Chapter 7: Understanding the Perception of MENA Region Students Towards Sustainable Education Courses

The Middle East and North African (MENA) region faces several vulnerabilities such as unemployment, economic differences and lack of employability skills. These are worsened due to climate change. These vulnerabilities forced students to migrate and explore opportunities in other geographic areas. However, due to the literature gap that prevents us from understanding this information completely, it is unclear why MENA region students migrate and what challenges they consider in studying courses about sustainability. Based on the theory of migration and vulnerability, this chapter explores how climate change forces students to migrate from their countries of origin and attempts to examine the role played by the inclusion of sustainable education in the higher education curriculum as a crucial direction. It is crucial to examine the viewpoints of MENA region students and the challenges they face in considering sustainability-centric courses, as well as the application of this acquired knowledge to improve the conditions of the region. To make the research impactful and relevant, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with foreign exchange students from the MENA region who study in India to comprehend the challenges they experienced in sustainable education learning. This chapter aims to shed light on how sustainable education could be designed to provide better solutions in the MENA region and subsequently, hopes to help the government, policymakers and education institutions in designing elements of the curriculum.