Study of Higher Education and Research in Palestine
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Study of Higher Education and Research in Palestine Authors Jad Isaac, Hatem Jemmali, Belal Fallah, Ferdoos Al-Issa, Abeer Istanbuli, Mazen Abu Qamar and Ala Al Azzeh Funded by August 2019 I Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their gratitude to all those who supported the research team and in particular, the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr. Sabri Saidam, his deputy, Dr. Basri Saleh for their support in conducting this survey. The authors are also grateful to the Presidents of Universities, Deans of Research and Deans of Graduate studies for their inputs. Special thanks to the Advisory Board namely: Jamil Hilal, Raja Khaldi, Basri Saleh, Ahmad Othman, Fadi Kattan, Nayef Abu Khalaf, Jawad Al-Saleh and Norma Masriya, for their invaluable comments. The authors also acknowledge the work of Lina Nasser, Fadi Dweik, Juliet Bannoura, Fadi Isaac, Nezar Abu Aita, Summer Shaheen, Dania Qawasmi and Hiba Hawwash for their work in data collection and analysis. The authors also would like to thank Megan Swoger, Marina Dias and Barbara Magalhães for the initial drafting of the report and Dr. Paul Parker and Rasha AlYatim for technical editing of the final report. II Table of Contents Executive Summary vi Literature Review xix List of Abbreviations xxiv Preface 1 1. Baseline Study of Higher Education and Research in Palestine 3 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 Timeline of the Palestinian Higher Education System in Palestine 5 2. Mapping of Higher Education and Research in Palestine 8 2.1 Governmental Actors in Higher Education and Research in Palestine 8 2.2 Higher Education Institutions 10 2.3 Degrees Granted by HEIs 11 2.4 Enrollment and Admission to HEIs 11 2.5 Fees within Palestinian HEIs 12 2.6 Financial Sustainability of Palestinian Universities 12 2.7 Examination Rates 14 2.8 Students in Higher Education Institutions 14 2.9 Unemployment of HEIs Graduates, 2007-2017 16 2.10 Staff in HEIs 17 2.11 Gender Gap in Higher Education 19 2.12 Social Sciences in Higher Education 22 3. Governance and Reform 25 3.1 Governance and autonomy of institutions 25 3.2 Academic Freedom 25 3.3 Code of Ethics in Palestinian Research 28 3.4 Reform 35 4. Status of Scientific Research in Palestine 38 4.1 Overview 38 4.2 Characteristics of Participating Research Centers Institutions 39 4.3 Participating Research Center Results 39 4.4 Breakdown of Research Center Outputs 41 4.5 Research Centers Journals and Periodical Publications 42 4.6 Social Sciences’ Research 42 5. International Cooperation in Higher Education and Research 46 III 5.1 International Cooperation in Higher Education 46 5.2 Research Funding 46 6 Research Output in Palestine (Bibliometric Study) 49 6.1 Summary Statistics (1996-2018) 49 6.2 Research Output in Middle East Region (international scale) 55 6.3 Research Output and the Gender Gap 58 7. Ph.D. Training 60 7.1 Layout of Ph.D. Training in Palestinian Universities 60 7.2 Description of current Ph.D. programs in Palestine 61 8. Centers of Excellence and Incubators in Palestine 71 9. Research Infrastructure 74 10. Associations and Unions 76 Epilogue 78 Literature Cited 80 IV List of Annexes Annex 1 - Term of Reference (ToR) Annex 2 - Baseline Study Methodology Annex 3 - Higher Education Statistics Annex 4 - Higher Education Governance and Reform Annex 5 - International Cooperation in Higher Education and Existing and Potential Funding Mechanisms Annex 6- Status of the TVET System in Palestine Annex 7 - 2017 Google Scholar Research Findings Annex 8 – High Education Programs in Palestinian Universities Annex 9 - Proposed Ranking Criteria for Palestinian Universities V Executive Summary The Palestinian people have been subjected to a century of settler colonialism, that has resulted in dispossession and ethnic displacement wherein the majority of the Palestinian people have become refugees. Palestine, defined here as the West Bank including East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip is a State under occupation according to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. 19\67 of the year 2012 and has acquired an observer state in the UN General Assembly. Palestine today consists of two physically separated landmasses, namely the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza Strip with a total area of 5,843 km2 and 362 km2, respectively. Palestinians depend on international aid more heavily than most underdeveloped populations. In 2018, aid received was $676m ($516m in budget support, and $160m for development financing resulting in a financial gap of around $400m (World Bank, 2019). The prolonged settler colonial reality impoverishes, controls, and destroys Palestinian society while building a settler state and ethos in Israel (Wolfe 2006; Veracini 2015; Salamanca et al. 2013). For decades Palestinian higher education (HE) has countered and resisted colonial control, and has supported the steadfastness of society. The “peace process” had projected a form