Gulf Higher Education Crisis, Illusory Breadbasket of the Arab World
Education Crisis:
New data ranking world universities and institutes of higher education have not been kind to the Arab educational systems, and by proxy to the huge Arab public bureaucracies that oversee these institutions. And to the potentates and the leaders who appoint them (something about where the Riyal or Dinar stops). The 2006 rankings by Shanghai Jiao Tong University place Saudi Arabian universities at the rank of 2998 (at the bottom among the top 3000). By comparison, there are 7 Israeli institutes among the top 500, three of them among the top 200, one among the top 100 (Hebrew University). Cairo University ranked 405. Mexican, Brazilian, and Argentine institutes did much better than Arab ones. The top 100 were mostly from North America, Europe, Japan, Singapore, and Israel. Some sources indicate that Saudi Arabia spends about 9.3% of its GNP on education, a higher ratio than Sweden, and one of the highest in the world. It is most likely that other Persian Gulf states probably spend close to that, depending on the size of the (oil) economy and the population.
The problem is long-term and deeply set, and turning it around requires a complete overhaul of the educational systems. This would mean rebuilding the bureaucracies and resetting the priorities, something that is almost impossible to do in today's Arab World. But small steps can be taken.
Admission in most colleges is guaranteed to citizens regardless of academic standing. One possible solution for the medium-term would be to severely restrict admission to certain colleges and schools, especially the Shari'a and Islamic Studies colleges which spew out many thousands of graduates each year- and the Law Schools, where a student is considered a lawyer with only a Bachelor's degree. No postgraduate degree and no bar exam are needed in the Arab World to make a lawyer- of course they don't get paid anything near an American lawyer. Another partial solution might be to restrict the numbers admitted to these 'soft' colleges, and increaes them for the sciences and engineering. I know this is not the way it is done at Boon's Lick State A & M, but hey, in the Arab World it is okay to dare and be different from the rest of the world.
A more effective measure, perhaps a bit drastic to some, would be to populate the University Boards with Israeli and Singaporean educators and managers, and give them half the funds that are used now for higher education, and a free hand.
Sudan and the Gulf:
A large economic conference starts today in Khartoum with the aim of 'encouragoing economic and fimnancial complementarity' between Sudan and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Sudanese minister in charge also stressed 'banking integration' and other such nonsense between the two sides. Clearly the Sudanese hope to again attract investment money from the Gulf, thus reviving the illusory era when the Sudan was touted a possible breadbasket for the Arab World. The fact is, the only breadbasket for the Arab World is not in Sudan, nor along the great Nile in Egypt, nor on the Tigris and Euphrates. Increasinlgy the Arab breadbasket lies west and south of the Ohio River, and flies the stars and stripes. This will be the case for well past our lifetime.
As for investing in Sudan, some Gulf states, especially Kuwait, were severely bitten from that same snake hole once before, during the 1970s and 1980s, when they poured money into huge agribusiness projects in that country. But then, as the old songs says, 'a fool never learns'.
Cheers
Mohammed H. Ghuloum
Email: mhg6363@gmail.com
New data ranking world universities and institutes of higher education have not been kind to the Arab educational systems, and by proxy to the huge Arab public bureaucracies that oversee these institutions. And to the potentates and the leaders who appoint them (something about where the Riyal or Dinar stops). The 2006 rankings by Shanghai Jiao Tong University place Saudi Arabian universities at the rank of 2998 (at the bottom among the top 3000). By comparison, there are 7 Israeli institutes among the top 500, three of them among the top 200, one among the top 100 (Hebrew University). Cairo University ranked 405. Mexican, Brazilian, and Argentine institutes did much better than Arab ones. The top 100 were mostly from North America, Europe, Japan, Singapore, and Israel. Some sources indicate that Saudi Arabia spends about 9.3% of its GNP on education, a higher ratio than Sweden, and one of the highest in the world. It is most likely that other Persian Gulf states probably spend close to that, depending on the size of the (oil) economy and the population.
The problem is long-term and deeply set, and turning it around requires a complete overhaul of the educational systems. This would mean rebuilding the bureaucracies and resetting the priorities, something that is almost impossible to do in today's Arab World. But small steps can be taken.
Admission in most colleges is guaranteed to citizens regardless of academic standing. One possible solution for the medium-term would be to severely restrict admission to certain colleges and schools, especially the Shari'a and Islamic Studies colleges which spew out many thousands of graduates each year- and the Law Schools, where a student is considered a lawyer with only a Bachelor's degree. No postgraduate degree and no bar exam are needed in the Arab World to make a lawyer- of course they don't get paid anything near an American lawyer. Another partial solution might be to restrict the numbers admitted to these 'soft' colleges, and increaes them for the sciences and engineering. I know this is not the way it is done at Boon's Lick State A & M, but hey, in the Arab World it is okay to dare and be different from the rest of the world.
A more effective measure, perhaps a bit drastic to some, would be to populate the University Boards with Israeli and Singaporean educators and managers, and give them half the funds that are used now for higher education, and a free hand.
Sudan and the Gulf:
A large economic conference starts today in Khartoum with the aim of 'encouragoing economic and fimnancial complementarity' between Sudan and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Sudanese minister in charge also stressed 'banking integration' and other such nonsense between the two sides. Clearly the Sudanese hope to again attract investment money from the Gulf, thus reviving the illusory era when the Sudan was touted a possible breadbasket for the Arab World. The fact is, the only breadbasket for the Arab World is not in Sudan, nor along the great Nile in Egypt, nor on the Tigris and Euphrates. Increasinlgy the Arab breadbasket lies west and south of the Ohio River, and flies the stars and stripes. This will be the case for well past our lifetime.
As for investing in Sudan, some Gulf states, especially Kuwait, were severely bitten from that same snake hole once before, during the 1970s and 1980s, when they poured money into huge agribusiness projects in that country. But then, as the old songs says, 'a fool never learns'.
Cheers
Mohammed H. Ghuloum
Email: mhg6363@gmail.com
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