reform of higher education policy and integrity perspectives prof. hossam badrawi md, mp chair...

Reform of higher education

Policy and integrity perspectives

Prof. Hossam Badrawi MD, MPChair Education Committee NDP

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Introduction:

Egypt is the largest, country in North Africa and the Middle East. Its education system is also the oldest of all.

The higher education system carries almost 2.3 million students, distributed in only 18 state and 16 private universities

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Introduction:

The system is an example of mass education,

this student bulk represents only 29% of young people at the age of 18 to 23, a percentage that does not represent the neither the aspiration of the society nor the set standards of enrollement.

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Introduction:

We realize that HE outputs in any nation are

the engines of change, the power of fostering reforms, the leaders of the future and the eligible platform of creativity.

That is why we believe that Education in Egypt requires nothing less than a major revolution.

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Five main policies:

We see five main policies urgently needed for a serious reform of higher education in Egypt .

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Five main policies:

1. Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes.

2. A H.E. Expansion to accommodate new enrollments according to a set vision .

3. Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality.4. A Versatile, flexible system that is

compatible with the needs of development, connected and exposed to the international H.E. moves of reforms .

5. Clear commitments to institutional integrity

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1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes The responsibility of the state towards

higher education should continue, but in a different format.

Higher Education should be liberated from the domination of both government and the unregulated profit motive.

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1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes

The government's responsibility for higher education does not mean that all institutions of HE should be government owned and managed.

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However, such institutions should be governed by independent boards with quadripartite representations of the people, the state, the, the civil society, the academia and the private sector.

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This new constituency, replacing the government only, is needed to be developed so as accountability of this institutions to the society becomes a reality.

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1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes We are, encouraging privet sector

involvement in higher education, as long as, the two pillars are developed and implemented

-quality assurance & accreditation,

-the development of student finance systems.

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We should prevent copying the stat Osco of the existing system to the new developments weather state owned or privately financed.

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A third option of creating non governmental, non profit Universities should be encouraged,

however we believe that this will be a natural development with improving the economy of the country and the growth of the institutional wealth.

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1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutesAs part of its responsibility for higher education,

the state should not anymore deal with universities as public sector entities or with university staff as public employees, the state should however:

Massively increase government and social funding of public higher education.

Increase the efficiency of the use of resources (good governance)

Maximize the knowledge and societal return Reform the choice of administration

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1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes To accomplish these tasks, institutions

of higher education should have increased autonomy while seeking to systematically strengthen their ties with regional and international institutions and networks. However they should be: Financially accountable. Subjected to strict accreditation systems

and rigorously monitored to ensure quality. Abiding to codes of institutional integrity.

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2- Higher Education Expansion Only 29% of young Egyptians, with

reasonable gender equality at the age 18 – 22 are enrolled in the Egyptian higher education system.

To close the wide gap in enrollment in Higher Education, building human capabilities in Egypt require expansion of this level of education.

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2- Higher Education Expansion

However, expansion needs to be carefully designed, especially in the case of existing institutions, where expansion in the past has led to a deterioration of quality, drop in management efficiency, and appearance of corruption.

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Can the state alone create the needed expansion with quality education, the

answer is definitely No, and then who can?

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The challenge needs: Creative Public Private Initiatives (out of the

box thinking) Private non for profit initiatives Private sector investments transparently

regulated.

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However, no new institutions, public or private, should be created unless they can offer higher standard of quality.

I believe public private initiatives can be the pear head in that development for

the time being. The state should create that

environment, and help that development.

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3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality

A powerful shake-up to improve quality is highly needed in the existing institutions of higher education, standard has to be

set up, indicators has to be clarified, and quality assurance and accreditation

should be implemented.

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Accreditation, both academic and institutional, can only serve its purpose if the accrediting body, is totally independent from government control, particularly for the government owned universities.

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3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality Decentralization, and budgeting of those

university should be directly related to

--------------the university ratings, --------------world class research activities

and , --------------number of students.

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We believe applying quality assurance measures using the European

International standards of HE, should be a policy that should not be

compromised under any circumstances, and will not only lead to a better

education but can be the gate for restoring integrity of it's institutions.

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Teaching and research capacities should be enhanced, and facilities should be

improved to accommodate the enrollment.

Effective programs should be implemented to improve the capabilities

of faculty and staff through training, research, and study programs in Egypt

and abroad, especially in preparation for assuming faculty positions.

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Competition must be established as a essential ongoing condition in the filling

of faculty posts. Tenure should be confined to professors

with exceptional performance.

University Presidents and higher administration should be chosen via

transparent methods with participation of stake holders, and they should be held

accountable against tasks and objectives.

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There is also a need for reform of the rules governing enrollment.

