8th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research
Date: 14-15 November 2016
Venue: Bamako - Mali

8th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research took place in Bamako, Mali on 14-15 November 2016. The Conference brought together the ministers of higher education and scientific research of the OIC Member States as well as representatives from OIC and other international institutions to discuss various important issues pertaining to higher education and scientific research in the member countries.

At this Conference, SESRIC submitted and presented its report titled “Education and Scientific Development in OIC Countries 2016”. This report analyses and examines the trends in the major indicators in the field of educational and scientific developments in the OIC Member Countries. It investigated these trends in a comparative manner with their counterparts in the group of developed countries, non-OIC developing countries as well as the world average. The first part of the report covers basic education indicators such as school age population, average years of schooling and literacy rates. The Second part highlights the current stance of R&D and S&T in the OIC Member Countries through evaluating their average performance in terms of some related indicators such as human resources in R&D, R&D expenditures, high technology exports, scientific publications and patent applications. In so doing, the report highlights a number of constraints and challenges confronting the member countries in their efforts to foster their educational and scientific development.

The Islamic Conferences of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research are regularly organised by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). The conference held its first session in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in October 2000; its second session in Tripoli, Libya, in September 2003; its third session in Kuwait, State of Kuwait, in November 2006; its fourth session in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan, in October 2008; its fifth session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October 2010; its sixth meeting in Khartoum, Republic of Sudan, in November 2012; and its seventh meeting in Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco, in December 2014.