Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State


The Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State


 



Conference on:


The Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State
7-9 Nov.1996

Published by: The Palestinian European American Cooperation in Education PEACE

Nablus-Palestine
FOREWORD

An-Najah National University was honored to host the International Conference on The Role of Palestinian Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State, Nablus, 7-9 November 1996. Convened by. the Programme for Palestinian/European/ American Co-operation in Education (PEACE Programme), and sponsored jointly by UNESCO and the European Commission, the Conference was the first large international academic gathering held in the Palestinian Territories. It was attended by over 200 participants, representing 65 universities in all regions of the world and 12 IGOs, NGOs, foundations and development agencies. Placed under the patronage of President Yasser Arafat, it also acquired the significance of an important national event for all Palestinians.

In their addresses, President Yasser Arafat and Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Minister of Higher Education, underlined the important role which higher education has played in the assertion of the national identity of the Palestinians and the contribution it is called upon to make to the development of a sovereign and independent Palestinian Society, based on the principles of just peace, freedom, respect for human rights, equality and participatory democracy.

The importance of international academic co-operation in the efforts of the Palestinians to build up a modem, high-quality system of higher education was brought to the fore by all speakers in the Conference. Prof J. van Ginkel, Rector Magnificus of Utrecht University, speaking in his capacity as Vice President of the International Association of Universities and of the Association of European Universities, pointed out that: "...this Conference is a clear token of academic solidarity arid of partnership. But I want to add immediately that this is not enough. An expression of academic solidarity should always be followed by its implementation through action. I dare say that we have seen enough confessions of solidarity, solemn vows to assist the Palestinian people, without practical implementation. We, the international academic community, should go on and set the example".

The recommendations adopted by the Conference call for increased academic co-operation between Palestinian and foreign universities, as the specific contribution that the international academic community can bring to the progress of the peace process in the region.

During the Conference, the 3rd Session of the General Assembly of the PEACE Programme was held, on 8th November 1996. The Assembly took note with great satisfaction of the steady growth of this interuniversity network, which has at present 71 members: 61 European and North American universities, 8 Palestinian universities and 2 associate collective members (the Community of Mediterranean Universities ­CUM - and the Consortium of Midwestern Universities for International Activities­ MUCIA).

This is a crucial period in the history of the Palestinian people. It is also a crucial stage in the development of Palestinian higher education. A viable, efficient and high-quality system of tertiary education, tuned to the realities and needs of Palestinian society and competitive on the regional and international scene, is among the highest prerequisites for independence and sustainable development for the Palestinians.

We are looking forward to the moment when conditions will have been created for Palestinian higher education institutions to function normally in an independent and sovereign Palestinian State, and will take the place to which they are entitled, as equal partners, in bilateral and multilateral academic co-operation. We are aware that it depends, above all, on our efforts, on our knowledge and abilities to achieve that goal. At the same time, we rely very much on the solidarity and co-operation of the international academic community, of which the PEACE Programme is an expression.

The purpose of this publication, which comprises the major contributions presented to the Nablus Conference and some of the documents of the 3rd Session of the General Assembly of the PEACE Programme, is to make better known the current needs and concerns of Palestinian higher education. The emphasis is on the role that international academic co-operation can bring to raising the quality and relevance of teaching and research at Palestinian universities and colleges. It is also an invitation to universities and to academics everywhere to join us in the efforts to translate into life the recommendations and concrete proposals made at the Conference.

Professor Munthir Salah President An-Najah National University President, PEACE Program

Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony was held in the Thafir EI-Masri Auditorium, a donation of the EI-Masri Foundation, which was officially inaugurated on the occasion of the opening of the Conference. It was attended by a large audience of over 600 persons and took place in the presence of Mr Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority. Several members of the Palestinian Cabinet of Ministers and of the 'Legislative Council, representatives of the municipalities and local communities of Nablus and of other localities in the Palestinian Territories were present. Numerous diplomatic missions, agencies and foundations, with Headquarters in Jerusalem and Ramallah, were also present. A large number of Palestinian university teachers and students, particularly from An-Najah National University, and leading personalities of the town of Nablus attended the official opening ceremony.

