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Quality Issues in Higher Education Institutions in Arab Countries

(A Synthesis of Case Studies)1

Adnan ElAmine2

Abstract:

This synthetic review presents the issues and salient trends relevant to the subject of quality in

higher education institutions at a regional level. It is based on case studies of eleven higher

education institutions in three Arab countries: Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco, and adopts the

same ten criteria used in these studies.

This review shows that "the mission of the university" carries a marginal status in most

institutions, and that government institutions share a lack of financial and administrative

autonomy, as well as a lack of independence in some academic areas such as selection of

students, faculty and programs; it also shows that their governance lacks accountability,

transparency and partnerships. Governance problems exist at private universities as well.

Institutional research is absent in all of them, though some claim the existence of some kind of

research plans which have not been implemented yet in a number of cases. The universities

under study generally have one source of funding with limited resources and low per-student

cost, even though private universities under study in Lebanon and Morocco have sufficient

means. The elements that receive the highest quality ratings are those related to physical

buildings and their annexes, but sometimes there are problems related to overcrowding, a low

level of services, scattered locations and poor maintenance, inadequate equipment, laboratories

and libraries. There is a duality of admission standards between the humanities on the one hand

and the pure and applied sciences on the other, favoring the latter and leading to lower teaching

and assessment standards in the humanities. There is insufficient information about the scholarly

productivity of faculty members, reflecting marginal scholarly activity. The teaching staff is

adequate in number, but serious problems exist in areas related to faculty promotion,

performance assessment and professional development. Data related to students in terms of

selection, progression, graduation, and diversity are scarce; support and guidance opportunities

are quite limited. Quality assurance in Egypt is the responsibility of the government, while in

Lebanon and Morocco official assurance measures do not exist, despite certain initiatives and

attempts in some of the private universities in these two countries are engaged in obtaining

international quality assurance certificates.

1 This is a translation of Chapter One of the book entitled “Quality Issues in Higher Education in the Arab

Countries” (El Amine, A., ed., 2014). The Chapter synthesizes eleven case studies (published in the same book)

covering eleven universities in three Arab countries. The project was funded by the Ford Foundation.

Suggested citation: ElAmine, A. (2014), Quality Issues in Higher Education Institutions in the Arab Countries (A

Synthesis of Case Studies) (دراسة توليفية)العربية قضايا النوعية في مؤسسات التعليم العالي في البلدان , in A. ElAmine, ed., Quality

Issues in Higher Education in the Arab Countries, [pp. 13-38].Beirut, the Lebanese Association for Educational

Studies.

I would like to thank Dr Raouf Ghusayni for his kind help in editing this English translation and Dr Munir Bashshur

for his substantial review of the final version. 2Dr. Adnan ElAmine is a former Professor of Sociology of Education at the Lebanese University and a UNESCO

consultant in higher education. He obtained his doctorate in Sociology of Education (1977) and a State Doctorate in

Letters from La Sorbonne University-Paris (1991). Email address: elamine.adnan@gmail.com

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This is a synthetic review covering the issues and salient trends of quality in higher

education institutions in the Arab region. It is based on case studies of eleven

higher education institutions in three Arab countries: Lebanon, Egypt and

Morocco3 adopting the same ten criteria used in these studies. The discussion

below is based on an examination of the eleven universities adopting the same ten

criteria consecutively.

I. The Mission Statement

The Mission, in principle, is a brief expression of an institution’s identity and what

differentiates it from other similar institutions and what it seeks to achieve or

contribute to in the foreseeable future. Because of these basic elements, those

belonging to an institution look at its Mission as a governing text that directs the

institutions’ activities and performance; those outside the institution, including its

stakeholders, consider its Mission as an expression of its profile.

The concept of a “Mission” did not exist in the French university system before for

the simple reason that universities in this system were established and administered

by the government and as such were all assigned similar roles. In a sense, , these

universities were not independent, and hence their growth and development were

not market or “client” driven. The concept of “Mission” is essentially of an

American origin and identity because universities in the United States were in most

cases grounded in community-based initiatives, with a market orientation and a

competitive setting, though some were or had become state-run (public)

institutions. In this sense, the Mission in the American higher education model

served an institutional role.

The adoption of the concept of “Mission” by various universities in the world, and

its incorporation within the elements of quality is a new event as many of them

these days follow the example of the American model. But as in many cases, the

concept was grafted at a later stage into an existing system that was already built

on a different rationale, particularly into universities that were not independent; it

played a marginal role in the course of their development. With such a marginal

position, the Mission is not necessarily the governing text that provides a sense of

direction for the institution’s activities and its performance. Mission in this case is

mostly a formality mentioned in order to fulfill a fashionable or a bureaucratic

requirement; composing a Mission statement becomes easy, and so does the

3 These universities are the following:: Al-Azhar University, Cairo University, Canadian Higher Institute, and

Halwan University (Egypt); Al-Akhawayn University in Ifran, Mohammed I University, Abdelmalek Essaâdi

University, and Mohammed V University- Agdal (Morocco); Lebanese University, Saint Joseph University, and

Notre Dame University-Louaize (Lebanon)

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inclusion within it unrealistic expressions or claims made by a small group in the

university. This describes the situation in most Arab universities.

In Moroccan universities with a strong French legacy, there is no Mission

statement for the different universities independently; instead, there are “common

tasks” for all public universities specified in Law 01-00 issued in the year 2000,

which are considered the universities’ Mission. These tasks are: contributing to the

strengthening of the Islamic and national identity; providing basic and continuing

education; development and dissemination of science, knowledge and culture;

preparing the youth for integration into the labor market, especially through the

development of skills; performing scientific and technological research;

undertaking tasks of expertise; contributing to the overall development of the

nation; and contributing to the development of the human civilization. With regard

to any particular university, the specification of tasks to be undertaken is based on

a plan called “University Development Project” which is a document submitted by

the candidate for the presidency of the university which s/he is expected to

implement in case s/he is appointed to the job.. In such a case, changes and

modifications are made to existing plans or policies with the appointment of a new

president.. More important, the plan of a new president is not viewed as the

“mission” of the institution to which the whole university is committed; rather it is

considered to be the president's strategy whose role comes to an end with the end

of his/her term in four years.

A Mission does not exist at the Lebanese University either (French legacy). The

role and activities of a university are inferred from its laws that define its tasks as

“a public institution undertaking the official function of higher education in its

various programs and levels; it encompasses higher centers for scientific and

literary research with the overall goal of firmly building human values of

citizenship”4. This law was issued in 1967. However, the long time that elapsed

since its promulgation did not lead to an identification of functions or an

elaboration of a Mission statement for the university, even though it is the only

public university in the country. This would have supposedly eased the way for

setting the university’s identity, defining its distinctive features and clarifying its

aims.

In Egypt, each university has a mission statement. But these statements are in most

cases drafted in general vague terms, and sometimes include exaggerations that

border on wishful thinking. The Mission statement of Halwan University is an

example of a general statement that comes close to a list of tasks to be done, as it is

divided into sections dealing with programs, faculty members, scientific research,

4 Statements in quotation marks are taken from case study reports

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education and community service all stated in a language inclined towards wishful

thinking.

The Mission of Halwan University

a. Providing high-quality academic programs governed by local and global standards to

prepare distinguished graduates who are competitive, creative and capable of

responding to the community’s needs and contributing to its development and welfare.

b. Promoting faculty efficiency and developing their educational and research capabilities

in order to positively impact students and the local and national environment.

c. Promoting scientific research in the University.

d. Achieving continuing education and increasing cooperation with educational

institutions globally.

e. Effective participation in community services; building a culture of community and

developing the community environment; increasing local, regional and global

competitiveness of the community’s productive sectors.

The same style is to be found at Cairo University though in a briefer version. The

terms “excellence” and “global” are reiterated without any apparent reference or

illustration in the case studies at hand of such an excellence or of a global

dimension to the University. How many foreign students or teachers are there? To

what extent is the University globally visible? In both Halwan and Cairo

universities, staff members are found to be not familiar with the content of their

university’s Mission statement.

Cairo University Mission

Excellence in delivering higher education services to meet the needs of local, regional and

international communities and to contribute effectively and in a permanent manner to social

and economic development in Egypt. Our Mission is fulfilled by our commitment to the

international excellence standards in education, research and community services; by

ensuring the complementarity between individuals, technology and business models, and by

developing the human capital of the University.

In Egypt, only Al-Azhar University can in fact claim having a mission. It is a

unique case. Al-Azhar University has its own laws, and enjoys a level of

independence that was consolidated throughout its history. It is state-funded and

has a solid reputation locally, regionally and internationally. It is the only

University that is objectively ready to function as a mission- guided university. The

case study on it states that its Mission is clear, reflects its institutional identity (and

its targeted public) clearly, and distinguishes Al-Azhar from other Islamic

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institutions. This Mission statement is “adopted and published by all media inside and

outside the University” and appears in a “number of languages”. “Various internal and

external parties” contributed to the drafting of it.

