Jordan
Demonstrations broke out at the University of Jordan [1] in April after the administration attempted to prevent Islamic students from taking over the student council. Riot police were summoned to campus on several occasions to break up protests following the run-up to student council elections.
Students are particularly angry with the university president who decided to amend the student charter, giving him the authority to appoint half the student council, with the remaining 40 representatives to be chosen by students. In the past, students have elected all 80 council members as stipulated in the university’s student charter. Islamic candidates are overwhelmingly prominent on the student council electoral list.
Students are disappointed with the administration’s lack of respect for democracy, as well as with the president’s decision to intervene arbitrarily in student affairs.
— Times Higher Education Supplement
April 28, 2000
Palestinian Authority
The World Bank has backed a plan to establish a Palestinian distance-learning center. The new facility will offer courses and distance learning in addition to providing a forum for discussion between politicians from different countries.
Paltel, the Palestinian telecommunications company, has pledged US$1 million to the project, and the Technical Assistance Trust Fund, administered by the World Bank, will provide $610,000 for equipment. The bank will also be responsible for installing satellite connections and technical equipment in the pilot phase.
Other plans to enhance Palestinian higher education include an Internet based academic scientific network in colleges and universities. The Palestinian Academic Scientific Network [2] is scheduled to begin operations in 2001 and will receive funding from UNESCO and the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction. It will cost around $500,000 to connect the institutions and train the necessary personnel.
Dr. Munthir Salah, Palestinian minister of higher education, commented that the lack of funding was not his greatest concern. Rather, the current restrictions on the movement of Palestinians between Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem posed a much more serious obstacle to academic cooperation with Israel.
— Times Higher Education Supplement
May 12, 2000
Turkey
Dokuz Eylul University [3] (DEU) was established in 1982. That same year the campuses of 17 previously founded colleges and higher education institutes run by Ege University [4] were transferred to DEU, which serves as both an awarding authority and a teaching institution. Ege University and its system of educational institutions remain separate from the DEU system.
Between 1982 and 1992, four new DEU universities were established in the Agean region: Celal Bayar Univerity [5] in Manisa; Adnan Menderes University [6] in Aydin; Mugla University [7] in Mugla; and Pamukkale University [8] in Denizli.
The names of these institutions appear on the transcripts they issue. However, graduating students who attend any of the above mentioned universities receive their qualifications from DEU with the name of that institution printed on the degree.
DEU is a multi-campus university with various locations dispersed throughout the city of Izmir. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs through its 10 faculties, five vocational schools, five graduate schools and five institutes.
— Correspondence from DEU
May 5, 2000
United Arab Emirates
At a recent conference in Dubai, scholars announced the establishment of the Arab Scientific Foundation at the University of Sharaj. The Agence France-Presse reported that the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed al-Quassimi, pledged $1 million to the new institution.
Scientists attending the conference lamented the fact that Arab governments do not give adequate support to scientific research. According to Marwan Kamal, secretary general for the Association of Arab Universities [9], the Arab World’s 200 universities only devote about 1 percent of their annual budget to research, compared to American universities that spend an estimated 40 percent.
Henri Jaqueman, dean of the science faculty at Bethlehem University [10] in the West Bank, further pointed out that, while defense spending is high in most oil producing Arab countries, the money put towards research is at the same level as some of the world’s poorest nations.
— The Chronicle of Higher Education
May 12, 2000