The Conference was opened by Dr. Rami Hamdallah, Vice President for Academic Affairs of An-Najah National University, who served as master of ceremonies for the Opening Session. Following the National anthem, a minute of silence was kept in memory' of the martyrs of Palestine. On behalf of all participants, Prof Hamdallah welcomed President Arafat and the other officials present at the Conference.

Welcome Address by

Professor Dr. Munther Salah, President, An-Najah National University

Your Excellency, President Yasser Arafat
Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee President of the Palestinian National Authority
President of the State of Palestine

Venerable guests and participants.

It is a great pleasure to welcome you today in the State of Palestine, in the steadfast city of Nablus, on the campus of An-Najah National University, the striving castle, on the occasion of the Second International Conference on the European-Palestinian Academic Co-operation Programme in Education. It is indeed a great honor for An-­Najah to host this Second International Conference on its campus at a time when it has become crystal clear to the world over the Palestinian people's sincere desire for peace and their strenuous, honest work so that a just and comprehensive peace become deeply rooted in the land. This has been despite all the difficulties, obstacles, and frustrations created by the enemies of peace and those who claim their desire for peace, but who only preach it and do not practice it.

Your Excellency President Arafat,

We thank you first for your sponsorship and participation in the conference despite your intensive schedule and your' persistent pursuit of our people's concerns and problems - at the top of which is the withdrawal and redeployment of Israeli military army from the city of Hebron. Undoubtedly, your presence today is a clear sign of your interest in higher education issues in Palestine. This has been your custom even during the darkest circumstances through which the Palestinian people passed. Higher education has been given a high position on the list of your priorities.

Second, we thank you for your inauguration of the late Thafer Al-Masri auditoriums. The Martyr Thafer AI-Masri worked sincerely for the welfare of his fellow countrymen. This occasion is a reminder for all of us not to forget our martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for the sake of land, liberation, and national identity.

Today we miss our brothers in the Palestinian universities in Gaza who are unable to join us because of the Israeli closure of the Gaza Strip. Their absence deprives us of benefiting from their experiences which would have enriched this Conference. The Israeli practices are not limited to closures and sieges of Palestinian cities. The Israelis have also closed four institutions of higher education in Jerusalem and Hebron for more than six months under the pretext that the Palestinian educational institutions and the deprivation of students of their natural rights in education would provide a security threat to the Israeli citizens.

Your Excellency, Mr. President, allow me to depart from the tradition of routine welcomes in order to survey for a few minutes - the state of higher education in Palestine since the beginning of this Century. This brief outlook provides a beneficial factor and a general background for the participating colleagues in this important qualitative conference.

After the British assumed control of Palestine after the First World War, in 1924, the British Mandate authorities agreed to establish the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a uncultured, Jewish institution. The Palestinian Arabs, based on the general sense of coexistence with other minorities and allowing for their integration in the society, regardless of their race or origin, had applied for the establishment of a multi-cultural university in Palestine for Arabs, Jews and Britons. However, the Palestinians received a categorical rejection from the British Mandate authorities to their request.

Soon after the establishment of a Higher Education Council in the early 1930s, the Palestinian Arabs welcomed it, thinking that through the Council it would be possible to establish higher education institutions which had been previously rejected. However, again their request, unfortunately, was rejected. Despite these rejections, the Palestinian Arabs - which represented 95% of Palestine's population at the time - did not lose hope. They initiated the establishment of a two-year Arab College in Jerusalem. The College was also linked with the University of London through the university's external examination programme, as an early form of education ,at a distance. The development of similar colleges continued. Several teacher training and community colleges, in various fields, were established to meet the growing demand for higher education.

In the 1970s, after the Israeli occupation of the rest of Palestine, the Israeli military government prevented the Palestinian young men and women from joining Arab universities, in particular, and foreign universities, in general. As a result, groups of Palestinians from different geographical areas of Palestine initiated the establishment of Palestinian universities; despite the social, political, and financial difficulties. At the time, the Israeli military authorities approved these universities' establishment to achieve their own interests - one of which was to monitor the travel of Palestinian young men abroad and prevent them from having contacts with their legitimate leadership. The authorities meant to concentrate the young men the universities so as to make it easy for them to monitor and control the young Palestinian men.

