LexisNexis(TM) Academic - Document


Copyright 2002 The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education
July 26, 2002, Friday

SECTION: INTERNATIONAL; Pg. 46

LENGTH: 455 words

HEADLINE:

Arab Scholars Write Withering Critique of Higher Education in Arab World; Israeli University Tries to Lure Scientists Back to the Country

BODY:
A group of Arab scholars has come up with an unusually blunt critique of higher education in the Arab world.

In a report, they say excessive government control and poor academic quality are hurting the region's universities and its societies in general.

The 178-page paper, "Arab Human Development 2002," which can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.undp.org/ahdr, is the culmination of a yearlong project jointly supported by the United Nations Development Program and the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development. While the report looks at human development as a whole, a significant portion is dedicated to higher education.

"What's unique about this report is the way Arab intellectuals and scholars have come together to work on this project," says one of the authors, Atif Kubursi, a professor of economics at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. "We're not outsiders, and we are speaking in a common tongue.

"Our goal is very clear, and our language is blunt: We need to bridge the gap in higher education, and we need decision makers and policy makers to listen," he says.

While noting that Arab countries have made great strides in education since the mid-20th century, the report says academic achievement is still modest and is limited by low literacy rates, especially among women.

Private tutoring has become indispensable for students hoping to qualify for college admission and pass state entrance exams, and thus entire fields of study have become the exclusive domain of the privileged, it notes.

But the biggest crisis now in Arab higher education is a regression of quality in countries from Morocco eastward to Kuwait, the authors charge.

"Poor quality has become the Achilles' heel of education in the Arab world, a flaw that undermines its quantitative achievements," they conclude.

***

Are scientists willing to brave suicide bombers to get good laboratories?

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is going to find out, as it tries to lure Israeli-born scientists back to the country. The university's president, Yitzhak Apeloig, believes that scientists won't be put off by Israel's security situation if they have the facilities to do good science.

With that in mind, the Technion has established a $20-million "Leaders in Science" program to pay for the labs, equipment, and other expenses that will persuade top candidates in the United States and Europe to return to Israel.

The university cannot compete with private American institutions in terms of salary alone, Mr. Apeloig notes.

As a public university operating under a collective-bargaining agreement, the Technion cannot sign private salary agreements with faculty members.

LOAD-DATE: August 26, 2002