Being a private establishment is not a condition for having an institutional Mission.

A private institution may not be always independent. In the Canadian Higher

Institute (Egypt), there is a clear up-to-date Mission statement that is published and

disseminated via several media. However, the statement includes “very high

expectations in comparison with the capabilities of the Institute and its students”. It mentions

issues that are not related to the Institute per se (scientific research), and its content

is not deemed efficient by most students and faculty members. Its case study shows

that “they (its students and faculty) did not even take part in drafting it in the first place”. The

Mission could be considered as part of a marketing agenda, or a mere formality

responding to the Ministry’s requirements for licensing purposes, or both. The

heart of the matter is that the Mission statement has a marginal role to play in the

life of the institutions in Egypt covered in our study.

The two private universities in Lebanon have relatively clear mission statements,

and therefore, play a bigger institutional role. At Saint Joseph University (USJ), the

Mission “is clear and mainstreamed; it clearly reflects the identity of the institution and its

academic and social orientations”. But even here, there is some exaggeration as “the

ambition related to excellence in research is not realistic when compared to reality”. The USJ

has a French-speaking legacy, and is trying to follow the global trend of conferring

an institutional role on its Mission although such a role will require more time and

more efficient governance.

Notre Dame University (NDU) adopts the American model of education and its

administration is currently working on acquiring the American NEASC5

accreditation. These are sufficient reasons to compose a Mission that is “published

in English, electronically and in print, reflecting its philosophy as well as its identity, priorities

and values, and that provides a framework for guiding all the objectives and activities of its

colleges, academic units and administrative offices”. From a practical point of view,

activities at NDU do not seem to be strongly linked to its declared mission, and

there is “weakness in planning and assessment at the institutional level”. Once again,

governance is the main problem area in connection with the implementation of the

Mission. . Al-Akhawayn University (in Morocco), similarly to the NDU, is seeking

the NEASC accreditation and also has a Mission statement published in English, in

soft and hard copies.

With the generally relative marginality of Mission statements in the universities

under study, we may conclude that the Mission itself is a weak indicator of

5NEASC: New England Association of Schools and Colleges

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operations in institutions of higher education, and of quality levels in these

institutions. This is in line with what was revealed in a previous study that covered

a number of higher education institutions in the Arab world, namely that the

mission statements of said institutions included mostly regional and global

dimensions, which were weak in terms of specific local elements like students and

faculty mobility, twinning, accreditation and other elements (Bhandari, R. &

ElAmine, A., 2012).

II. Governance

Governance is considered by some as the most important factor in explaining

quality issues at universities. Aghion and his colleagues have examined factors that

are more likely to explain the place of universities in international rankings and

found them to be: 1) an independent budget, 2) freedom in student admissions, 3)

financial incentives to faculty members based on performance, 4) independence in

hiring teachers, 5) independence in adopting curricula, 6) relatively high financial

support from competitive grants (Aghion, et al., 2010).

The universities covered in this study are, by and large, lacking in all

independence-related factors. They suffer generally and basically from lack of

independence.

A higher education institution is considered autonomous when it is capable to

manage its own academic, administrative and financial affairs in accordance with

its own rules and regulations that safeguard it against external interventions,

whether financial, political or ideological. In principle there should be no

difference in this regard between private and public universities.

Public universities often lack a certain degree of autonomy, because of their

restricted governmental funding or because they are subject in their appointments

to political considerations imposed by their governing bodies. Such bodies use an

educational institution as a platform for political subordination or as a tool for

promoting certain ideology. In this case, the political interests of the governing

class trump academic considerations as well as other considerations related to

financial and administrative efficiency required for the delivery of a good

education.

Private universities on the other hand, loose their independence when the lines

separating the owners of the university or its sponsors from its administration

become blurred. Instead of running the university guided by some established

systems, they begin to manage it according to the whims of its owners or sponsors.

In general, the owning/supervising bodies are guided mainly by economic

considerations and look at the institution as a source of income. They opt for

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minimizing expenses and increasing revenues so as to increase their profits. This

applies particularly to for-profit institutions. As for non-profit institutions, a

possible loss of autonomy can be attributed to two reasons: 1) allocating a share of

the institution’s resources to other activities undertaken by the same sponsor(s); 2)

giving prominence to political, religious, confessional or ideological considerations

of the sponsor(s). This is because a non-profit organization is usually sponsored

by a community-based organization (association, institution, church, political

group, etc.) which might have a hidden agenda that goes beyond the simple

provision of good higher education, and operates often at the expense of such

education.

The lack of autonomy is thus connected with lack of academic freedom, lack of

participation in decision-making and the absence of accountability and

transparency. Autonomy is related to having in place a set of systems that govern

all university-related activities and serve as a protection against arbitrary attitudes

and selfish and external intervention. It is also linked to clear boundaries between

the aims of the sponsors (government or board of trustees) and those of the

university administration. Independent institutions are often linked to several

parties and should be able to strike a balance between them, rendering it difficult

for any of them to have the upper hand alone. These parties can be supervisory

entities (government or boards of trustees), partners or entities benefiting from the

institution’s services through signed agreements, or regional and international

academic entities or staff members. With this broad variety of entities linked to a

university, the prerogatives, benefits and obligations of the different parties can

thus be clarified in a way that prohibits any one entity from taking total control.

Independent institutions often endeavor to enact rules, regulations and standards

that prohibit decision-making on a personal or arbitrary level. They are usually

keen in documenting and publicizing their decisions (transparency) and in having

in place systems of accountability, complaints and academic rights, etc.

We have demonstrated before how higher education laws can tacitly make public

universities dependent, despite their claim of autonomy (El-Amine, 2010). These

laws generally declare the administrative and financial independence of public

universities while stating at the same time that appointments are made by the

government or entities designated by the government. This applies to

appointments made by a president, king or a prime minister, down to a rector, dean

or head of a department. This means that autonomy is an empty word or an

administrative formality, similar to the role given to a mission statement to play.

The facts we have accumulated in this study covering our various cases show that

Arab universities lack autonomy in different ways degrees and forms. Egyptian

public universities suffer from a total absence of autonomy because they are

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“subject to the provisions of one standard law covering all universities”, and because of

weak “participation of the production and services sectors (in the country) in managing

university affairs and in formulating general policies related to education and scientific research”

(Cairo University). Lack of autonomy is also due to “the control of the Higher Council

for Universities over academic policies”, “lack of transparency” and “poor public relations”

(Halwan University).

At the (public) Lebanese University “autonomy is incomplete and effectively missing

because of the interference of political authorities”, which “control the appointment of the

rector and deans based on the principle of confessional distribution of positions and quotas”.

Another reason is that the new position of university “branch” director is in fact a

product of a “mixture of academic and administrative authorities with political authorities”.

The government often interferes in academic affairs by virtue of its prerogative

(which originally belonged to the University Council) to “appoint teachers, accord

them full- time status and grant them tenure appointments”. This is coupled with “decision-

making being centralized outside the academic sphere, a reduction of the academic standards

efficiency, and the absence of an academic accountability mechanism at the university”.

In the Moroccan (public) universities, the law recognizes “the university’s

educational, scientific, cultural, administrative and financial autonomy” (Articles 4 and 5 of

Law 01-00), but public universities suffer from: “the absence of clear and declared

accountability procedures to link responsibility with accountability”, “the absence of an

effective autonomy in managing human resources and facilities”, and “a priori checking of the

university’s financial operation by the ministry”(Mohammad I university). They also lack

autonomy in “managing human and financial resources” (appointing the rector,

employment of human resources and setting the university’s budget) (University

Mohammed V-Agdal).

In non-public universities, absence of autonomy is expressed in a number of

comments, such as: “having the owner of an institute at the head of the board [of trustees]

leads to an overlap between ownership and management”; “The dean of an institute is not

granted wide enough prerogatives in financial and administrative matters thus restraining his

management capacity”; “no clearly defined standards are given to faculty members”; “there are

no set standards to select administrative leaders”; “there are no clear, adopted and stated

standards to evaluate the administrative staff and their system of incentives”; “the relation

between the institute and the owners’ association is ambiguous”; “the intervention of the

institute’s owners in management issues”; “lack of transparency in staff assessment standards in

periodic reports”; “there is no clear financial authority [given]to the dean of the institute, and his

administrative powers are limited” (Canadian Higher Institute).

Such a variety of comments, especially those referring to overlapping prerogatives

and absence of standards do not appear in reports on other universities. However,

there are some common elements amongst all. In the Saint Joseph University

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(USJ), there are references to a “weak description of the functions of middle level

authorities”, and “[granting] prerogatives to the central administration through delegation

rather than an institutionalized mandate”; “weak accountability mechanisms and their difficult

implementation”, etc.. As for Notre Dame University (NDU), there is some control

exerted by the Higher Council (Maronite Order) over the work of the University in

such a way as to reduce its autonomy6.

The report on the Al-Akhawayn University does not address the issue of

autonomy, although it calls for “reinforcing transparency in decision-making processes”.