In 1980/81, the Israeli authorities felt and realized that their aims had not been achieved. On the contrary, the establishment of the universities, which had received Israeli approval, had the opposite effect which the Israelis had had in mind. Instead of controlling the Palestinians, the universities became strongholds and centres for steadfastness and resistance against the occupation. The Israelis issued military order 854 to control the universities. Since then, the world of academia has become familiar with this notorious, ill-advised order. The Palestinian universities stood firmly against the order with all their might, supported by the international academic community, universities and professors, as well as by international organizations. UNESCO was a case in point. As a result, the order was frozen.

Against this background, the Palestinian universities continued their message, despite all obstacles and problems such as the severe restrictions on the importation of scientific equipment and references, the repeated and prolonged closures, and the detentions and deportation of students and teachers. Equally damaging, the Israeli military authorities prevented the establishment of agriculture and fine arts colleges because of the important role they play in the preservation of land, cultural and national identity. At the time, the idea of establishing AI-Quds Open University crystallized. UNESCO had an outstanding role in its creation. However, the university was only launched in 1985, when preparation of programmes, curricula, textbooks and educational aids started.

In December 1987, the blessed Intifada broke out against the Israeli Occupation which reacted by shutting down all Palestinian institutions of higher education for prolonged periods that extended for four years. In spite of this act, the universities continued to exercise their duties by holding classroom instruction in mosques, churches and private homes of teachers and students. At the same time, the Amman-based AI-Quds Open University began broadcasting its educational programmes which brought university education into full circle. During that critical period, the idea of European-Palestinian Academic Co-operation began to take shape and materialize, particularly, in education and at academic institutes.

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After that, some American universities joined in. Thanks are due to the European Union for its full funding of this PEACE Programme of activities from the beginning. UN'ESCO and a number of European universities have also supported the Programme. We express our thanks to all.                               .

To conclude, we may state the following:

The Palestinian universities' role, since their foundation until the outbreak of Intifada, has been to provide higher education to the people of Palestine despite all impediments, while simultaneously, to persist in resisting the Israeli Occupation.

During the Intifada, despite their closure, the universities played a leading and unique role by providing higher education to young men and women in Palestine through both traditional and non-traditional means. Al-Quds Open University programmes are a case in point. This enabled the Palestinian young men and women to maintain the difficult balance of continuing the Intifada and their resistance of the occupation, on one hand, while continuing their academic achievement on the other hand.

The limitless PLO's support had a greater effect on the continuation of Palestinian universities. University education and resistance to the occupation have paralleled each other and have been of equal importance. This has been something that President Abu Amar has reiterated on numerous occasions.

In the presence of the Palestinian National Authority, and during the stages of building the State of Palestine, the Palestinian universities have an important role to play which is drastically different from that of the past. This new role is the focus of our Conference and I will leave it to you and to the participants to come up with a comprehensive, clear vision of this new role.

Again, I thank you, Mr. President, for sponsoring and attending this international conference despite your busy schedule. My thanks and regards are also due to the participating colleagues who have taken great pains to come and actively participate.

I wish all of you a happy stay in Palestine and every success for your deliberations and this conference.

Peace and Allah's blessing unto you all.

Speech by President Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian National Authority

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful,

Brother Dr. Munther Salah Ladies and Gentlemen Honourable Guests Brothers:

Allah says in the Holy Qur' an: "0' My Lord, may you increase my knowledge".

At the beginning, as I stand in front of you, I have but to remember my comrade, comrade of my way, Martyr Hero, the late Thafer Al-Masri, and I say to him: "High in the heavens along with martyrs, prophets and true believers." I say to him: "the Oath is the Oath and the pledge is the pledge until we reach Jerusalem".

I have also but to remember the late Hikmat AI-Masri, may he rest in peace; I stand among you on the Mountain of Fire which is also the mountain of light, knowledge and gratitude.

It is a great pleasure today to be with you in this high rise scientific edifice. We are proud of it and we say that we will continue this process and the scientific evolution.

