Iran

In October 1998, authorities closed down the Baha’i Open University and arrested 36 faculty members, four of whom are still being detained. The university has taught courses in private residences all over the country for the past 10 years. Baha’i officials claim that security forces raided 532 homes and confiscated literature, files and computers.

Although Iran has long tolerated Christians and Jews, the Baha’i faith has been largely suppressed since the 1979 revolution. In 1987, Baha’i members established the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education, which later became the Baha’i Open University.

In 1998, the Baha’i Open University enrolled more than 900 students and was staffed by 150 volunteer professors. It is essentially an underground institution offering correspondence courses and teaching in private homes.

While the university is not recognized by Iran’s Ministry of Education, it nevertheless offers bachelor’s degrees in the following subjects: accounting; applied chemistry; civil engineering; computer science; dental science; law; literature; pharmacology; and psychology.

— Chronicle of Higher Education
Nov. 13, 1998

Lebanon

Bending to pressure from religious lobbies, the government has granted licensing to six new universities that were established along confessional lines during the civil war. Three of these schools are run directly by religious organizations.

Hence Dar al-Fatwa, the Islamic University of Beirut that was founded by Sunni Muslims, now has a license to teach Islamic law and jurisprudence, in addition to Islamic art. The Shiite Muslim community established the university to teach Islamic studies, health sciences, tourism and management.

In turn, a Christian Maronite order called the Antonine Fathers has been given a license to teach theological studies, and the Francophone Society for Educational Development plans to open a University of Technology.

The licensing of the three universities has sparked concerns over the future of higher education in Lebanon. Many fear that universities defined and run by religious organizations will erode national unity and give rise to the kind of sectarian strife that ripped the country to pieces in the 1970s and 1980s.

Others claim that it is the deterioration of educational standards — not confessionalism — that threatens the country’s system of higher education. According to this group, the government is legitimizing universities that do not meet the national standards.

— Independent Online, Higher Education

Israel

Many universities in Israel are currently experimenting with curriculum changes aimed at providing students with a broader education. Israel’s system of higher education, based largely on the German model, exempts undergraduates from taking core requirements and allows them to concentrate instead on their chosen field of study.

Reinforcing this system is the proclivity among Israelis to eschew general-education studies in favor of professional programs that will help them land jobs in such fields as business, law and high-tech industry. With job markets in Israel becoming increasingly competitive, few students have time to take courses in the humanities.

Recently however, some Israeli institutions have been offering students more elective courses, while imposing distribution requirements along the lines of the American system of higher education. Emek Yezreel College, formally a branch of Haifa University, endeavors to provide its students with a broad-based education requiring undergraduates to take courses from several “clusters” before choosing a major.

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem also reports increasing enrollments in its general-studies program. The program was created largely in response to concerns among faculty members that students were not receiving a well-rounded education.

But while many educators would like to see more colleges in Israel emulating the American model, others don’t see much of a market in it. According to the country’s top higher-education official, Nehemia Levtzion, most students in Israel don’t want a broad-based education. He recently stated that higher education is rapidly becoming a commodity, and colleges and universities have to offer students the kind of product they’re looking for.

To increase enrollments, many newer colleges offer programs that provide students with marketable skills once they graduate. Israel’s Open University reports that the majority of its students choose courses in practical fields like behavioral sciences, business and computers, while shunning the humanities.

Levtzion hopes to promote the development of a two-track educational system in Israel whereby practical and professional programs would be shifted to the newer colleges. Universities would then devote themselves largely to academics and research.

— Chronicle of Higher Education
Jan. 8, 1999