The Al-Azhar University case study reveals that it “enjoys an adequate amount of

autonomy as it is subject to special by-laws that govern it independently of other Egyptian

universities”; it also has the prerogative “to select its own education and research activities

for the service of society”; the “University has an accountability system” and “the University

is governed by its special laws and regulations”.

Going back to public universities, following the events of January 25th 2011

,

Egyptian universities stood as a special case that requires more elaborate study.

The different case studies we have here suggested that appointments by the

political authorities ended after the January events and that the selection of

university leaders has been, since then, done through direct elections (based on

Law no. 84 of 2012). What requires further research is the impact of those events

on academic life, and specifically on the quality of education. In this regard, we

can assume that bottom-up appointments might generate new allegiance

mechanisms that lead to moving away from free and critical thinking about

university issues and that the “stereotyped and bureaucratic nature of public university

organization” (Halwan University) impedes the development of academic life on

campus. The Halwan case study is based on an OECD report which revealed that:

“the extreme centralization of the Egyptian higher education governance is a serious obstacle to

institutional competency and therefore to the country’s competitiveness. No one can be held

accountable for overall performance even concerning major issues”.

There are similarities and essential differences between the governance systems of

universities under study:

1) Public universities in Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon are similar in:

a. The lack of financial autonomy, which applies as well to Al-Azhar

university;

6 The Maronite Mariamite Order owns the NDU. According to a NEASC report in 2010, the Order controls [the

University] by appointing the president without giving a clear role to the board of trustees over this matter.. This issue was solved in the new constitution where the higher council i.e. the Order – which is the highest authority in the University - elected the president.

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b. The absence of a public accountability system, and the prevalence of a

top-down authority approach which lays the grounds for the

university’s subordination to higher authorities; and

c. The lack of partnerships with local communities or the inefficiency in

existing ones;

2) Moroccan and Egyptian universities are similar in being governed by a

single law that applies to all public universities in each of the two countries

– (an old law in Egypt) 7 - instead of having a separate law for each

university that would relate to its specificities; a fact that constitutes a

strong obstacle to autonomy. It is to be added that the law covering the

Lebanese University is also quite old8.

a. What distinguishes Egyptian universities is the existence of a Higher

Council for Universities chaired by the minister of higher education and

enjoys a wide jurisdiction over all public universities. There is a similar

council in Egypt for private universities, the Higher Council for Private

Universities, which is also headed by the minister of higher education. As

such, universities (both public and private) lose an element of academic

autonomy due to centralized decision making as illustrated in the

selection of new students (by the ministry).

b. The Lebanese University is unique in having a position of “branch

directors” (falls between a dean and a head of a department, i.e., a faculty

headed by a dean is usually divided into several branches located in

different areas each headed by a branch director). This has become an

entry point for multiple external political pressures over the university.

However, the University is also distinguished by the freedom of its

organization and freedom of expression for faculty members and students

since its inception, thus gaining a high degree of academic freedom and

diversity.

c. Moroccan universities are characterized by a relative independence of

their constituent colleges and schools (called establishments) from the

presidency of the university, by having representatives of economic and

labor sectors on the university board, although such a representation

creates an obstacle some times, due to lack of commitment in attending

board meetings.

7 Issued more than 40 years ago (law no. 49 of 1972)

8Law 75/67 of 1967

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d. The selection of university leaders takes place in three ways: by election

(Egypt, including Al-Azhar), by top-down appointments based on

nominations from the bottom (Lebanon), and by competitive selection

(Morocco). The Egyptian and Lebanese systems could be similar due to

the politicization of nomination, elections and appointment processes.

As for private universities, they are of three different types:

a. A business oriented type, with poor autonomy and limited participation

of faculty members in decision making as well as limited partnership.

This is the case of the Canadian Higher Institute (Egypt).

b. A community-owned type, whose autonomy is restricted by the sponsors’

interests; and where authority is centralized and participation

opportunities are unrestricted and could be wide. This is the case of the

Saint Joseph University (USJ) and Notre Dame University (NDU).

c. An American type, with a wide autonomy but limited faculty, student and

local community participation. This is at least what transpired from the

case study of the Al-Akhawayn University in Morocco.

III: Institutional Research and Planning

All the universities under study lack an institutional research structure. The total

absence of this concept from the university jargon led to a confusion in some cases

between institutional research on the one hand, and scholarly research on the other.

Institutional research is a structure (unit, body, directorates, office, etc.) charged

with gathering, analyzing and synthesizing information related to different

aspects of the institution, and informing decision-making authorities of their

findings. Such a structured activity often plays a critical role in the preliminary

phase of quality assurance and accreditation. The process of collecting information

includes the type of information routinely collected by the various units in the

university, e.g. numbers and distribution of students and faculty, financial data etc.,

as well as data form surveys dealing with specific issues, such as the graduates’

status and relation with the labor market, students’ attitudes, faculty satisfaction

level, etc.

This system started gaining ground lately in a number of English-speaking

universities following a common practice in the USA. However, this system is not

adopted in the Al-Akhawayn University (Morocco), and is still in its beginning at

the NDU (Lebanon).

Of course, all universities usually have departments or units charged with

collecting information about their scope of operations (students, faculty or

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financial affairs etc.) in addition to a statistics department. But this does not fall

within institutional research, as defined above.

Planning is a different matter. In the past few years, the use of strategic planning

became prevalent in the Arab world with the spread of ideas about quality

assurance, particularly in Egypt. In Morocco, planning is linked to a project

proposed by a new president who would have won his position as president on its

basis. As for the Lebanese University, the term planning is not prevalent.

At Cairo University, there is a “technical administration for strategic planning and follow-

up at the technical office of the rector”. Strategic planning at Halwan University has led

to implementation of studies about institutional performance and prevailing status

of the different faculties as well as the central administration. Al-Azhar University

elaborated a strategic plan to promote academic performance. Al-Azhar plan

elaborated the workflow of the university, and identified its set objectives, strong

and weak points, opportunities and threats.

Moroccan universities do not have planning structures. University planning in

them falls within the overall university development project set by a new president

upon his appointment. Planning is done in collaboration with the different faculties

whose participation remains limited nonetheless. The other problem encountered

by Moroccan universities is the fact that they “depend on plans set forth by the line

ministry as the right framework to control the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the

institution and to propose short-term projects based on the modern and objective mechanisms

and conditions used in project management” (Abed Al-Malek Al-Saadi University).

Private universities have a wide and diverse set of experiences when it comes to

planning. At the Canadian Higher Institute, a strategic plan was elaborated in 2010

but it was not respected, nor was the plan itself designed in line with the standard

technical specifications of planning. On the other hand, the USJ has an almost on-

going planning activity while a number of plans are being adopted: a plan to

develop the working conditions of the faculty, a plan to promote scholarly

research, and a plan to develop the credit system. This multiplicity has emerged

from the many studies carried on at the university which included follow-up

studies of its graduates, studies of faculty conditions, and others on the

implementation of the European credit system, on student advancement and

graduation, etc. The NDU, on the other hand, adopts strategic plans without

sticking to them as it lacks the right mechanism and procedures to follow-up on the

implementation of these plans. This is unlike Al-Akhawayn University in Morocco

where “the university attaches great importance to planning and assessment” and includes all

the university elements in its strategic planning. This university is endeavoring to

stick to its strategic plan for 2010-2014, though it still needs to conduct systematic

assessments of the plan, or cover all of its aspects. .

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IV. Financial Resources

A university’s financial resources should be sufficient so as to allow for minimum

adequate level of instruction and research activities, and to maximize the benefits

from its services. These resources should be diversified to avoid being dependent

on one source, thus becoming subject to the funder’s will, and to avoid having to

compromise on quality aspects in case of a decrease in the funding coming from

that one source. This is universally agreed upon, and is emphasized by

international accreditation agencies as a funding criterion.

A study we had conducted a few years ago on financing and expenditure in Arab

countries (ElAmine, 2009) revealed that Arab universities are unilaterally funded,

in the sense that public universities depend on governmental funding, and private

universities on tuition fees. The study clearly showed that other funding sources

are quite limited. There were only two exceptions to this: in Jordan, where public

universities charged fees which exceeded government allocations, and in Lebanon,

where some private universities derived important incomes from donations, grants

and religious endowments (awqaf).

The current case studies confirm this situation in all the eleven universities under

study, except for some references to sporadic “revenues” in Morocco.

At Cairo University, it is mentioned that “the university has many units and centers

of a private character that generate financial revenues used for education and

learning at the university”. But it is also mentioned that the non-governmental

financial contributions to the general budget of the university is “weak”.

In Halwan University, it is mentioned that the budget depends on governmental

financing, i.e. the state general budget essentially, and that there are noticeable

increases in resources of the units that are of a special character, from almost 18

million pounds in 1998 to around 74 million pounds in 2010, although it is

acknowledged “that funding sources are not diversified into governmental-private-

community sources”.

At the Lebanese University, there is “quasi-unilateral governmental funding” although

some faculties generate some income (dentistry and health).