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. We can argue that part of the challenge

to enforce codes of institutional integrity in an old longstanding system, that suffers from malpractices, frauds, plagiarism, fabrication and sometimes violation of student rights, could be dealt with via the rout of quality assurance and the subjection to accreditation and external independent auditing.

Quality & integrity are interrelated

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3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality Without institutional integrity, no true

excellence could be expected or achieved, neither in teaching nor in research.

Without integrity and having standards to tackle conflicts of interest within the institution Quality is jeopardized and cost effectiveness of managing university budgets could be easily violated.

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4-University Needs of Development A-Flexibility and Versatility of the

system

B-Readability of the System

C-Institutional Autonomy

D- Academic Freedom

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4- University Needs of Development

A- Flexibility and Versatility of the system

A versatile flexible system of higher education that is compatible with the needs of development should be established.

To achieve versatility, basic programs should not be replicas of old ones (a condition for developing new programs in the stat Osco).

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A-Flexibility and Versatility of the system

Flexibility on the individual level means the freedom to leave and to return to various institutions of higher education.

Flexibility on the institutional level means that the structure of institutions and the content of their programs are continually revised by governance boards to guarantee a quick response to local and international developments.

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4- University Needs of Development.

A- Flexibility and Versatility of the system

Much of the originality and flexibility in the system will be achieved through the use of credit hours system , this will allow for validation of these acquired credits for those who choose initial or continued education in different universities and wish to be able to acquire degrees in due time throughout life.

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A-Flexibility and Versatility of the system

Students should be able to enter the academic world at any time in their professional life and from diverse backgrounds.

Undergraduates should have access to a diversity of programs, including opportunities for multidisciplinary studies, development of a proficiency in languages and the ability to use new information technologies.

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The international recognition and attractive potential of our systems should be directly related to their external and internal readabilities.

A 3 cycle degree system should be recognized for international comparison and equivalence, following the bologna process of reforming HE in Europe.


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In all graduate degrees, appropriate emphasis would be placed on research and autonomous work.


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B-Readability of the System New scientific and technological research

projects should be decided on the basis of input from expert reviewers, with each project and program evaluated both for technical merit and its potential benefits to society.

All existing research programs and centers of excellence can similarly benefit from periodic expert review and evaluation.

Techniques for such procedures should include, as appropriate, peer-review teams, relevance-review panels, or benchmarking studies.


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Teaching and research in universities must be inseparable, rejecting intolerance and always open to dialogue

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C- Institutional Autonomy

The university is an autonomous institution at the heart of societies; it produces, examines, appraises and hands down culture by research and teaching.

To meet the needs of the world around it, its research and teaching must be morally and intellectually independent of all political authority and economic power.


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D-Institutional Autonomy

A university is an ideal meeting-ground for teachers capable of imparting their knowledge and well equipped to develop it by research and innovation and students entitled, able and willing to enrich their minds with that knowledge.

University's constant care should be attaining universal knowledge.

4- Needs of Development

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To fulfill university's vocation it should cross geographical and political frontiers, and affirms the vital need for different cultures to know and influence each other.

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E- Academic Freedom

To attain this goal some some principles has to be respected:

Each university must ensure that its students' freedoms are safeguarded, and that they enjoy conditions in which they can acquire the culture and training which is their purpose to possess.


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E- Academic Freedom

Academic freedom is the intellectual and creative foundation of the

University

This concept should be clearly stated and applies to all members of the faculty

4- Needs of Development.

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E- Academic Freedom

The faculty and administration jointly should accept the responsibility for maintaining an atmosphere in which scholars may freely teach, conduct research, publish, and engage in other scholarly activities.

This responsibility includes maintaining the freedom for the examination of controversial issues throughout the University, including classroom discussion when such issues are relevant to the subject matter of the course


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E- Academic Freedom University should not attempt to control the personal

opinion, nor the public expression of that opinion, of any member of the faculty or staff of the institution.

But in doing so, employees have an obligation to avoid any action which purports to commit the institution to a position on any issue without appropriate approval.

Individual academic freedom for study, inquiry,

research, and debate, conditioned and balanced by a commitment to pursue its stated mission.


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E-Higher Education Academic Freedom University should not attempt to control the

personal opinion, nor the public expression of that opinion, of any member of the faculty or staff of the institution.

But in doing so, employees have an obligation

to avoid any action which purports to commit the institution to a position on any issue without appropriate approval.


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E-Higher Education Academic Freedom Individual academic freedom for study, inquiry,

research, and debate, conditioned and balanced by a commitment to pursue its stated mission.

Faculty are expected to pursue truth and knowledge and are conferred the right to research, teach, and discuss any topic without being subject to University or System discipline or censorship.


