Academy for Educational Development

AED’s Iraq Education Initiative (IEI) project supports the Higher Committee for Education Development (HCED). On January 19, 2009, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, launched a national initiative for uplifting and reforming the education system in Iraq. The higher education goal of this initiative will be accomplished by sending thousands of Iraqi students per year for five years to study abroad at accredited universities.  A pilot project, sending approximately 550 students, was launched in the summer of 2010. 

The application process and student selection started in Fall of 2009, with applications coming from every province in Iraq.  AED supports HCED in this program through capacity building, advising, analyzing the needs for the student placement program, training placement staff, providing resources, and performing outreach to a consortium of 250 universities who work closely with HCED and AED on student placement.  

Simultaneously, the HCED has begun their next phase of the scholarship in July of 2011 by opening their scholarship application process for the next cohort of 1000 students.  They expect to select and apply the students by late fall 2010.  The HCED’s direct website and online application can be found at http://www.hcediraq.org.