In Morocco, article 18 of the Law 01-00 allows universities to diversify their

sources of revenue, but the universities do not collect any monies from tuition fees

or property revenues or awqaf. The case study of Mohammed V University –Agdal

reveals that revenues from scientific research and consultation accounted for 19%

of the total revenues in 2008, with continuing education fees representing 9% and

gifts 2%; so the non-governmental revenues amounted in total to 30% in 2008. The

14

case study of Abed Al-Malek Al-Saadi University confirms the availability of

additional revenues from continuing education or from contracting.

Al-Azhar University does not differ much from the Egyptian public universities,

although it owns properties and awqaf that generate “sustainable internal financing

resources”. However, “no plans for self-financing have been activated”, and the

government is still the main source of funding.

Private universities are described as unilaterally funded from tuition fees. This

applies with no exception to the for-profit university in Egypt, as well as to the two

community-based not-for-profit universities in Lebanon.

There are two logical outcomes of unilateral governmental funding: the university

budget is determined by the governmental authorities that might sometimes cut

some of the allocated funds (lack of financial autonomy); and as a consequence,

sums allocated to the university turn out to be less than its requirements (lack of

resources). These two conclusions are revealed by all case studies related to public

universities in the three Arab countries (Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco). Reports of

private universities do not reveal a lack of resources; they do reveal however, low

costs reflected in low tuition fees. Low tuition fees could be a pull factor (to

students) but are not necessarily a good indicator of quality.

V. The Physical Environment

If a university is the sum of its buildings, facilities and halls built by architects and

engineers, then Arab universities covered in this study have a good to an excellent

quality overall. In this regard, private universities are better than public ones. This

is what writers of our case studies convey in their testimonies:

Cairo University enjoys: “a unique and special geographic location at the heart of Greater

Cairo”. It “owns many historic buildings inside and outside its campus” as well as “many

pieces of land for future expansion outside the city of Cairo.”

Halwan University “achieved a great boom which started with the inauguration of its campus

during the academic year 1992-1993 in the Ain Halwan region with an area of 470 acres, equal

to around 2 million m2, which is a great added value to its potential allowing for future

expansion, especially since the university still owns all the buildings and lands designated to its

faculties outside campus”.

Al-Azhar University has “a unique location that helps it in providing an efficient education

and research environment with an adequate infrastructure and technological structure that help

the university achieve its mission and objectives efficiently and effectively”. Also, the

university has “an area that allows it to expand and create new faculties in response to the

education needs of society; it also has the infrastructure and technological structure that helps it

achieves its mission and objectives efficiently and effectively.”

15

The Canadian Higher Institute is situated in “a posh neighborhood”; “all halls and offices

are air-conditioned and equipped with teaching material, essentially white boards, bulletin

boards, projectors and computers for teachers in every classroom”.

Saint Joseph University (USJ) is characterized by “an abundance of facilities of all

kinds”.

Notre Dame University (NDU) provides “sufficient facilities, buildings, equipment and

laboratories allowing it to fulfill its mission and its educational and research objectives”.

The Lebanese University has witnessed “a major positive shift in its infrastructure

essentially with the inauguration of the Hadath campus that saw 13 faculties or sub-faculties

move in; the institution also started building a university complex in the North. University

campuses will be established in different areas by virtue of a decree.”

Mohammad I University is divided into three campuses in three geographic areas.

It has “greatly developed its infrastructure during the past few years (erecting buildings for five

new establishments)…”

Mohammed V University provides “the necessary facilities to meet its education and

research objectives and the requirements of a social life for students and staff… The university

has an internet and cyberspace center connected to the web which aims inter alia at connecting

all the institutions facilities.”

Abed Al-Malek Al-Saadi University has “expanded most of its institutions and

rehabilitated and maintained all its real estate. The university submitted important project

proposals to establish new premises, and schools and colleges that have been approved by the

public authorities. Work is to be implemented gradually as of early 2012”.

Al-Akhawayn University’s campus is situated “amidst breathtaking landscape expanding

for over 76 hectares; it is a full-fledged campus that provides academic facilities, dormitories,

classrooms and faculty offices; it also has available the necessary equipment and technologies

within classrooms, offices and housing units (internet, computers, projectors and TVs)”.

There are however three interconnected problems that appear occasionally in these

testimonials:

The first is congestion, resulting from the increasing number of students that

exceeds each institutions capacity (Cairo, Halwan, Canadian Higher

Institute, Mohammad I, Abed Al-Malek Al-Saadi).

The second is poor maintenance and a low level of services (Cairo, Halwan,

Mohammad I, Abed Al-Malek Al-Saadi), and

The third is scattered buildings over distant locations (Halwan, Al-Azhar,

and Lebanese University).

16

The Lebanese University is unique in having most of its buildings located outside

its main campus in rented housing units, or offices or other kind of buildings not

originally designed for university use. They lack the necessary basic installations

for proper teaching.

When considering the academic facilities of these buildings, i.e. labs and libraries,

the picture changes dramatically.

In general, submitted reports show that labs, workshops, IT services, internet,

libraries, etc. do exist. The question, however, relates more to the adequacy of such

academic facilities qualitatively as well as quantitatively, especially in terms of

electronic networks and support systems. Information in the reported studies

becomes limited when the question of facilities is discussed in detail. In this

connection, such comments were made:

“Inadequate libraries in some regional faculties, no internet access for students to databases in

libraries, weak and inefficient ICTs connecting the university to its units and faculties”, etc.

(Al-Azhar University).

“Some computers in workshops need updating; laboratories and workshops are understaffed;

technicians are not highly skilled; libraries are not equipped to meet the needs of student

numbers in terms of capacity and quantity of books, etc.” (Canadian Higher Institute).

“Laboratories are almost non-existent in the faculties of humanities and social sciences;

insufficient laboratories in some applied faculties; a huge gap in IT services at the university

level; insufficient computers to benefit from the virtual library; persistence of traditional methods

of searching and documentation in most libraries, etc.”. (Lebanese University).

“Lack of electronic references linked to databases; rarity of scientific reports and specialized

magazines”. (Mohammad I University).

“Laboratories and research centers are still poorly equipped and do not meet the expectations

and potential of university researchers; the lack of active participation by all faculty members in

developing the university’s collection of books and scholarly journals” (Abed Al-Malek Al-

Saadi University).

Does the university campus provide for general student and faculty activities? All

universities replied yes; however, detailed answers suggest that the activities

referred to be “formal” activities in general, i.e., limited to official or semi-official

events planned on a yearly basis.

VI. The Learning Environment

1. Admission requirements

17

The general working principle in admission is to admit students who had obtained

the secondary education certificate. In this regard, universities in our study differ in

terms of two practices: a) who does the selection of students, and b) what

additional requirements are imposed in selection?

Egypt is a special case (like Tunisia, Syria and Algeria which are not included in

this study), where it is the ministry that selects students and assigns them to

different universities in light of preferences students indicate in their applications

regarding the university and the field of specialization they wish to enter, taking

into consideration their grades in the general secondary examination. . The rule is

that those with high grades are selected into the scientific and applied majors,

while those with lower grades are “relegated” to the humanities. It can thus be

clearly said that there is a well-known practice that segregates students into

different fields of study depending on their grades9.

This policy is justified on the principle of equality of opportunity whereby all

students are provided a place in the university, and they are differentiated only

on the basic of merit: those with higher grades get accepted in the fields of their

choice (or one of the fields they prefer).

But this policy has led to three outcomes which are all linked to quality: first, as

the ministry decides the number of students to be admitted to the universities in the

different majors, the sheer number of applicants forces it to select long lists with

large numbers which exceed by far the intake capacity of the university. This leads

to crowding or “congestion”, which clearly runs counter to quality. Second, while

outstanding students are sent to the pure and applied sciences and those with lower

grades are sent to the humanities, the latter turn out to be the majority. Faculties of

humanities thus become most crowded with the least resources, which reduces

their quality considerably, and at a faster rate than what happens in the scientific

and applied faculties. The third outcome is that this method weakens quality-

guaranteeing accountability, because university leaders cannot be held accountable

with regard to the quality they offer or produce, as they have not been involved in

deciding about two of the most important resources essential to quality to start

with, namely: money and students.

9In Egypt, averages required for admission to the faculties of medicine vary between 97% and 99%, while for

education they vary between 80 and 90% depending on the university. In Syria, admission rates for the faculties of medicine and engineering vary between 226 and 232, and between 170 and 185 for the faculties of education, literature, arts and law. In Algeria, admission rates vary between 14 and 15 for medicine, pharmaceutical studies and engineering, while they range between 10 and 11 for admission to literature and philosophy, economics and management, social sciences and law. This information is published by central university authorities and is available on the internet.

