Water and Environmental Studies Institute (WESI)

An Najah National University

Evaluation of Focus Groups Attitudes and

Perspectives Towards Palestinian Environmental

Higher Education Programs

By:

Prof. Dr. Marwan Haddad

and Dr Salah Yasin

Water and Environmental Studies Institute (WESI)

An Najah National University

This Outcome is Part of EU – TEMPUS IV Project Project Partners are:

Project Coordinator

Introduction Data showed that the population of the Palestinian

Territory is young;

the percentage of individuals in the age group (0-14) was 41.9% of the total population in the Palestinian Territory mid year 2009,

The elderly population aged (65 years and over ) was 3.0% of the total population in Palestinian Territory in mid year 2009 (PCBS 2010-a).

)1Higher Education System in Palestine (

The education system in the Palestinian Territory at one point was

and is affected by the prolonged Israeli military occupation of

the Palestinian land and resources

and on the other hand it is affected by general factors facing third

world countries such as

poor socio-economic conditions,

lack and/or poor institutional arrangements, and

poor technical and human capacities.

)2Higher Education System in Palestine (

The university education in Palestine consists of:

2 years of education for a diploma

4 years of a college education to obtain a bachelor’s

degree and additional

2 years for a master’s degree

3 years for PhD’s degrees.

Type of Institution Location

West Bank Gaza Total

Open Education (16)* (7)* 1

Traditional Universities 8 5 13

University Colleges 10 5 15

Community Colleges 14 6 20

Total 32 16 49

Distribution of Palestinian Higher Education

Institutions by Location and Type

)3Higher Education System in Palestine (

The number of students enrolled for bachelor degree in the

Palestinian traditional universities in 2009/2010, was

107925 students of which 61139 or 56.6% are females

The number of students enrolled in graduate studies was

6234 of which 2668 or 42.8% are females.

Gross male enrollment ratio for higher education was

44.5% (MOEHE 2010).

)1Environmental Higher Education System in Palestine ( in the West Bank, there are three higher education

institutions that offers master programs in water and environmental engineering and sciences:

Birzeit University through Institute of Environmental and Water Studies,

Al-Quds University through the department of Applied Earth and Environmental Sciences and

An-Najah National University through Water and Environmental Studies Institute.

)2Environmental Higher Education System in Palestine (

All of the three organizations and in addition to their environmental MSc programs are offering:

training courses,

carrying out researches and

serving the local society in Palestine.

)3Environmental Higher Education System in Palestine (

All of the three organizations work and plan activities without coordination and/or integration between each other.

Few cooperative activities exist such as this project

In comparing the master programs offered by the three institutes, the following points were observed:

The three institutes use the American credit hour education system

with total of thirty six hours of which 30 credit hours course work and six credit hours were reserved for the thesis.

The system at the three institutes allows students to follow either the

thesis or none-thesis track. The three institutes require that the applicants to the five program to

have a B.Sc degree (in the major under consideration) with a minimum of good GPA.

The requirements in compulsory and elective courses for the various

programs differ in number and content The core courses for some programs do not reflect the title of the

program. It is difficult to link the compulsory and elective courses of each

program of the five programs in one ILO grid.

The Need for Reform Demand for higher education has increased significantly

in the past decades with students enrolled in higher education institutions more than tripling between 1995 and 2006 and increased about 50% from 2006 until present

The Need for Reform Environmental higher education system in Palestine was

not upgraded or reformed since its inception during early nineties.

It is necessary to review the system at all levels and to develop a reform strategic plan to support the environmental higher education system to satisfy all societal levels and to meet the requirements and needs of future development including industries, students, teachers, public sectors ...etc.

Research Methodology A combination of quantitative and qualitative data analysis

method to investigate activities of interest and to provide additional layers of triangulation to validate findings was adopted in this study.

