Yemeni Universities and the moment of Globalization [Archives:2008/1130/Education]
Murari Prasad
[email protected]
Universities, like other institutions of society, are a meaningful social arrangement. They do not exist in a vacuum. Diverse pressures exert upon universities to make them relevant to the needs of the society to which they owe their existence, to influence their operative standards and determine their agenda. Predictably enough, universities in order to remain as living institutions have to accommodate shifts of emphasis signified by the wider society. However, the demand of accommodation is not invariably uniform; it is context-specific. For example, it will be palpably improper to compare the range of concerns and scale of functions of a Yemeni university with those of a university in America or Britain, and the degree of social commitment in each case should certainly be seen in relative terms with reference to their unique constitutive factors, their respective human and material resources, norms and values. Now with the rapid pace of globalization the universities of the third world have had to cope with the increasing homogenizing trend and at the same time remain native to the soil. What scenario does globalization unfold for Yemeni universities? What trends and possibilities does it portend? In other words, how will Yemeni universities, like others of their ilk, re-define their pattern of growth?
Admittedly, current university system developed as a Western enterprise. The organized centers of learning that existed in India, Egypt or China suffered prolonged disruptions with the passage of time and could not be revived with viable form and function in sync with modern times. In contrast, the medieval universities of Europe did not die out or close lock, stock and barrel; they made required transitions to their latter-day models, e.g., the University of Paris, Oxford and Cambridge. In most of the third world countries we have the 19th century model of European universities while in some the American variant evolved in the 20th century has been preferred. But in spite of the variations of the model, the third world universities are by and large placed altogether differently from their Western counterparts in respect of funding and facilities, form and function as well as in their goals and objectives. The circumstances surrounding them go a long way towards influencing their choice of academic and research programs. It does not mean, however, that they should cut loose from larger forces at work.
In fact, the extraordinary momentum of globalization spawned by information revolution has enabled the third world universities, too, to access new veins of knowledge with a fresh crop of possibilities. But a majority of them do not have the wherewithal – at least as yet – to go global. Unlike state-of-the-art institutions of the West or well-funded colleges and universities of Japan, South Korea, or the Gulf, most of our universities including those in Yemen have to depend on state funding which always falls short of the basic fiscal obligations stretched by rising enrollment, wider catchment area and infrastructural shortages. Further, they are hamstrung on and off by financial cuts and have to husband scarce resources. Crucially, both expansion of education and schemes for innovation are under great strain.
Nevertheless, the question of ensuring equity of access to higher education without diluting the commitment to excellence and innovation needs to be addressed. How can it be sensibly done? Surely, Yemeni universities need to be hooked up to global alliances for assured enrichment of intellectual capital. To see that the concern for certification and institutional focus marry up they need to use their resources with care and imagination. Expansion of access, particularly when large swathes of disadvantaged sections including women are to be covered, entails liberal financial support. Usually, government-financed universities, where education is already heavily subsidized, remain too cash-strapped to spare substantial resources by way of some kind of affirmative action to increase intake of students from poor background. Private universities in Yemen can take some independent initiative to open bursaries for means-tested students. Of course, they are not wealthy establishments like the cash-rich institutions in the Gulf, but they are relatively well-off on the strength of reliable income generation by running various programs and extending their patronage. Government-run universities are doing the job to the extent they can but they need to be supplemented by other agencies.
A re-arrangement of some kind whereby social equity may be promoted through education is called for. Also, it will eventually pave the way for research output without which Yemeni universities will lack institutional focus. It is true that these universities are still an extension of high school system, but it is also true that they can't leapfrog over social realities to join the league of their developed counterparts. Given the situation as it is, these universities will have to wait for some time for industrial linkages, research parks, patents and intellectual property rights bureaus, and other accompaniments of globalization. It is not merely the case of Yemeni universities alone; only a handful of universities in the entire Third World can claim to have attracted industry and research-based companies, and globalized their operations. It requires a supportive synergy including the pattern of investment, industrial base and state of the economy. As of now, the foremost task is to organize self-reliant faculty and infrastructure for dissemination of higher education. Faculty represents wealth and knowledge which can be exploited to benefit both faculty and university financially. These universities have to depend still on a large number of expatriate teaching staff. On the scale of priorities, indigenous faculty should be trained to reduce dependence on migrant expertise. Of course, selective recourse to such recruitments is desirable in the frontiers of some disciplines. But by and large, the indigenous base must be strong enough to sustain the educational needs.
Clearly new technology and knowledge is sprouting up all over and so these universities have to do useful finetuning in their system. They have to re-orient themselves to assimilate new changes at least by slow degrees. Professional and job-oriented courses need to get priority otherwise the mismatch between demand and supply will widen.
As different faculties or colleges in Yemeni universities are the centers of academic life and enjoy some measure of small scale academic autonomy corporate identity, facilities around them need to be updated to raise the skill and ambition of students. Yemeni students are motivated, keen and eager to learn, but the edge of their curiosity is apt to be dulled if study aids are in short supply. I imagine all the faculties are equipped with computers but this device is yet to become an information appliance with a new breed of professional academics and system managers.
To enable the drop-outs, stragglers and low-performers a program of continuing education may come in handy and, in the long run, scale up the educational profile. Academic links can be forged with relatively developed universities to train manpower by roping entrepreneurs to run distance education programs. How to manage the change is undoubtedly a daunting challenge, but no system can turn the corner if it is allowed to muddle through on its own.
As Mark Twain, the well-known American writer, described cauliflower somewhere, it is “nothing but cabbage with a college education”. Considering the confidence created and changes in attitudes and perceptions introduced by college education the remark is quite cogent. Good college education does help us to shed our 'cabbageness' as well as to construct a new social identity. Yemeni students have a lot of promise and potential. With the universities evolving into vibrant institutions in tune with social aspirations, there is no reason why they should not flower into fullness. So far Yemeni universities have done well. They are capable of delivering the goods in the future, too, provided they meet the challenge of globalization head-on.
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