18

What is worth noting about the Egyptian model is that the centralized selection of

students (by a Coordination Office in the ministry) applies to private institutions

as well. The Canadian Higher Institute, for example, selects students from among

those who had obtained low grades in high school, and who are capable of paying

the tuition. Students with high grades prefer to join public universities, or reputable

private universities. This system does not apply to the American University in

Cairo, however, which follows the American model, i.e. selecting students from

among those who had obtained the secondary level certificate taking into

consideration their SAT10

exam results,

Among the new elements in the Egyptian model is the opening of new and

privileged sections at public universities where students failing admission are

accepted in the faculties of their choice, but for a fee; a very peculiar situation that

clearly runs counter to the principle of equality of opportunity.

As for the Al-Azhar University, and by virtue of the executive regulations related

to admission Law number 103, the Higher Council of Al-Azhar determines the

number of students who will be admitted in the next academic year from among

those who obtained the Al-Azhar secondary level certificate, or its equivalent.. The

decision is made upon the recommendation of the university council, and after

consultations with the councils of the various faculties regarding geographic

distribution. A careful check of what actually occurs shows that admission to Al-

Azhar in Cairo and other locations is restricted to Al-Azhar high school

graduates11

.

In Morocco, neither the university nor the ministry selects students but rather the

faculty and the school (or the institution as it is called in Morocco). Admission

policies differ between faculties. Open admission faculties accept students with no

additional requirements other than the completion of general secondary education.

Each faculty recruits students from a different secondary Baccalaureate type12

. But

in these same faculties, admission to the professional license is subject to

examining the candidate’s file and passing an interview successfully. Faculties

with a limited admission system have special requirements, such as a written

examination and/or an interview. Open admission is limited to people living in a

10

SAT: Scholastic Assessment Test 11

This contradicts the explanation given in the memorandum of Law 103 dated 1961 regarding the six principles upon which the university’s development was based, including “bringing down barriers and walls between it and other universities and educational institutes, and eliminating the disparities between its graduates and other graduates at each level, providing equal opportunities for all.” (Al-Azhar University case study). 12

As follows: - Faculty of Arts and Humanities: literature baccalaureate. - Faculty of Sciences: experimental sciences and mathematics baccalaureate.

19

specific geographic area where the university is located (regional affiliation),

whereas limited admission is open to students from all locations or regions.

Similar to the situation in Egypt, the dual segregated system between Humanities

and Sciences exists in Morocco as well, and it affects quality. In public

universities, there is no selective admission but there are selective specializations

and overpopulated specializations. In both cases, private universities rank lower

than public universities, for they accept students rejected by public universities on

account of their low grades. This exclusion operates specifically in cases of

admission to the scientific tracks. In both Egypt and Morocco only one university

in each country selects its students as universities are supposed to: in Egypt, it is

the American University in Cairo, and in Morocco it is Al-Akhawayn University in

Ifrane. Both apply the American system in selecting as well as in educating and

evaluating their students. .

In the Lebanese University, each faculty has its own admission system. The

University does not apply a national entrance examination. All examinations, in

cases they exist, are conducted by the relevant university faculty. . Duality between

Sciences and Humanities is not as strong. An entrance examination is required in

the faculties of education, tourism, engineering, health, medicine, arts and

pharmacy, etc. but is not required in the faculties of sciences, literature, law or

social sciences. Secondary school grades are not taken into account during the

selection process. When it comes to the number of students to be accepted, there

are of course some faculties that are more selective than others; the Faculty of

Sciences does not require an entrance examination, but students admitted sorted

out very tightly at the end of the first year, as was the practice before in the

Faculty of Law. The private institutions in Lebanon are not “inferior” to the

Lebanese University, in terms of the quality of students they admit. The pattern

varies. Some are more lenient in accepting applicants than the Lebanese

University, while others are more stringent. . As such, the higher education model

in Lebanon differs completely from the Egyptian and the Moroccan; it is

diversified in terms of selection practices depending on the university in question;

a dual segregated system does not exist.

Saint Joseph University for example adopts a restricted admissions policy in some

of its programs, such as health sciences and the various fields of specialization in

engineering. The university will only accept in these fields students who pass a

relatively strict entrance exam, while it adopts an open admission policy in almost

all other programs. The university also requires that all students have sufficient

knowledge in the three working languages of the university, i.e. French, Arabic

and English. Notre Dame University on the other hand, requires a minimum level

of English, and proficiency in mathematics which is measured by the students’

20

total score on exams in English and mathematics given at the university, plus their

high school grades and the SAT I test.

2. The instructional program

Universities in Egypt follow the two-semester system, each semester lasting for 17

weeks, 15 of them spent in studies and 2 for semester examinations followed by a

2week semester break. In order to graduate, students should receive a passing

grade in all subjects. Students’ assessment is graded on a four-rank scale:

acceptable – good – very good – excellent, determined by their total GPA over the

four years of study. This system is applied in Al-Azhar, while the Canadian Higher

Institute follows a system of courses and credits, in line with the Canadian system

with which it is affiliated.

In Morocco, higher education follows the European system known as LMD, i.e.

Licence – Master – Doctorat. This system is based on courses, grouped into

modules and tracks. We noted earlier that Morocco has added what is known as a

professional license to its undergraduate program (L). This is non-existent in

Lebanon, where some universities follow the LMD system and others the

American system. Although the LMD system is applied in Lebanon, it has not yet

been successfully mainstreamed and faces some constraints in terms of teachers’

resistance, as well as in terms of its applicability regarding the number of students

per class, the structure of the curriculum in general, and the grid of courses and

their distribution by type and faculty.

The main institutional problem highlighted in our case studies is related to one

particular issue: the unsatisfactory or incomplete implementation of the LMD

system. This has resulted from a failed completion of the system, in terms of

defining learning outcomes, common credits among majors, or designation of

elective courses. In some universities, the system was applied in many faculties but

was difficult to apply in others, such as in the faculties of law, medicine and social

sciences.

Some problems have also emerged as a result of a superficial implementation of

the LMD system, as old practices remained in place as far as traditional teaching

methods and lack of class discussion, research and student-centered learning

.There was also a lack of monitoring and follow-up of students’ training by

teachers or field trainers. Although credits in this system are decided in terms of

two criteria: interaction and individual student research, traditional teaching and

learning practices remain dominant. These practices are due to lingering old

traditions as well as to overcrowded classrooms. In addition, most classrooms lack

the necessary IT equipment which contributes to the prevalence of traditional

teaching methods. As one case study shows, courses are dominated by dictated

21

lectures and the student is far from being at the center of the teaching and learning

process.

The main concern of the authors of the case studies in Morocco is the professional

output of the current instructional methods in terms of quality, while the case

studies covering public universities in Egypt highlighted problems related to the

absence of course specifications, insufficient IT integration and prevailing

traditional teaching methods. The Al-Azhar case study showed an excessive

number of courses, as some majors offer between 15 and 20 courses, while the

teaching schedule expands sometimes to 35 hours per week. In the Canadian

Higher Institute, there is some ambiguity as to the academic criteria in use, and

their relation with what is really put in place, as course and program review

mechanisms are absent, as well as a documented teaching and learning strategy.

The teaching and assessment image projected by Al-Akhawayn University in

Morocco and Notre Dame University in Lebanon is based on the assumption that

both universities follow the criteria of liberal arts colleges in the USA. However,

the NDU case study shows that “the implementation of criteria and frameworks to assess

the learning outcomes of students on the basis of the cognitive dimensions of each program is

still in its early phases.”

3. Assessment

In general, Egyptian universities suffer from old assessment methods which focus

on the final evaluation limited to measuring knowledge acquisition. They lack

standardized techniques and modern methods in evaluation. Some colleges in some

universities have started to diversify their methods and include theoretical and

practical aspects. Some efforts were also made to establish new evaluation

systems, such as a measurement and evaluation center in Cairo University and

another in Halwan University.

One neglected issue in our case studies is the role that textbooks authored by

university professors and bought by students as course textbooks play in the

process of teaching and assessment that takes place in the university. Course

textbooks are put together to provide students with learning material composed of

ready-made ideas and information, instead of expecting students to rely on their

own notes and go through referential material. . This method (of professors

packaging their own lectures in the form of textbooks) is prevalent in the education

system for the masses in Egypt, due to many reasons; one of them is the excessive

number of students. . Although these textbooks may be subject to periodic reviews

and monitoring by higher authorities at the university, they limit the process of

learning and assessment to questions and answers provided by the authors/who

are themselves the professors, even when these course packages are updated from

22

time to time, let alone those that are not updated at all. In reality, the process

becomes more like recitation (teaching), and memorization (assessment).

Universities that adopt the LMD system are (in principle) supposed to diversify the

assessment methods, particularly through continuing assessment and final

examinations, with at least 40% of the final grade based on continuous assessment.

Continuing assessment covers presentations, surveys, papers, fieldwork, exercises

and voluntary participation, etc. This assumes three conditions: regular attendance

of students, a semester system, and a limited number of students per class. These

conditions are not met by all universities applying the LMD system, either because

some faculties follow an open admissions system, or due to difficulties in applying

the system as it is in a number of faculties, or because of non-mandatory

attendance, or a combination of all these reasons or some of them. This occurs also

in open admissions faculties in Morocco, where continuing assessment is lacking,

and assessment is mainly based on exams at the end of semester. Some students in

Moroccan universities even oppose continuing assessment strongly. In the open

admissions establishments, end of term assessments last approximately for more

than two months during each examination cycle.

