Plenary Session Two: Models and Challenges of Higher Education
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Alexandria—
Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, moderated the Second Plenary Session on Models and Challenges of Higher Education, as part of "University Governance: A Key to Effective Higher Education Reform in Egypt" Conference. Dr. Mohamed Abdellah, former President of Alexandria University, Dr. Moustafa El-Sherif, former Algerian Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Abdel Salam El-Mssady, former Tunisian Minster of Higher Education and Professor of Linguistics in Tunis University, Dr. Gaber Asfour, former Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Culture, and Dr. Riyad Hamza, former Deputy President of Gulf University participated in the second plenary session.
Dr. Mohamed Abdellah started his talk by referring to the social and cultural perception of a university certificate and how it lead to the deterioration of technical education. He also spoke about the challenges facing Egyptian universities, such as limited financial resources and the increasing number of students.
Dr. Moustafa El-Sherif presented the Algerian model of higher education and how it developed through several steps, namely: maximum utilization of available resources, distant education, and the agreements concluded with different developmental sectors in the society, thus achieving a balance between supply and demand concerning labor force.
Abdel Salam El-Mssady moved to the issue of comprehensive reform in the Arab World. He stated that higher education can not be tackled apart from the political, economic, and social status of a certain society. He also referred to the political dimension of developing higher education. He added that "security obsession" is one of the hindrances facing the development of the critical and creative thinking of university students.
Dr. Gaber Asfour spoke about the academic and research role of universities, as well as its social and cultural role, especially in the Arab World. He suggested three main themes to reform higher education, namely: autonomy, self-sufficiency, and liberty.
At the end of the session, Dr. Riyad Hamza talked about universities in Gulf states in general, and Gulf University in specific. He added that although gulf universities are still new in comparison to Arab universities, but they face much more challenges financially, politically, institutionally, and technically.