportunities in West's Woes

Xenophobia and financial woes in the West have created tremendous opportunities for higher education institutions in Hong Kong and the broader Eurasian region, the head of a leading university in Kazakhstan has said.

Professor Waqar Ahmad, the president of Nazarbayev University, also revealed on Wednesday that the institution would soon launch another joint undergraduate programme in computer science and artificial intelligence with Polytechnic University.

Starting next year, the programme will allow students to spend two years at the university in Astana and two years at PolyU to earn two distinct degrees.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Ahmad underscored a shifting academic landscape, noting that the traditional dominance of American and British institutions was beginning to falter.

“It’s very difficult for students to go to North America and the UK on the back of different things,” he said.

Ahmad pointed to the “xenophobic, anti-immigrant rhetoric” in the United States, which he described as “totally counterproductive and self-destructive” for attracting top minds. He also highlighted the fiscal crises plaguing higher education in Britain, where he said roughly three-quarters of universities were facing severe financial difficulties.