Higher Education Minister calls for reform [Archives:2007/1031/Local News]

SANA'A, March 7 ) Saleh Basurrah, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, has called for “a reconsideration of specializations in light of the labor market's demand” referring to the imbalance between arts and science enrolment in Yemen universities. 87 percent of university students are enrolled in social sciences and humanities, while only 13 percent of students are majoring in applied sciences.

He also pointed out to the gap between technical and academic education in Yemen saying “240,000 students are enrolled in higher education compared to less than 15,000 students in technical training institutes”

The Minster, who was the rector of Sana'a University, called for a review of the Educational state in its first three stages (primary-secondary-high school):

“A large number of high school graduates find themselves unqualified for the labor market. They have no skills as theoretical classes prepare them for university but not for the labor market. Such a large number of high school leavers (180,000 per year) increase unemployment rates, thereby leading to severe poverty and numerous social and economic issues. The same problem persists in universities, as students concentrate on purely theoretical aspects. So, the teaching process needs be reviewed and investigated to ascertain whether Yemen educational institutes should teach only theoretical classes and skills.”

He called for the involved authorities: the Ministries of Education, Higher Education, Scientific Research, and the Ministry of Vocational Education and Technical Training, to rectify these issues.

Yemen has 7 government universities and more than 10 private universities and colleges. More than 240 thousand students are enrolled in government universities and around 35 thousand in the private higher education institutions.
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