In the English-speaking universities (NDU and Al-Akhawayn University), though

continuing assessment is applied in them as well as in all other universities, there

are some serious doubt about two aspects: the extent to which assessment is

aimed at measuring high-level intellectual skills, and the extent to which

assessment results are used to provide feedback for improving education. We

were not able to find in any of our case studies references to any study undertaken

by the university regarding student assessment, describing practices and traditions,

or examining guiding principles. Despite the crucial importance of assessment, we

rarely come across reliable studies regarding the prevalent assessment patterns in

our universities.

In conclusion, we can say that this issue of assessment dealt with in connection

with the learning environment, is at the heart of the whole educational enterprise,

and is the most prominent indicator of university quality. Unfortunately,

documented and scientifically reliable data from previous studies on this subject

are scarce. Hence, using some of the above mentioned information, together with

some other data included in the case studies, we conclude that massive admission

(admission requirements) creates a double burden for higher education in general,

and for the humanities in particular, negatively impacting the quality of teaching

and learning. This is clearly reflected in the deficient system of assessments.

Universities which operate on a strictly selective system may be exempted from

this judgment to some degree, but these universities are limited in number, and

they are not public. Most often, they use the English language in instruction, as

23

well as in assessment, and to a large extent they are imitation of American

universities.

VII. Scholarly activity

Of all the universities in the three countries of Lebanon, Morocco and Egypt, only

one university (University of Cairo) made it to the list of top 500 universities on

the Shanghai Ranking in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2012. . Only three other

universities made it to this position since 2009, and they are all Saudi universities

(King Saud University, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and The

University of King Abdulaziz) (Hammoud, 2014).

We could have limited ourselves to this conclusion that Arab universities have low

academic standards as they were rarely featured in international classifications

before 2013 (4 out of 500 Arab universities). However, a conclusion like this

could be subject to objection on the bases that what is published in international

scientific journals does not cover all academic activity, especially that the

dominant language in scientific publications is English, which is not the language

used in all Arab universities. It can also be said, that the Shanghai ranking is based

on an analysis of data available on the internet, and not on data collected through

direct contact with relevant universities, or information gathered from the

universities themselves. It may be claimed that the picture that can be derived from

an analysis of information provided by the universities themselves can lead to

different conclusions from those based on an analysis of internationally published

data. The case studies we have at hand give us no information on the research

productivity of faculty members expressed, for example, in terms of average

number of published research pieces per faculty member per year, regardless of the

language used in it or of the place of publication. Clearly, there is a problem with

our universities as to their estimation of the size of their scholarly output which

should be expressed in terms of numbers, and documented in annual reports

covering or summing up this output. Instead, statements such as the following

appear in our case studies: there is “no inventory of published scholarly researches,

locally and internationally”; “there are no official data on university professors and graduates

who received international awards”; “there is no interest in the scholarly productivity of

members of the institute, there is also no inventory or database thereof”, “performance indices

are not used in scholarly research and there is a lack of data that allows for the computation of

internationally acknowledged performance indices” and “universities lack scientific evidence to

monitor and analyze the scholarly and research production of faculty members”, etc.

This extreme lack of accurate or specific data reflects the extent to which scholarly

research is in fact marginalized in our universities. A university like Cairo

University is interested in internationally published scholarly output but mainly in

24

order to maintain its position in ranking. For this reason, it has decided to allocate

large financial rewards for scholarly publications in international journals. This,

however, is not the general case in other universities. Research is done mostly for

promotion purposes, and in this case, only the faculty member concerned lists his

research activities as part of his application for promotion. As a result, , we can

unfortunately conclude that research output identified by the Shanghai university

ranking, or other rankings, is the only available indicator of the status of scholarly

research in our Arab universities, which is as we stated before, very weak indeed.

The universities covered in this study have their own journals, incubator programs

and research centers; they organize conferences, mobilize funds, conclude working

agreements and win local or international research projects; some faculty in these

universities receive research grants; some universities have drawn plans for

scholarly research; Masters and PhD degrees are granted by many universities;

sometimes special committees or councils are formed to encourage or oversee

research activity; and sometimes bodies mainly entrusted with mobilizing

scientific resources (such as Doctorate institutes) or generating funds are

established, etc.

However, the shortcomings are more serious for many reasons mentioned in the

case studies: funding is insufficient, and grants are scarce; the organizational

framework for research is weak, the research process is not part of the operating

schemes in all fields of specialization; many research centers have turned into red-

tape or financially crippled entities; some entities have become influence hubs; the

scientific infrastructure is weak in general and requires some basic support

(equipment, budget, laboratories, research teams, information sources, etc.); grants

for research have often turned into a form of up-scaled wages; the sabbatical year,

which is supposed to be a year dedicated to research, is not taken seriously;

isolated projects are prevalent; the teaching load is sometimes overbearing for

teachers; and researchers lose enthusiasm because of funding constraints and

exhausting and lengthy procedures of disbursing budget allocations, etc.

Our case studies show some disparities between private and public universities, in

favor of public universities in terms of funding, and in terms of making research

output a condition for promotion, and so forth.

VII. The Faculty

1. Sufficiency

In general, public universities in the three countries, Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon

and Al-Azhar University are self-sufficient in terms of the number of faculty

members they have in different fields of specializations. However, information on

25

quality of this faculty is absent. Student/teacher ratio is acceptable (20 to 30

students per faculty member). Some general trends are noticed: lack of teachers in

some specializations (due to shortage in numbers, , or to some favoring work in

the private sector, or to low wages, or to lending and transferring to developed or

rich countries, especially as in the Gulf, or to policies encouraging early

retirement as was the case in Morocco); poor distribution where shortage exists in

some areas side by side with surplus in others, the surplus might be due to political

appointments (Lebanon), absence of a retirement age (Egypt), slow staff

replacement leading to aging faculty, or irregular replacement procedures, and

even lack of employment opportunities. Private universities are characterized by

their heavy reliance on part-time teachers and holders of Master’s degrees.

However, the employment rate in private universities is acceptable, and is even

high because of small classroom sizes.

2. Employment matters

The decision on appointment of faculty members in Egypt is centralized, and it is

political in Lebanon. In all cases, faculty members appointed in public universities

are considered public employees who benefit from the same conditions and social

protection granted to civil servants. Retirees in the Lebanese University receive

85% of their last salary after serving for 40 years, while in Morocco they receive

100% of their last salary after serving for the same period.

In Egypt, academic committees in the Universities High Council review the

scholarly production of applicants for teaching or for promotion. . The laws

regulating the work of universities specify the different responsibilities of faculty

members in the areas of teaching, research and community service.

In Morocco, appointment and promotion applications are dealt with at the

Ministry’s central departments. However, once an instructor is appointed, he/she

becomes affiliated to their faculty (establishment) rather than to the university as a

whole; as such the transfer of instructors from one faculty or one field to another in

the same university is restricted. This is a Moroccan feature.

In Lebanon, the ministry does not interfere in the work of the Lebanese University,

or in the selection of faculty members or students, nor in any other academic affair.

It is usually the department concerned that selects faculty members, whether on a

full-time basis or contact. However, since 1996, a new practice was adopted

according to which the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet) decides on the

employment of full-time faculty. This decision is made once every few years,

following many requests and accumulated applications. As such, sorting and

deciding on all the applications (hundreds of them) have become highly politicized

as politicians interfere in the selection of new applicants so as to maintain and

26

strengthen their relative influence. This has reinforced the political subordination

of faculty members in the university to politicians.

In private universities, employment is generally subject to the law of supply and

demand; it is done through temporary contracts, and decisions are made by the

university. In most cases, the concept of a full-time or tenured appointment is

absent; stability is maintained through total loyalty to the university and the

acceptance of its terms. The more the university is for-profit and is bound to its

share-holders the less autonomy it has, and the worse its situation becomes. In

Egypt, appointment to private universities is done through a ministerial decision,

after receiving the recommendation from the university.

As such, faculty members in the public sector seem more independent than those in

the private sector. In addition to the stability and immunity they enjoy as civil

servants, they also enjoy the right to organize themselves in an association or a

union that defends their interests, as illustrated in the case of Lebanon. This has led

to a wide margin of freedom of speech and freedom of action in the Lebanese

university, although very much subject to external political influence. . Faculty

members in the Lebanese University publish articles in newspapers and in

academic journals or books in which they harshly criticize what happens in their

own the university.

3. Promotion and ranks

The laws have specified three levels of faculty ranks at the Lebanese University:

Lecturer, Assistant Professor and Professor. That was back in 1967, when French

universities used to offer “Doctorate 3rd

Cycle” degrees. Holders of such degrees

were appointed as lecturers. When this degree was cancelled in France, and

replaced with a consolidated Doctorate degree similar to the American PhD, the

Lebanese University also started giving a PhD degree. Consequently the rank of

“Lecturer” disappeared, and new faculty members who were holders of PhDs, were

given the status of Associate professors. The ranking ladder became more like a

two steps-ladder. This is a unique and a strange situation in higher education

worldwide.