We have made two revolutions: an armed revolution, side by side with an equally important one, the scientific revolution. The latter one has enabled the Palestinian people to record the highest rate of education in the region. This is something we are proud of

Ladies and Gentlemen Honorable Guests Brothers and Sisters It is a pleasure to meet you today, scholars, thinkers, and professors, in all fields of knowledge. I welcome you and I would like to express my pleasure and deep happiness. We meet today in this valuable academic and scientific demonstration, on the campus of An-Najah National University, in the land of Palestine, under the Palestinian National Authority. We all have hope and confidence that this important convention will contribute to the development and upgrading of our academic institutions of higher learning, in a scientific way, in line with the urgent needs and requirements of the Palestinian people, particularly concerning the reconstruction of our vital sectors and the building of the Palestinian National Authority institutions on deep scientific bases which would achieve the greatest comprehensive economic and social development.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

At this critical and sensitive stage, the role of Palestinian higher education is of utmost importance. We are facing serious social and economic challenges, something that dictates on us to develop our national universities and centres of science so that they could become comprehensive centres for the training of promising generations. The \ human element is seen as the basic pillar on which both construction and. development of state institutions rest. In so doing, our institutions can become effective elements in the bandwagon of human civilization. In the course of life, we need these institutions to advance and prosper with useful knowledge, the future foundation for all nations.

Allow me to emphasize the leading role played by Palestinian thinkers and scholars. They have contributed effectively to the building of Arab generations and to developing their potentials in all fields: science" engineering, culture; education, medicine and production. We are proud of the contributions of Palestinian scholars to humanity. We hope more of this will continue in all creative ways, in our homeland, on the basis of co-operation, exchange of knowledge and expertise between our scientists and their counterparts in brotherly and friendly countries for the benefit of humanity, to meet basic needs and enable the Palestinian people to live in dignity and freedom, let alone improving their living conditions and alleviating their daily suffering.

At present, the Palestinian people are living under unbearable conditions due to the high rate of unemployment and poverty. This has been the result of blockade and unjust closure of Palestinian lands by the Israeli government under the pretext of security. The world has never experienced collective punishments like the ones we are facing.

Despite the drastic changes and difficult circumstances, we are proud that the Palestinian people have kept abreast of the scientific course with both responsibility and capability. In the last eight decades, the Palestinian people have faced so many obstacles in their pursuit for protection of their identity against all attempts, by Israel, to obliterate this identity and impose hegemony on their resources. Credit goes to your sincere constructive efforts and strong determination for the establishment of our universities despite all hindrances and repressive methods by Israeli occupation practiced against both university teachers and students.

The Palestinian people have been made homeless and have been dispersed in all corners of the world. Despite that, they have had all motivation to seek education and knowledge with strong unprecedented will and determination. We say that with pride. According to Israeli's Jaffee Centre, we have the highest rates of graduates, in our region, surpassing even the number of graduates in Israel which still occupies our land.

We are grateful to the role of our brothers and mends that have supported our cause and helped us by all means possible during the past years.


Allow me, on behalf of the Palestinian people, - to express my deep appreciation and gratefulness to the distinguished and outstanding role of the European countries, governments and peoples, for their constructive and ftuitful efforts. All appreciation is due to UNESCO for its support, financially and morally, of our universities and in the field of culture and education.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are longing for a great hope towards the future. We all have conviction and confidence in our people's ability to continue the course of building peace. We have great hope in the continuation of this creative co-operation for the sake of laying the solid foundations and beams as well as the formulation of noble goals for the process of higher education in our country. We will move side by side, with sincere efforts, to bring about a just, permanent and comprehensive peace that guarantees security, stability for all peoples of the region and opens horizons for regional coexistence and co-operation.

I take the opportunity today to send my warm congratulations to President Bil1 Clinton on the occasion of winning in the American Presidential elections. We are confident he will continue his efforts to push the peace process. He has been sponsoring and following up this process since the signing of the Oslo Agreements in the White House.

The Palestinian people, as the Arab nations have emphasized in the Cairo Arab Summit resolutions, have chosen peace as a strategic option and an irreversible road.

They have chosen the peace that secures the termination of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands including the Christian and Islamic holy places and the restoration and exercise of our national rights at the top of which are the right to self determination and establishment of a Palestinian state, with Jerusalem, as its Capital.