A stratified sample for both the quantitative (questionnaire survey) and qualitative methods (open discussion workshops) is comprised of four focus groupings:

1. Students enrolled in the Master’s program on Environmental Studies.

2. Teaching Staff,

3. Stakeholders,

4. Alumni of the Master’s Program of Environmental Studies

Target

Group Domain 1 Domain 2 Domain 3 Domain 4 Domain 5 Domain 6 Domain7

Teaching Staff

Incentives

to teach in

an

environmen

tal

postgraduate program

Relevance

of the

environmen

tal higher

education program

Lecturer Feedback

Sufficiency

of tools

used, skills

and

capabilities developed

Adoption

and practice

of

extracurricular activities

Adoption

and practice

of the

principle of

collective

participation and team

Students

Enrolled in

the Master

Program on

Environment

al Studies

Students’

views on

environmen

tal issues

and problems

Quality and

Relevance

of the

environmen

tal higher

education program

Quality and

Relevance

of teaching

staff and

administrative support

Teaching

tools used,

skills

developed

and team

working practiced.

Extra

curriculum activities

Stakeholders Views on

environmen

tal issues

and problems

The

environmen

tal higher

education program

Organizatio

n’s

Expectations

Sufficiency

of tools

used, skills

and

capabilities developed

Lecturer’s

quality and

commitment

Adoption

and practice

of

extracurricular activities

Adoption

and practice

of

participatio

n and team working

Alumni of the

Master

Program of

Environmental Studies

Students’

views on

environmen

tal issues

and problems

Quality and

Relevance

of the

environmen

tal higher

education program

Quality and

Relevance

of teaching

staff and

administrative support

Teaching

tools used,

skills

developed

and team

working practiced

Extra

curriculum

activities

Field Survey Domains

Qualitative Workshops Coordinated by a panel of experts

Open discussion on all related aspects including identified domains

)1Results and Discussion (

University Alumni Enrolled

Students

Stakeholder

s

Teachers Total No. %

Berzeit University 17 53 1 6 77 47.0

Al-Quds University 9 18 3 8 38 23.2

An-Najah National

University

12 27 4 6 49 29.9

Grand Total, No.

%

38 98 8 20 164 100.1

23.2 59.8 4.9 12.2 100.1

Sample Distribution by University and Target Group

)1Results and Discussion ( Students enrolled in the Master’s program on

Environmental Studies Student’s Responses Show that:

Students would like to learn and know more about

environmental issues and accordingly contribute their abilities.

They are non-decisive on the quality and relevance of the environmental higher education program

There are high lack of extracurricular activities offered in the program

There are weak acceptance and/or approval of the quality of teaching tools used, skills developed and teamwork practiced.

)2Results and Discussion ( Alumni of the Master’s Program of Environmental Studies

Alumni’s Responses Show that:

It was observed that alumni differ from enrolled students in their views by having higher sharpness or decisiveness in their responses.

a neutral view was observed on all questions related to the quality and relevance of the environmental higher education program, a result which indicates very little trust in the quality and relevance of the program.

Teaching staff was helpful and friendly.

High lack of extracurricular activities.

Weak teaching tools used, skills developed and team working practiced

)3Results and Discussion ( Teaching Staff

Teaching Staff’s Responses Show that:

They disagree on the relevance of the environmental higher education program

the program, the process, the research, and interaction with students were mostly in the neutral range with a tendency to agree – Weak Trust

There are high sufficiency of tools used, skills and capabilities developed

Weak adoption and practice of extracurricular activities

High adoption and practice of the principle of collective participation and teamwork

)4Results and Discussion ( Stakeholders

Stakeholder’s Responses Show that:

strong stakeholders support to and positive attitude towards environmental issues and problems faced.

Diverse views on the relevance of the environmental higher education program

Agree on the clarity of program learning objectives and compliance with international standards

Agree on the sufficiency of tools used, skills and capabilities developed Agree on lecturer quality and commitment Diverse views on the adoption and practice of extracurricular activities Diverse views on the adoption and practice of participation.

Key Barriers to Reforms Six key barriers to environmental higher education

system reform were identified by this research:

1. Environmental experts are not involved in the reform and development process

2. Program Quality and Relevance is Poor

3. Teaching Tools, Skills, and Capacities are Poor

4. Public and Private Sector Support is Poor

5. Communication and Teamwork Between the Various Groupings are Weak

6. Multidisciplinary Nature of Students

Concluding Remarks All groupings agree on the poor relevance/little trust in

existing programs and the high need for its reform

There was six key – comprehensive and holistic in nature - barriers found to reforming environmental higher education programs in Palestine

The description of these barriers indicates the job is not simple and encourages the need for a more holistic approach to reforming the environmental higher education system in Palestine.