University World News: MIDDLE EAST: Are jobless = graduates causing the protests?

According to an article in the 7 = February issue=20 of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Arab countries = have=20 invested heavily in their university systems, but have = failed to=20 make certain that graduates have jobs, and this has helped = to=20 stimulate the protests of youths in the streets. Is this the = case?=20 No.

The problem is not too many university places. = The=20 problem is that governments: (i) price the places so that = they have=20 little value; (ii) control universities so that their = managers=20 cannot modernise curricula or faculty; and (iii) try to = guarantee=20 jobs so that university graduates feel entitled to them = whether or=20 not they have the capability to perform their=20 functions.

About 22% of the Egyptian labour force was = employed by the Egyptian government in 1990; 10 years later = it was=20 around 30%. In spite of this welfare expansion, 80% of the=20 unemployed had secondary education or above.

This = contributes=20 to frustration, but it is the regulations underpinning = employment=20 that create frustrations, not the increase in university = places.=20

The problem is that governments in the Middle East = have=20 expanded higher education quantity but not quality. Heavy=20 investments have been made in student places. Enrollment = rates rose=20 in Egypt from 5% in 1970 to 30% in 2003 and in Tunisia from = 3% to=20 28%.

But student-teacher ratios are the same in = tertiary as=20 in primary education. Salaries are so low that faculty must = have=20 several part-time jobs to make ends meet, and although = academics=20 differ by skill and productivity, faculty salaries do not.=20

Governments claim that universities are autonomous. = They are=20 not.

In terms of financial authority, universities = are not=20 allowed to charge tuition fees; hence the poor pay for the = rich to=20 attend and universities cannot invest in their own future.=20

Governments determine salaries, not universities. If = Egyptian university presidents need to reallocate budgets, = first=20 they must receive permission from the Ministry of Planning. = For=20 tenure track positions, Egyptian universities hire = undergraduates=20 from their own institutions.

A system of high = quality would=20 ensure that faculty are appointed from the best and the = brightest=20 among a wide spectrum of candidates. A university is of poor = quality=20 if faculty are 'inbred'. Hence the normal hiring policy in = Egypt=20 ensures an absence of faculty quality.

In terms of = equity,=20 universities perform poorly.

Entry is obtained by = passing an=20 examination; but with the exception of Jordan and Lebanon, = entry to=20 the examinations can only be obtained if students can avoid = being=20 segregated into secondary vocational schools. Thus about = half of the=20 population is already frustrated about their terminal life = prospects=20 prior to leaving secondary school.

For those who can = attempt=20 the examinations, university entry is associated with access = to=20 private tutoring. Over half of Egyptian students from = low-income=20 families take private tutoring but can spend significantly = less on=20 it than the richest. The richest quintile of the secondary = school=20 population in Egypt spends seven times more on private = tutoring than=20 the poorest quintile.

In terms of governance, public=20 university presidents are appointed by the government, are=20 responsible to the government, and generally have no boards = of=20 trust. In terms of curriculum, both public and private = universities=20 in Egypt are required to have curricula approved by the = Supreme=20 Council of Universities.

In terms of the legal = environment,=20 if an Egyptian university earns income, it is taxed as a = business.=20 This depresses university interest in generating income. = Korean=20 universities earn 42% of their income from non-government = sources;=20 Egyptian universities earn 15%.

In the Middle East = and North=20 Africa generally, 90% of funding for education comes from=20 government; in East Asia and the Pacific and in Latin = America it is=20 53%.

The problem is that public policy in higher = education=20 has not moved in any significant way since the economic = assumptions=20 of the 1950s. There is no legal distinction between = for-profit and=20 not-for-profit institutions.

Universities do not hold = clear=20 title to their land. An absence of clear title prevents them = from=20 using land as collateral when borrowing to finance capital=20 construction. Without clear title to their land, university=20 strategic planning is not possible and diversifying funding = sources,=20 a key driver of university quality, has yet to occur. =

In=20 terms of research, the Egyptian government distributes = funding=20 through the Ministry of State for Scientific Research, which = commenced competitive funding only in February 2008. = Resources are=20 distributed through 300 research centres associated with = sector=20 ministries separate from universities, as in the former = Soviet=20 Union.

Individual faculty may participate in research = projects, but universities do not. Without a research = function,=20 universities stagnate.

But it is not as though = research funds=20 lead to research productivity. Arab states account for less = than 1%=20 of the world's scientific publications and less than 1% of = the=20 patents awarded in Europe or the United States, lower than=20 Sub-Saharan Africa.

In essence, governments have = expanded=20 higher education, but have not allowed universities to act = as real=20 universities. The result has been a mentality of=20 backwardness.

On the other hand, students and faculty = are=20 familiar with universities in Europe and North = America.

They=20 know that other students do not have old textbooks to = memorise, but=20 have instant access to an unlimited supply of bibliographic=20 material. They know that other students are allowed to take = courses=20 in a language of scientific research. They know that other = systems=20 have flexibility so that students can shift fields, take = electives=20 and transfer course credit. They know that other students = are=20 encouraged to develop individual ideas and = theories.

In the=20 Middle East these are the students who have been in the = streets=20 shouting for freedom. It is not the freedom to attend = university,=20 but the freedom to attend a free university that is the = issue. And=20 it is not the lack of access to government employment; it is = the=20 lack of access to an economy that is its own engine of=20 growth.

* Stephen P Heyneman is professor of = international=20 education policy at Vanderbilt University in the United = States.=20