We will continue our national course, the course of reconstruction, and building. We all hope to achieve our legitimate aspirations with the help and support of our mends and brothers and all peace-loving, democratic and freedom forces the world over.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Again, I welcome you all in the land of Palestine, the land of peace and love. I thank you for your participation in this important academic gathering. I wish you a happy stay and a successful conference.

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.. "And say: Act! Allah will behold your actions and his messenger and his believers. "

Truthful is Allah the Magnificent

Dr. Gabi A. Baramki presented the objectives of the Conference, in his capacity as Chairman of the PEACE Programme Steering Committee. He underlined that the chief objective of the PEACE Programme was to support the Palestinian: universities, through interuniversity co-operation, and to enhance the quality of thei1" teaching, training and research programmes. He reminded the participants in the Conference about the continued Israeli measures against the Palestinian education. Institutions. Several of them, including Abu Dies College in Jerusalem, Hebror University and its Polytechnic Institute are still closed. He outlined briefly the achievements of the PEACE Programme since the last International Conference held IT Louvain-La-Neuve, in November 1994, and insisted on the need for the preser. Conference to result in recommendations and concrete proposals for action.

In his address to the Conference, Mr. Michael Bahr, Acting Representative of the European Commission, pointed out the strong relationship that binds Europe wit!: Palestine and emphasized the commitment of the European Union to support the social economic development; of the Palestinian people, as a prerequisite for the progress c: the peace process in the Region. As part of that support, a large share is allocated to education, in particular to higher education. He assured the participants of the continued support which the European Commission will extend to higher educational given its key role in the development of the high level human resources of the Palestinians.

Professor M.A.R. Dias, Director of UNESCO's Division of Higher Education,

President Arafat,
Or. Hanan Ashrawi, Minister of Higher Education of the Palestinian Authority, Ladies and Gentlemen,

In my capacity as Director of the Division of Higher Education of UNESCO, it is both an honor and a privilege for me to extend to you the greetings of Dr. Federico Mayor Director-General of UNESCO, and together with my colleagues present here, Dr. Adnan Shehab Eldin, Director of the UNESCO Office in Cairo, and Dr. Khawla Shaheen of the Education Sector of UNESCO, to wish full success to this important meeting devoted to the further development of Palestinian higher education and to the contribution that the international academic community can make in that direction.

It is a great honor for me to convey, on behalf of Dr. Mayor, his best wish to you, Chairman Arafat, and to assure you of UNESCO's full support in your courageous efforts for the peaceful democratic and prosperous development of the: Palestinian people. Peace is a process: we learn this every day. Each day also, observe negative steps in the process, but the positive movement for peace irreversible and does not, and cannot stop. Yesterday -this is an example- I represented UNESCO in a ceremony at the University of Haifa: the closing of an exhibition on Bethlehem 2000,in the presence of Palestinian and Israeli officials and of representatives of the Universities of Ha if a and Bethlehem. During the ceremony, my personal feelings on the irreversibility of the peace process became more concrete.

Chairman Arafat,

Let me express a very personal consideration. One does not need to be a prophet to see that you will be remembered for ever as one among the most important personalities of this century. In private life, in public affairs, on the international scene, there is a moment for fighting, even for war, but one will become a wise man only when he knows how to make peace. The Peace Agreement signed by you and by the Prime Minister Rabin - the agreement of the braves- is in the collective memory of the humanity. In my functions, I have had neither the opportunity nor the privilege of meeting Mr. Rabin. It is a real privilege to meet you. As a former journalist, a university professor and academic administrator and as an international civil servant, I learned that following your actions and reactions is a permanent lesson of life. Thank you very much.

May I take this opportunity to convey personal greetings, on behalf of the Director General, to you, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, and to wish you all success in your new and important task as Minister of Higher Education. We all see you as an internationally well-known academic and as a highly respected partner in the international dialogue in the region. Last week, in the United Nations, in New York, I had echoes, very positive ones, on your international action. I wish to assure you that UNESCO is ready to assist you in your endeavor to raise the quality of Palestinian higher education system and to better adapt them to the specific needs of Palestinians.

UNESCO's experience shows that, without a good higher education system, no country, no people may envisage to be really independent. And in democratic societies, where governments are elected by people, a fruitful dialogue must be established among the academic world - tree, autonomous and responsible - and the legitimate representatives of people, including the Parliament. Democracy, as well as Peace, is the result of a process, sometimes a long process, in which, patience is a necessary virtue, but the identification of common objectives and the closer co-operation among all partners is indispensable.

