HIGHER EDUCATION IN PALESTINE

Human resources are the main asset of the Palestinian people: since natural resources are scarce, their main chance for sustainable development lies in the ability to develop a knowledge-intensive economy, to acquire, master, and apply the knowledge and skills required by rapidly changing technologies, and to cater for a broad spectrum of products and services. Consequently, a high-quality system of tertiary education, tuned to the realities and needs of the Palestinian people and competitive on a regional and international scale is a recognized priority for national development.

Economic, social, political and historical factors have converged to convince the Palestinian people to place an exceptionally high value on education. According to data provided by the Ministry for Education and Higher Education of the Palestinian National Authority, of the total population of 3.4 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, over 1.15 million (i.e. one in three Palestinians) are attending school education . Education at the tertiary level has also known a significant development. Student numbers grew from 20.000 in 1991 to over 141.000 by the academic year 2005-2006.The gross enrolment ratio grew from 10.2% in 1995 to 25% in 2007 (the average ratio for the Arab world is 14.9%).

The Higher Education Law (LINK), passed in 1998 provides the regulatory framework for the governance and management of higher education in Palestine. Supervision and coordination of the institutions is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. The Legislative Education Committee discusses major issues concerning higher education before decisions are adopted by the Palestinian National Authority within the framework of national policies. The Advisory Council of Higher Education assures consultation, cooperation, and coordination between the Ministry and the individual universities. An Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission was established in 2002 as an autonomous body under the umbrella of the Ministry.

 Education at the tertiary level in Palestine is provided by eleven universities, thirteen university colleges and nineteen community colleges. Seven universities are located in the West Bank: An Najah National University, Nablus and the American University of Jennin in the north, Birzeit University in the centre, three universities south of Jerusalem - Bethlehem University, Hebron University and the Hebron Polytechnic- and one in Jerusalem - Al Quds University. Also located in Jerusalem is Al Quds Open University, which operates throughout the Palestinian Territories. Three universities are located in Gaza: Al Azhar, Gaza Islamic and Al- Aqsa.

The Palestinian universities were established under very hard conditions and they continued to face serious difficulties caused by occupation, especially through repeated closures and the difficulties for staff and students to move freely and have access to classes. These difficulties explain their rather large number and their broad geographical dispersion. Difficulties to travel explain also the great discrepancy among them with regard to enrolment figures: while Birzeit and Bethlehem Universities have kept low student numbers, most of the others have grown considerably under heavy pressure for admission by growing numbers of secondary school leavers. The most illustrative example is Al Quds Open University, which has at present over 53.000 students (i.e. about 40% of the total number of Palestinian students) registered in 15 centres throughout the Palestinian Territories.

The Palestinian universities are very young. The first ones were established in the 70’s (Birzeit, An Najah, Bethlehem, Hebron and Gaza Islamic), while the youngest the Arab American University in Jenin and Al Aqsa University in Gaza are only a few years old. They are unique institutions in the sense that they emerged and grew mainly as private, non-profit institutions, which perform a recognized public function. Each university is administered by a Board of Trustees as the main policy-making body. Everyday activity is run by a President, a Vice-President, a Board of Trustees, Colleges headed by a Dean and administrative Councils at the department, college and university levels.
 
There are 247 programs and specializations offered by the institutions of higher education in arts, sciences, commerce, economics, engineering, agriculture, law, pharmacy, medical professions, nursing, education, tourism and hotel management, etc.).  Of these, 75 are post graduate programs at the Master level. All universities grant Bachelors degrees. Several, mainly Birzeit and An Najah National University in Nablus, offer also Masters' degrees. There is only one doctoral programme, in Chemistry, offered by An Najah National University. The university colleges offer Bachelors degrees, while the community colleges offer two-year diplomas, mainly in technical and commercial fields.

Below are some basic statistical data on Palestinian higher education:

Facts and Figures: General Education

Facts and Figures: Higher Education

 Institutions of Higher Education in Palestine

Students Distribution at Tertiary Education Institutions 2005/200

Distribution of Students According to Programs 2005/2006

Distribution of Faculty Members and Support Staff

* of which 126 Prof. 

Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics 

As in most developing countries, technical education lags behind university or academic education. At present only 6% of students in tertiary education are in technical and vocational colleges. The Ministry of Education and Higher Education is trying to change this proportion by investing in building the infra structure and by expanding horizontally and vertically the number of programs so as to raise the number of students that pursue technical programs leading to Bachelor technology degrees in these colleges to 15%.

A major concern at present is assuring the quality of program at all institutions of higher education. With grants from the World Bank and the European Union, a special Quality Improvement FUND (QIF) was earmarked to help the universities establish centres of excellence and to render their programs more relevant for the needs of the community. Although the Palestinian universities are very young, several of them are already engaged in valid research projects either on their own or with the cooperation of the international community. Discussions held during the International Conference on Research Development at Palestinian Universities, UNESCO, Paris, 4-5 November 2007 stressed the need to turn research into a major concern for the future and urged the member universities of the PEACE Programme to assist. Some major indicators prove the need to take urgent steps - with the help of the international academic community - to push research at all Palestinian institutions of higher education. Thus, the ratio of researchers per 1000 inhabitants is only 0.1 in Palestine, while it is 1 in the Arab world, 7.4 in Canada and 7 in Sweden. Budgetary allocations for research are very limited. Figures presented at the International PEACE Conference mentioned above indicated some 15.000 publications produced by the faculty staff, which amounts to an average of 0.3 publications per faculty member. The comparative figure is 8 publications in the industrially developed countries.

Palestinian higher education institutions are facing serious difficulties at present. While enrolments have been growing at high rates, financial and material means to sustain that growth have diminished considerably, especially after the second Intifada began. Allocations for higher education in the PNA budget have been reduced because of the urgency to meet other priority needs. External donor support has also tended to go down, especially after the switch in donor agency policy from capacity building to meeting humanitarian and immediate relief priorities. Reliance on tuition fees (expected to cover about 60% of costs for higher education) did not materialize because of the dramatic drop in revenues of the Palestinians. Lack of finances and material means has resulted in serious difficulties in maintaining quality of programmes. The student/ teacher ratio has been seriously affected. Library resources are lacking and research needs to be seriously reinforced.

It is obvious that these enormous needs cannot be met without considerable support from the international community. The PEACE Programme has been established precisely with the purpose to assist Palestinian universities to enhance the quality, relevance and efficiency of their teaching and research through the benefits of international cooperation.