Reform of higher education Policy and integrity perspectives

1. Reform of higher educationPolicy and integrity perspectives Prof. Hossam Badrawi MD, MP Chair Education Committee NDP

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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.

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

6. Five main policies: • Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes. • A H.E. Expansion to accommodate new enrollments according to a set vision . • Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality. • A Versatile, flexible system that is compatible with the needs of development, connected and exposed to the international H.E. moves of reforms . • Clear commitments to institutional integrity

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes • 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.

10. 1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes This new constituency, replacing the government only, is needed to be developed so as accountability of this institutions to the society becomes a reality.

11. 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.

12. 1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes • We should prevent copying the stat Osco of the existing system to the new developments weather state owned or privately financed.

13. 1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes • 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.

14. 1- Redesigning the responsibility of the State to H.E. system and institutes As 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

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 2- Higher Education Expansion • Can the state alone create the needed expansion with quality education, the answer is definitely No, and then who can?

19. 2- Higher Education Expansion • The challenge needs: • Creative Public Private Initiatives (out of the box thinking) • Private non for profit initiatives • Private sector investments transparently regulated.

20. 2- Higher Education Expansion • 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.

21. 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.

22. 3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality • 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.

23. 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.

24. 3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality • 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.

25. 3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality • 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.

26. 3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality • Competitionmust 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.

27. 3- A Powerful Shake-up to Improve Quality • There is also a need for reform of the rules governing enrollment.

28. Quality & integrity are interrelated . • 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.

29. 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.

30. 4-University Needs of Development • A-Flexibility and Versatility of the system • B-Readability of the System • C-Institutional Autonomy • D- Academic Freedom

31. 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).

32. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

33. 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.

34. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

35. 4- University Needs of Development B-Readability of the System • 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.

36. 4- University Needs of Development B-Readability of the System In all graduate degrees, appropriate emphasis would be placed on research and autonomous work.

37. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

38. 4- University Needs of Development Teaching and research in universities must be inseparable, rejecting intolerance and always open to dialogue

39. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

40. 4- Needs of Development 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.

41. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

42. 4- Needs of Development 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.

43. 4- Needs of Development. 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

44. 4- Needs of Development 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

45. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

46. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

47. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

48. 4- University Needs of Development 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.

49. 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.

50. 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.