This is one of the reasons why the Director General of UNESCO decided to call, in 1998, a World Conference on Higher Education, which will be preceded in 1996 and 1997, by a series of regional conferences. The first one in Latin America and the Caribbean will take place in a few days, in La Havana, Cuba, from 18 to 22 November 1996. The Regional Conference for Arab countries is scheduled to take place in April 1997 in Beirut, Lebanon. All these conferences will discuss issues linked to quality, relevance, equity and international co-operation. The Conferences will, we hope, approve declarations containing the principles of the Academic Community (rectors, presidents, professors, students) of government representatives and of members of the civil society, agree on the challenges higher education faces at the end of this century for the construction of a better society based on Peace and Development. These conferences will also prepare and approve regional and later international plans of action aiming at the amelioration of higher education systems.

Professor Abu Lughod, here present, is actively involved in this process, as member of the Steering Committee of the International Advisory Group, the Director General appointed, under the presidency of Professor Georges Haddad, of the Sorbonne University, to monitor and guide the preparation and realization of these conferences. In UNESCO, we are confident that the discussions you start today will provide an important input to this process.

Special thanks and greetings, Mr. Chairman, are also due to Professor Munthir Salab, the President of An-Najab National University, as host of this Conference. Your University serves as a good example to show that, despite obstacles, difficulties and chronic shortage of resources and funds, the Palestinian higher education institutions have made important progress in upgrading the quality of their programmes and in being more active, as equal partners, on the international scene. Established as a national College in 1919, An Najah developed as a full university since 1977 and became the largest one in Northern Palestine. We are happy to collaborate with you, Professor Salab.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When two years ago, I addressed your preceding Conference in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, I emphasized the particular attention and active support extended by UNESCO and by the Director General personally to the Palestinian higher education, even before your network was formally constituted in 1991, as an expression of the academic solidarity with the Palestinian universities. This support was in keeping with the relevant Resolutions of the General Conference of UNESCO and the Decisions of its Executive Board, which urged the Organization to reinforce its support to the Palestinian People in all areas within its competence. I must insist on the fact that this support was unconditional and was done a long time before the Peace Agreement was signed. I will never forget the discussions on this matter we had with Professors Vincent Hanssens and Valerio Grementieri and with the president of the Steering Committee of the PEACE Programme, Professor Baramki, whose leadership was fundamental in the development of this programme.          .

This year's meeting convened by the PEACE Programme with the support of UNESCO and of the European Commission, acquires a particular significance. In the first place, it is the first large international gathering on higher education to be held in the Palestinian territories. It is also, as I was told last week in the Secretary General's office in New York, the first international conference held with the sponsorship of one UN agency in the territories under Palestinian Authority. Moreover, it meets at a time when every effort is needed in order to reset the peace process on the right track again. It is becoming increasingly clear that the only solution for tranquility and safety for sustainable and sovereign development for all the peoples in the Region is to pursue the efforts to find solutions to the disputed issues through dialogue and negotiations.

It is UNESCO's belief that the international academic community can make a contribution of its own in this direction. The network of European and North American Universities, very appropriately called the PEACE Programme, which has convened this Conference acts in this direction. Your presence here is an expression of the commitment to continue the valuable work you have started a few years ago.

The topic of this Conference concerns the future of Palestinian higher education. In keeping with its consistent stand, which emphasizes the role of higher education for any effort to achieve self sustainable development, UNESCO believes that the Palestinians need to build up a modem, high quality, system of higher education which should be' tuned to' the specific needs of Palestinian society, while being, at the same time, efficient and competitive on the international and regional academic scene. In the present day world, in which any kind of development has become knowledge intensive, one of the chances for the future of the Palestinian people lies precisely in its capacity to develop an education system capable of assuring the acquisition and mastery of advanced knowledge and skills so as to introduce new technologies and provide a broad spectrum of products and services. A good system of higher education is not only a tool for the development of high level human resources in Palestine, it is also called upon to make an invaluable contribution to the enhancement of the national identity and to the sovereign development of the Palestinians.

