How to reform education? [Archives:2007/1032/Opinion]

Saleh Basurrah
Higher education in Yemen has remarkably developed today since the first universities, Sana'a and Aden, were established in 1970. At that time, the number of university students didn't exceed 300 in the two universities combined. There were only 7 – 10 Yemeni teachers and the rest of the academic staff was non-Yemeni.

But now, the country has 7 government universities and more than 10 private universities and colleges, with more than 240 thousand students in government universities and around 25 thousand in the private higher education institutions. In Sana'a University alone there are 1,400 academic staff, and there are around 600 additional members being prepared to join the university once they complete their higher education studies abroad. The Yemeni government universities have up to 5 thousand workers and the number is expected to increase after establishing Amran University, the project of which is underway.

In the past, there was no Minister of Higher Education in Sana'a or Aden. This ministry was established after the national unity in 1990, but was abolished and re-established in 2001. The ministry sent more than 7 thousand B.A., M.A. or Ph.D. scholars to 46 countries.

Now that the numbers have been established, let us talk about quality of education. Because today, Yemeni universities can only accommodate between 60 to 70 thousand students each year while high school graduates exceed 180 thousand each year. This means around 60% of school graduates are not enrolled in universities.

Therefore, the ministry of higher education must realign its educational strategies in many aspects. For one, we must study the market needs and not repeat themselves in specializations. For example, if Aden University is to focus on marine and biology disciplines, Dhamar can excel in agriculture, dam construction and veterinarian studies while Hudaidah University can identify physics and arts as their specialization tc.

The idea is that 87 percent of students are enrolled in social sciences and humanities, compared to only 23 percent of the students are majoring in applied sciences.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is not the only party concerned with tackling any issues associating with the quality of the educational outputs, rather the three ministries responsible for education should cooperate in this regard. These are the ministries of education, higher education and scientific research, and vocational education and technical training.

There is also a problem in the educational structure and its phases starting from primary education until higher studies. There is a problem in quality that gets carried over from one level to another and the weakness increases over time.

The concerned authorities have to examine whether education and its components cope with the scientific and cognitive development in the world. For now, people without an access to computer are called illiterate but not those who don't read and write. We are in the age of scientific and cognitive revolution. If one doesn't renew his/her information within 24 hours, he/she will become illiterate. To teach students via the CDs or Data Show, teachers themselves have to be trained on computer while authorities should reconsider the school buildings as 70 – 80 students in a single class minimizes the learning chance. We should reconsider the morning and afternoon shifts in primary and secondary schools as students move into and out of classes at noon like sardine cans.

Students' talents should be developed since a student is not an object that memorizes things to give them out. The authorities need to modify the secondary school system after examining whether this system copes with demands of the time. Secondary school leavers have to be prepared for the university, not through the literary and scientific sections in the secondary education systems, but additional two years have to be added to the system to investigate the students' aptitudes.

The education hierarchy is not correct

Those who completed primary school join secondary schools and secondary school graduates move into universities. Such a fact requires reviewing the education hierarchy. Around 240 thousand students are enrolled in higher education compared to less than 15 thousand students, who joined technical training institutes, and such a fact is a negative aspect of the hierarchy. Most of high school leavers should join technical training institutes and community colleges instead of universities. The problem, which is persisting in the underdeveloped countries, confused the university facilities and plans at all levels.

The large number of secondary school graduates find themselves unqualified for the labor market. They leave schools to join universities. They have no skills but theoretical classes preparing them for the university but not for the labour market. Such a large number of high school leavers help increase unemployment rates, thereby leading to severe poverty and numerous social and economic issues.

The same problem persists in the university. So, the teaching process needs be reviewed and investigate whether the Yemen universities teach only theoretical classes or theoretical classes and skills.

Poor skills

The judge graduates from the Faculty of Law but is unable to issue a legal verdict nor can he perform any advocacy duties. Another example is that of an engineer, who graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering but is unable to maintain his car. The fact is traceable back to the lack of skills and practical classes. Education is a complete system necessitating coordination between the three ministries concerned with education during the implementation of secondary education, higher education and vocational education and technical training strategies. We have three ministries that serve a unified purpose under any circumstances.

Professor Saleh Ali Basurrah is the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Prior to this, he was the rector of Sana'a University.
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