Academic Computing Center
> ACC in the News
> Getting Iraq's Universities Back on Track
|
Getting Iraq’s Universities Back on Track
|
|
|
| |
|
|
An international program is sending 500 Iraqi academics to
universities around the world so they can returnto their homeland
armed with knowledge about the latest trends in higher education.
Nada Al-Awar learns about the experiences of the first group of
Iraqi fellows, who spent a semester at AUB and are now back home
helping to upgrade their own university system. |
 |
Under a special fellowship program
organized by UNESCO and sponsored by the Qatar Foundation for
Education, Science and Community Development, six Iraqi academics
spent three months at AUB last fall. The fellows, who were the first
of a projected 500 Iraqi academics who will benefit from the
program, joined AUB as research associates. They enjoyed full access
to university facilities and were able to make valuable contacts
with colleagues after years of virtual intellectual isolation.
“This project targets those academics
who went through the higher education system in Iraq during the
years of the embargo and who had not had contact with the outside
world before,” explains Dr. Victor Billeh, director of the UNESCO
Beirut office. “It’s a way of providing better opportunities for
them to find out what’s new in their respective fields and to set up
possibilities for further collaboration with colleagues outside
Iraq.”
The program is part of a larger project
being implemented by UNESCO in Iraq to help its Ministry of
Education and institutes of higher education. The goal is to
formulate a “rebuilding” framework for the development of higher
education in that country, as well as to provide its university
faculties of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, science,
and education with basic lab equipment and library reference
materials.
By giving Iraqi academics the
opportunity to improve their competencies and thus raise the
standards in their fields of expertise, the program is contributing
to the overall improvement of higher education in Iraq. The fact
that the first group to participate in the program came to AUB, says
Billeh, is significant. It gave them the chance to experience
firsthand the enormous potential for the development of universities
in this part of the world. “Coming to AUB was very valuable, because
they had the opportunity to experience a university from a similar
culture. It also means that they made contacts here and therefore
will be more likely to participate in exchange programs with this
part of the world in the future.”
For AUB Provost Peter Heath, the program
fits in with the University’s goal to reach out to institutes of
higher education in the region. “Establishing connections with other
universities in the Arab world is one of our priorities, and taking
on the UNESCO initiative is part of the University’s desire to
promote quality education in the region,” says Heath. “This is
especially true when it comes to Iraqi academics who were cut off
from the rest of the world for such a long time.”
Even when written agreements exist
between universities to undertake such exchange programs, continues
Heath, it is the faculty to faculty relations that make them
possible... “At the heart of this kind of initiative is faculty
interest. And it can only take off when faculty members discover
common interests and decide to pursue the connections further.”
According to Khadija Lakkis, the new
faculty coordinator at AUB, who received the scholars upon their
arrival and acted as liaison between them and the University
throughout their stay, the Iraqi academics were impressed both with
the extent of university facilities and the degree of respect that
their colleagues here enjoy, both from students and from the
administration.
“They were appreciative of everything,”
Lakkis says, “and were particularly impressed with the level of
professionalism they found here. They were also surprised at the
close relations between faculty and students and the fact that all
sorts of issues could be freely discussed in classrooms.”
The fellows also received comprehensive
computer training through the University’s Academic Computing
Center. “After our initial meeting with the fellows, we found out
they were very much in need of training in basic computer skills,”
says Rosangela Silva, director of the center. “So we devised a
one-month training schedule that covered the use of software such as
Word and PowerPoint, as well as instruction in using the Web and
sending and receiving e-mail.”
The training, says Silva, was designed
to provide them with the necessary skills to enhance their research
capabilities and also stimulate them to use technological tools in
their teaching.
Baker Maktabi, who was training
coordinator during the computer course, says that all six Iraqi
academics were highly motivated and never missed a session...“They
would get here early and leave late and during the practice sessions
they always wanted to try out something on their own first and only
asked for help if they needed it,” says Maktabi. “By the end of the
month, they had progressed a lot and gained many valuable skills.”
Both Silva and Maktabi feel that the
effort invested in the program was well worth it for both sides: “It
was a very interesting experience for us because we had never had
adults with such needs and characteristics come through the center,
and at the same time they were very happy and thankful for how much
they had learned.”
Professor Faiq Fadhil Ahmed, who joined
the Department of Education for his three-month stint at AUB,
described the computer training he received as “very beneficial” and
very different from any instruction he had received in Iraq. “I
would also like to extend my sincere appreciation for the big effort
spent in the development and in the delivery of the workshops we
were given,” wrote Ahmed in his report.
UNESCO’s Victor Billeh says the
enthusiasm shown by the fellows during their stay in Beirut was an
indication of the potential for success of such a program. “We met
with them on a regular basis while they were here,” says Billeh.
“They seemed like sponges that were ready to absorb everything they
were being offered. The experience was a real eye-opener for them.”
Once the first 100 Iraqi academics have
been through the program—which will take them to AUB or to
universities in Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the UK, France, and
Germany—UNESCO will conduct an evaluation of the program for its
Qatari sponsor.
“Each of the academics will submit a
report following completion of the three-month fellowship and we
will gather all the information to make an assessment of the
program,” explains Billeh. “Then, before we place the remaining 400
scholars, we can see if any changes in the system are needed.”
For its part, adds
Provost Heath, AUB will continue to participate in this as well as
in other similar endeavors. “We are willing to do whatever we can to
help, especially when it comes to Iraqi academics,” he says. “It is
all part of our ongoing effort to help with the professional
development of higher educational institutions in the region.”
back to top
|