of economic and political stability (although a pseudo stability), semi-independent markets (which Israel still controlled), and a less visible (although still oppressive) encounter of most Palestinians with Israel’s military. In 2018, the USA severed its development programs in Palestine following the Palestinian rejection of the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Add to that, in February 2019, the Israeli government deducted $148 million from the clearance revenues it collects on behalf of PNA under the pretext that this money goes to the families of prisoners and martyrs. In retaliation, the PNA decided not to accept any amount of its clearance revenues. As a result, the PNA is now facing an economic hardship that impacts all sectors including HE. Since the Oslo Accords in 1995, the governance of HEIs in Palestine falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, sometimes as a stand-alone ministry, other times as a joint entity with Ministry of Education (Ministry of Education and Higher Education). The Ministry is the official body responsible for running, organizing, and developing the educational sector through direct management or supervision of higher education and research. It is also responsible for drafting and performing the rules and regulations as well as providing partial support and funding to non-governmental higher education institutions (MOEHE, 2018). MOEHE led the efforts of the national strategic planning process for the education sector for 2017-2022 in line with the SDG’s (Education Sector Strategic Plan 2017- 2022). The Accreditation and Quality Assurance Committee (AQAC) was established in 2002 as a semi-autonomous body under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, responsible for the accreditation and quality assurance of higher education institutions in Palestine. Therefore, it is the only official body authorized to license higher education institutions and accredit their educational programs in Palestine. The Scientific Research Council (SRC) was activated in 2002 to formulate research policies within the framework of higher education institutions. It was again reestablished in 2013 by a VI presidential decree restructuring the council's membership. The annual budget allocated for SRC is around USD 5.5 million from the ministry’s budget to support scientific research. However, this governmental support can be irregular in payment system and does not include staff salaries. The budget allocated by the Palestinian National Authority budget towards higher education has increased significantly since 2009: from 20 million USD in 2009, to 90 million USD in 2011. In 2017, the total budget of MOEHE was $ 894,915,530 half of which is from external donors. 7.91 % of this budget is allocated to higher education. According to the administrators in the universities, the allocated budgets are insufficient and irregular. The actual transfer of funds depends on cash availability at the Ministry of Finance where priority is usually given to governmental institutions. In 2017, MOEHE launched an initiative to establish a higher education endowment aimed at promoting financial sustainability of higher education institutions. By 2018, the endowment was estimated at $ 9,917,820. Attempts to raise tuition fees have failed due to the resistance of the student bodies. To support students, the Palestine government established the interest free Student Loan Fund in the 2000- 2001 academic year, which may cover up to 70% of a student’s tuition fees to be paid back, upon graduation, but the mechanism is faltering and loans are defaulting. Consequently, universities had to implement a number of other options in order to maintain their operations. These included: 1. Increasing the number of admitted students and expanding the number of students per class. 2. Creating a parallel education track for students who do not meet the admission requirements to the regular programs where tuition fees are higher. 3. Granting senior academics early retirements and recruiting them on a part-time basis to reduce costs. 4. Opening postgraduate programs where tuition fees are higher and cover the needed operational expenses. With increasing student loans defaults, faculty are being forced to take on other jobs to support themselves, and class size steadily increasing, these areas are of immediate concern in order to halt what could become a dangerous deterioration of Palestinian HEIs. Higher Education Law No. 11 defines different types of institutions of HEI governmental, public, private, and provided through UNRWA. The number of licensed and accredited higher education institutions in Palestine comprised a total of 53 institutions. These comprise 14 traditional universities (3 governmental, 8 public and 3 private universities), 19 university colleges (8 governmental, 1 public, 9 private and one UNRWA), 18 community college (2 governmental, 7 public, 6 private and 3 UNRWA ) and two open universities. HEI must be registered and accredited by MOEHE, AQAC, and regulated through the Higher Education Law No.