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E-Higher Education Academic Freedom

Faculty are expected to prize accuracy, exercise appropriate self control, show respect for the opinions of others, and protect the academic freedom of students and their rights of access to the University.


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5-commitments to institutional integrity

Every Higher institution should adhere to the highest ethical standards:

in its representation to its constituencies and the public;

in its teaching, scholarship, and service; in its treatment of its students, faculty, and

staff; in its relationships with regulatory and

accrediting agencies.

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5-commitments to institutional

integrity

The institution, including governing board members, administrators, faculty, and staff, should subscribe to, exemplify, and advocate high ethical standards in the management and operations and in all of its dealings with students, the public, organizations, and external agencies.

Every institution should regularly evaluate and revise as necessary its policies, procedures, and publications to ensure continuing integrity throughout the institution.

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5-commitments to institutional

integrity

Every institution should represent itself accurately and consistently to its constituencies, the public and prospective students through its publications, and official statements

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Every Institutional policy should define and prohibit conflict of interest on the part of governing board members, administrators, faculty, and staff.

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Every institution should demonstrate, through its policies and practices, its commitment to the free pursuit and dissemination of knowledge consistent with the institution's mission and goals.

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Policy on Institutional Integrity

By academic tradition and by philosophical principle, an institution of higher learning is committed to the pursuit of truth and to its communication to others.

To carry out this essential commitment calls for institutional integrity in the way a college or university manages its affairs which can be seen in the way it specifies its goals, selects and retains its faculty, admits students, establishes curricula, determines programs of research, and fixes its fields of service.

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Policy on Institutional Integrity The maintenance and exercise of such

institutional integrity postulates and requires appropriate autonomy and freedom as mentioned before.

This is the freedom to examine data, to question assumptions, to be guided by evidence, to teach what one knows to be a learner and a scholar.

This is a freedom from unwarranted harassment which hinders or prevents a college or university from getting on with its essential work.

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A college or university must be managed well and remain solvent, but it is not a business or an industry.

It must be concerned with the needs of its community and it's country

An institution of higher learning is not a political party or a social service. It must be morally responsible, but, even when religious - related, like Al Azhar University in Egypt, it is not a religion or a mosque.

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Relating to this general concern corresponding to intellectual and

academic freedom are correlative responsibilities.

On the part of boards and administrators, there is the obligation to protect faculty

and students from inappropriate pressures or destructive harassments.

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On the part of the faculty, there is the obligation to distinguish personal

conviction from proven conclusions and to present relevant data fairly to students because this same freedom asserts their

right to know the facts.

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On the part of students, there is the obligation to sift and to question, to be

actively involved in the life of the institution, but involved as learners at

appropriate levels.

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Intellectual freedom does not rule out commitment, rather it makes it possible

and personal. Freedom does not require neutrality on

the part of the individual or the educational institution, certainly not

toward the task of inquiry and learning, nor toward the value systems which may

guide them as persons or as schools.

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Hence, institutions may hold to a particular, social, or religious philosophy, as may individual faculty members or students.

But to be true to what they profess academically, individuals and institutions must remain intellectually free and allow others the same freedom to pursue truth and to distinguish the pursuit of it from a commitment to it.

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The challenge and the great difficulty in assuming and honoring those policies is the fact that we cannot separate the higher education institution from the surrounding environment in the country.

It is not enough to have a new legislation or develop a regulatory body, as we have to consider change of culture in the society.

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reform cannot be achieved piecemeal:

A holistic vision should exist, A comprehensive reform including human

rights issue should be respected, Freedom and democracy should prevail, political support and social reform, together

with major economic reform should go hand in hand.

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University Decline

History of universities which reveals that slow, but inevitable, institutional decline is brought about by the followings:

1. Unconditional submission to the ideological interest of the state, of political parties, of organized minorities or of economic organizations.

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University Decline

2-Excessive preoccupation with current local issues, and faculty self interest

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University Decline

3-Acceptance of the stats quo, with resistance to develop and resistance to change

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University Decline

4-Disregard of the universal mission of the University as an Institution devoted to teaching and research and steadily search for excellence in these two areas

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University Decline

5-Use of the two pillars of universal academic values, that of academic freedom and of university autonomy, not for democratic governance and to protect students and teachers in their pursuit of truth and new knowledge, but as self serving.

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Conclusion

It was Albert Einstein who once said that “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at, when we created them.”

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Higher education reform necessity

HE institutes are expected to be the change agent in developing societies, leading them to the future.

We should not allow them to decline and the priority of their reform becomes more than a necessity to the whole society.

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However, this cannot be achieved with the same thinking we were at when we created their current problems.

Higher education reform necessity

reform of higher education policy and integrity perspectives prof. hossam badrawi md, mp chair...

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