In Egypt ranking goes through five steps: Teaching Assistant, Senior Teaching

Assistant, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. The first two

are usually reserved to Masters and PhD graduate students teaching at the

university level. Promotion to the rank of Assistant Professor occurs after receiving

the PhD, while promotion to the other ranks is based on production of scholarly

research that is given a weight equal to 75% of the total promotion grade. Other

elements are also taken into account, such as the applicant’s academic and applied

activities which are given the remaining 25%. Hence, new faculty members in

27

Egypt are fed into the university and its faculties from within, i.e., from its own

graduates. This is also a unique situation in the world of academia, as the

university and its faculties “inbreed” without new blood coming from outside,

whether from inside or outside the country. In contrast, most American universities

do not allow their own graduates to teach in the universities they graduated from,

at least not immediately after graduation, and they reach out for graduates from

other universities, so as to renew their academic life.

In Morocco, there are three ranks: Assistant Professor, Qualified professor and

Professor of Higher Education. The whole process (hiring as well as promotion) is

based on competitions, file reviews and decisions taken by local (university?)

academic committees; while the central authorities follow-up on the rest of

procedures. The promotion of an applicant to a higher rank requires scholarly

production, in addition to a minimum number of years of service. There are three

“paces” or “tracks” for promotion in Morocco: the exceptional track: after

spending 6 years in service; the fast track, after 7 years; and the regular track, after

8 years. The research element is highly important in the exceptional track but is

non-existent in the third track; i.e. any faculty member can move from one rank to

a higher without conducting any research if he/she is in the regular track (8-year

track). This is also a unique situation in the academic world.

Such is the case in public universities in Morocco. As for private universities, the

information we have about promotion and ranking in them is almost non-existent.

Private universities apparently, go by the same ranks acquired by faculty members

at other universities they work for or had worked for before; they also go by

promotion methods and criteria that are not made public and might be arbitrary.

4. Performance and professional development

In general, assessment procedures for faculty performance are not widespread;

there are no stable programs for professional development, and teacher exchange at

the regional or international level is almost non-existent. However, there are some

limited activities, or exceptions.

In the last decade, Egypt’s public universities witnessed a series of “training

programs” targeted at the faculty, during the implementation of a higher education

development project funded by the World Bank. Participation in this program was

mandatory and a requisite for promotion. For this purpose, a national center was

established to build the capacities of faculty members and leaders. Also, Halwan

University established a center for the capacity building of its faculty and leaders,

and this center was put in charge of developing the university’s human resources.

However, a standard procedure for the assessment of the performance of faculty

members does not exist.

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The Lebanese University does not have a performance system, a professional

development program, or an exchange program with other universities. It has in

place a sabbatical year system, though there is no evidence of benefits accrued

from this system, whether in professional or academic terms. The same applies to

the Moroccan universities, except for the two universities of Al-Akhawayn and

Mohammad I, which are said to provide “some irregular training courses to faculty

members; they are non-mandatory and cover up-to-date issues such as IT, distance learning and

university pedagogy.”

The lack of immunity for faculty members in the private sector leads to resorting to

assessment of faculty by students, as applied in the Canadian Higher Institute, for

example. This Institute does not have “a system to assess faculty performance according to

a set of known criteria adopted by the institute governing councils that could be based on faculty

activities such as teaching, research production, attending conferences and regularity of lectures

delivery.” There are no professional development programs at the Institute.

Saint Joseph University is the only university to “have added to its programs a university

diploma in university teaching that aims at developing the faculty teaching skills”. The

university has also established “a laboratory specialized in university teaching and a unit

dedicated to teaching technologies, supervised by faculty members assigned from different

academic units within the university.” Thanks to the historic relations with France, the

university enjoys extensive faculty exchange programs with France in particular

and Europe in general. About 7% of the total teaching staff benefit from annual

visits which range in duration from one week to a whole year.

NDU and Al-Akhawayn University are the only two universities that apply a set of

indicators to assess faculty performance. These indicators (eleven of them) include

student reports about the subject matter and the teacher, reports from peers

attending classes, research plans submitted by faculty members, services provided

by a faculty member and a file of the courses that each faculty member submits by

the end of each semester to the department for assessment.

IX. Students

1. Internal efficiency (selection, flow and graduation)

The concept of internal efficiency and related terms (selection, flow and

graduation) are not commonly found or discussed in the Arab universities

literature.

Selection relates to the ratio of admitted students to the number of applicants. . In

Egypt, universities (even private ones) do not select their students as mentioned

before; hence a university does not have a selection rate in a given year, nor can it

compare itself to other universities or to its own rates in previous years. In

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Morocco, and in the Lebanese University, there are two patterns for student

admissions: open and restricted. In the open admission pattern there is no entry

selection; in the restricted one, there is selection but information regarding rates are

unavailable.

Information becomes available in the case of students’ flow rates (from the first

academic year to graduation), although it remains scarce and insufficient for

definite conclusions. It is important to note, however, that at the Lebanese

university the flow rate from the first academic year to the second year in open

admission faculties is very limited: 25% to 35%. The flow rates become more

“normalized” in the later years. This situation is also found in Morocco. In

addition, there is another problem that leads to increase in failure rates, repetition

and dropout from the first to the second academic year in Morocco: the teaching

language in the upper-secondary level is Arabic while in universities it is French.

In private universities, there is some leniency when it comes to entry requirements,

as is the case in the Canadian Higher Institute, which accepts students with middle

diplomas who usually have an inferior level than holders of the general secondary

level diploma; students with low GPAs in secondary school are also admitted (65%

in engineering, and 50% in administration). At the Institute, a high percentage of

students (around 40%) do not meet the graduation requirements during the

designated period. At Saint Joseph University, our case study highlights a

decreasing internal efficiency over the years that covers 40% of the university’s

colleges and institutes

Due to the open admission policy in Morocco and at the Lebanese University, and

due to a centralized admission policy in Egypt, universities in these countries

suffer from student overpopulation. Obviously this impacts the quality of

education strongly, as teaching becomes limited to non-interactive lecturing, and

the available resources and facilities wear out quickly. This often drives students to

take to the streets in protest, obstructing and hindering academic life, usually

ending with partial or no solutions.

2. Diversity

The feature of student or faculty diversity is also not common in Arab universities

literature. Reasons are to be found in the absence of racial or religious diversity in

the society itself, or to ignoring its importance or even its existence. On the other

hand, there is in some cases an explicit policy to halt the geographic influx from

rural areas towards universities in the cities or in urban hubs. In Morocco,

enrolment in open admission faculties is restricted to people living in a specific

geographic area, while national competition is required for admission to restricted

colleges. In Egypt, the geographic location is the second most important element

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after secondary school averages in selecting applicants to a given university

faculty. . This is why we will not find in these two countries any data related to

students’ diversity in a particular university, in terms of geographic, racial or

religious characteristics. Universities do not publish such information, nor does the

ministry. Case studies do not give any indication as to whether there are relevant

studies of any kind on these aspects, or on social aspects in general published by

anybody. All central admission policies (in Egypt and other Arab countries) insist

that they provide equal opportunities to all students who obtained the secondary

school certificate; and that any differentiation occurs only on the basis of student

achievement, and not on any social or racial basis, or in light of political

connections or influenced by such connections. This claim has kept away any

thinking about diversity, although reflecting on diversity and giving it attention

would have in fact highlighted and promoted the principle of equality in a much

more meaningful way.

There are some exceptions: “Free university education is provided to underprivileged

classes (typical and special categories) in all geographic areas in Egypt” (Al-Azhar

University, a religiously homogeneous university). “University students are

geographically and racially diversified, they are also socially highly diversified. However, most

students are Muslims except for a small minority of Christian Africans” (Mohammad I

University).

In Lebanon, religious and confessional diversity is a strong element in the

country’s political and cultural life. The USJ report shows that students are

diversified in terms of gender and confessional belonging. The NDU report on the

other hand, declares that although the university has adopted an admission policy

based on equal opportunities without regard to doctrinal, religious, racial or

gender differences , the university lacks diversity in its student body (the

distribution of students in terms of geographic , gender or confessional

characteristics is disproportionate). As for the Lebanese University its report shows

clearly that its two branches, the First in Beirut and the Second in Mount Lebanon

lack religious diversity, while in some of its other branches in other locations of the

country there is one political party that prevails over all other matters; “fanaticism is

really high during times of crisis, which transforms the diversified environment into a negative

one”.

3. Activities, student interaction and community service

Student activities are limited in the universities under study. Not a single case

study that we have mentioned that a given establishment was renowned nationally

by virtue of its students’ achievements or performance in certain area, such as

arts or sports or rescue work. Reports related to Egypt did not refer to any political

activity among students; they claim that universities contribute to the life of the

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youth through delivery of information and ideas relevant to their fields of

specialization, avoiding building up their graduates with a certain profile.

In all reports, we find references to places, clubs and some activities or formal

events on certain occasions, yet reference to student participation in such activities

remains limited. . The Canadian Higher Institute is the only one that has programs

that appreciate and reward students who are outstanding in activities, which raises

“the percentage of participation in student activities to 30% of the total number of students”.

Saint Joseph University is also the only one “to organize yearly student elections, while

adopting proportional representation”. The Lebanese University, on the other hand, is

the only university where students lack any common space (because of its several

geographically scattered branches). Its law on students’ union, which was unique

among Arab universities, was also suspended.

Community service programs may be more available. Halwan University for

example, has adopted many national and environmental projects, such as the

Halwan University project to eradicate illiteracy in Egyptian governorates (called

the “Illiteracy-Free Country” project) and the project to develop the capacities and

skills of elementary school students in a poor area in Cairo (Al Marj). At the

Canadian Higher Institute, students planted trees on campus and in its

surroundings; faculty and students planted trees with the aim of creating an

environmentally sustainable model. At Mohammed V University at Agdal,

graduates participated in many social and cultural events (literacy programs,

tutoring and reinforcement lessons, sports activities…); the university has also

created women’s clubs aiming at integrating women in society, especially in rural

areas.

4. Support and guidance services

Student support services at the universities are in the form of grants, financial aid

or loans to students who face economic difficulties, or in the form of academic

support opportunities i.e. complementary courses, compensatory or remedial

courses offered to help students acquire the necessary skills to succeed in their

studies (especially in languages). In the scope of providing comprehensive

services, universities offer general guidance services where students are invited to

the university to improve their educational or professional choices; or offer private

guidance services where individual students are assigned departmental advisers to

help him/her improve in their study and in their academic work. .

Public universities seem to satisfy themselves in a belief that they are already

“giving” students sufficiently, by simply allowing them a “free” place in the

university. This is why we find that support and guidance services in these

universities are generally weak..

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5. Employment of graduates

The main issue here is the lack of adequate mechanisms and methods to follow-up

on post-graduation activities. Such a lack was reported by Cairo University,

Halwan University, Al-Azhar University, NDU and the Lebanese University.

Consequently, the information related to graduates’ employment is actually

impressionistic: absence of some skills and competencies among graduates

preventing them from meeting labor market requirements, especially skills and

competencies in foreign languages and computer skills (Cairo); graduates from all

universities suffer from unemployment. Faculties in non-applied fields have a

strenuous relation with the labor market as most graduates from these faculties

occupy jobs that do not match their fields of specialization, or work in the public

sector, or are unemployed.

The situation in Morocco however, is different where reports highlight two issues:

First, some universities use a questionnaire that graduates are required to fill six

months after they receive their diplomas.. However, information remains scattered

and inadequate as some graduates do not come back to pick up their diplomas and

they settle with the certificate they receive from their faculty immediately after

graduation without filling a questionnaire. Secondly, graduates from higher

education institutes and holders of professional degrees are less subject to

unemployment in comparison with graduates from open admission colleges, who

suffer from a low integration rate into the labor market (Mohammad I University

and Abed Al-Malek Al-Saadi University). The integration rate of graduates

holding a degree of State Engineer reaches 100% in public and contracting sectors

(Mohammed V University at Agdal). In Al-Akhawayn University, the career

guidance office follows up on the graduates and keeps information on their career

paths.

X: Quality assurance

Quality assurance requires the existence of an external specialized agency that can

ascertain the quality of the establishment in an objective way. An external body

usually provides the criteria and the team of peer reviewers who visit the

establishment and submit a report, according to which the agency will base its final

report or verdict. At the heart of the quality assurance process lies the self-

assessment activity undertaken by the establishment itself. This self-assessment is

an indicator that should reveal the extent of the establishment’s understanding of

its problems, the efficiency of the solutions proposed in solving these problems,

and its capacity to maintain its strengths and deal with its weaknesses in the future.

This is the “internal” dimension of quality assurance, which means that the

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establishment must have in place structures and procedures to guarantee the quality

of its work, which will be approved by the external agency or be open to its

proposals for amendment.

Data provided by the Arab countries on this subject reveal some disparities.

In Egypt, there is “The National Authority for Quality Assurance and

Accreditation of Education” (NAQAAE), which is in charge of quality assurance

and accreditation of institutes and programs at the national level. In principle, its

mandate governs all public and private universities. There are also quality

assurance centers in Egypt at the individual university and faculty levels. In

Halwan University, “quality centers are spread all over the university and its

colleges”. The function of these centers is to provide for “quality assurance” in

colleges, conduct self-assessment, contribute to competitive development projects

in order to qualify for accreditation, and “simulate accreditation visits by a team of

reviewers chosen by the center, to determine the level of readiness for

accreditation”. In that university, 14 colleges won projects qualifying them for

accreditation, through competitive mechanisms in the Ministry of Higher

Education.

Internal quality assurance centers in the Egyptian experience, seem to be parallel

bodies specialized in dealing with quality issues and quality assurance rather than

being just supporting bodies to the faculty or university leadership (that collect

and analyze information), as is the case in the European and American quality

assurance systems. Things go well if quality assurance is entrusted to one unit

instead of being an institutional matter that covers all faculties or the whole

university. This semi-bureaucratic aspect of quality assurance centers explains the

two kinds of complaint made in the reports about: a) “lack of quality culture”

among faculty members and supporting bodies, and b) “absence of an

organizational structure and financial and administrative regulations in many of the

quality assurance units of the different colleges”, or “lack of sufficiently adequate

human resources qualified to undertake relevant activities” at the centers.

Egypt suffers from the absence of quality assurance and accreditation activity of an

international scope (with the exception of what happens at the American

University in Cairo, which is not included in this study). The Moroccan experience

shows openness towards international organizations (UNDP, Tempus, etc.), but

efforts at quality assurance remain there at the level of temporary or occasional

experiences, rather than built into procedures and mechanisms. One reason for this

is that the chosen international organizations to help in the process are often not

specialized or experienced in this field. There are, however some attempts that are

closer to restricted individual endeavors: “The university in all its institutions, is

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subject to periodic institutional self-assessment: 2006, 2009, 2012”. (Mohammed

V University at Agdal), “the university finalized in 2012 a special self-assessment

referential” (Abed Al-Malek Al-Saadi University).

As for Al-Akhawayn University, it has started a process of accreditation, as is the

case in the American University in Cairo in Egypt, and the NDU in Lebanon.

These two later universities are private (or privately managed) following the

American model.

The Lebanese University, like the Moroccan universities, had attempts at such

“endeavors”, but that happened only once in 2003 with “a self-assessment that was a

first of its kind in the history of the Lebanese University and which revealed the strengths and

weaknesses of the university and included recommendations for its development”. In any

event, the university did not give consideration to the conclusions or

recommendations of that 2003 report. This is not surprising as external agencies or,

government ministries were not involved in the activity.

USJ has a “specialized quality assurance office, directly linked to the rector of the university”;

the university has “adopted and started implementing a comprehensive quality assurance

policy” and received “a quality certificate from a trusted external European agency”.

Conclusion

We have covered ten criteria related to quality issues in all of the eleven

universities under study. The most outstanding observation is that, unlike the

American system, a university mission statement is not the best entry point to gain

information about the status of a university in Arab countries, and to proceed from

it to an examination of quality issues in our universities. Academic or scholarly

activity is also not a sensitive criterion to identify and/or distinguish the range of

quality in Arab universities, and this is because all universities covered in this

study have a weak research structure and are poor in productivity. What

distinguishes Cairo University is not its special research structure, but rather the

exceptional financial resources it allocates to assist faculty members in publishing

their work. Hence, publishing will continue as long as funds continue to be

provided.

The decisive criterion in terms of quality, is what we called the learning

environment; which is the essential condition related to teaching, learning,

assessment and so forth. Indicators of drop of quality in Arab universities are

several: from the dual admission in many of them, to overpopulation, to the need

for program and curricula restructuring and updating, to teaching and assessment

methods which are still based on lecturing and memorization, etc.

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As for the key that is essential for understanding what happens at the universities,

and for understanding the different quality issues, it is governance. Findings from

our studies strongly support the hypothesis of a lack of autonomy, transparency

and accountability in Arab universities. This is reflected in elements such as

allocation of financial resources, selection of students and faculty, and quality

assurance, etc. This also explains our conclusions regarding the quality of teaching

and learning, the quality of university graduates, and their level of performance

and employability. Of all the criteria, the physical environment is the most positive

one in Arab universities. But like the criterion of scholarly activity, it is not a

reliable discriminator of quality in Arab universities. If we conclude that the

physical environment, for example, is degenerating, the logical assumption is that

the learning environment is also degenerating; but if we say that the physical

environment is good, it does not necessarily follow that the learning environment is

also good. There is an urgent need for a new investigation of “governance” as an

explanatory factor of quality

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