Within its overall Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian people, UNESCO, through a concerted action between the special units headed by Mr. Omar Massalha and the Division of Higher Education, has included, as priority actions, a number of projects which are aimed at the further development of Palestinian higher education and research. When the joint UNESCO/Palestinian Committee met in Paris in April of this year' to discuss the stage of implementation of the Programme, the Director-General received the members of the Committee and made it very clear that the Organization wishes to make a special effort in the field of higher education for the Palestinians, which is not limited to be the host of the secretariat of the Programme.


Your network has known a steady dynamic growth: from twenty-two member institutions which was your membership two years ago in Louvain-Ia-Neuve, to over sixty-five member universities a! present. I am pleased to note that this is the result of the positive dynamics centred by the Programme, but also the result of the work of the Steering Committee and of the Secretariat headed by my former colleague, Mr. Chitoran. It is expected that this Conference will give a new impetus to the programme. I wish. to assure you that you will always have the constant support of UNESCO.


Let me list below, by way of example, a few projects in which UNESCO, within the limitation imposed by its financial constraints (and all of you know how drastic these constraints are)_could provide assistance to the PEACE programme.

- the Director-General has approved a contribution to cover travel costs for the 17 Palestinian post graduate students who have been offered scholarships by the PEACE programme member universities. In addition, several Palestinian - the Director-General has approved a contribution to cover travel costs for the 17 Palestinian post graduate students who have been offered scholarships by the PEACE programme member universities. In addition, several Palestinian students have been able to pursue studies abroad, following the appeal of the Director-General to governments, lGOs, NGOs and universities, to launch an

International Fellowship Scheme for Palestinian Students

- Within the framework of the UNITWINIUNESCO Chairs programme, we have continued to support the UNESCO Chair in Archaeology, established at the Institute of Archaeology of Al-Quds University. But serving also Birzeit and An-Najah Universities. The international expert who is currently teaching at the Chair is present at this Conference. I hope you will discuss in one of the Working Groups ways by means of which the programme of the Chair can be further strengthened and expanded_

- support has been extended for the establishment of a Modem Language Resources Centre, with the purpose to upgrade foreign language teaching at Palestinian universities, and to provide intensive language courses for the Palestinian students who intend to complete postgraduate studies abroad_

- we have also supported the establishment of an international university network on refugee studies, an area of particular topicality for the Palestinians. Several Palestinian universities belong to the network_

- UNESCO has covered transportation costs for the equipment, books and journals collected by CICUP, which co-operates with UNESCO.

UNESCO will pursue the search for funding from various sources for the other projects included in the Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People which concern directly higher education. It has already secured substantial support from the Norwegian Development Agency (NORAD) for the project devoted to the elaboration of a strategy for the development of higher education in Palestine. Slow but steady progress is made in relation to other projects, namely the Marine Science Centre to be established in the Gaza Strip, the establishment of a microelectronics facility serving the Palestinian universities as well as the local communities, etc.

All these actions represent an effort, express a good will, but, of course, the needs of the Palestinians in the field of higher education are so important that it is only through the joint, concerted efforts of all those concerned and ready to assist that steps can be taken in order to meet them. I understand that the PEACE Programme member-universities are fully aware of this, because they. have expressed and have actually proved by facts that they are ready to:

- offer scholarships
- wave tuition fees, offer tree access to library and laboratory facilities and cheap accommodation, whenever they cannot offer full grants;

- do not charge fees for consultants, experts and teachers who go on mission to Palestinian universities and, in some cases, cover also travel costs;

- initiate bilateral projects, which are then developed into larger-scale, multilateral ones;

- seek and obtain funding for various projects from their national authorities and from other potential donors.

I can only hope that the international community in its turn will understand how important it is to increase support to the development of high-level human resources of the Palestinians.

I wish to appeal in particular to the European Commission which, together with UNESCO, have been the main supporters of the PEACE Programme, and are willing to continue this support in the future as well. I would like to address the same appeal to the representatives of the sister organizations in the UN System present in the Conference, to various NGOs, agencies and foundations present, to bring their contribution in order to assist the Palestinians to give a fresh start to the development of Palestinian higher education. The first and most important efforts are to be made by the Palestinians themselves, but they need the partnership of the international academic community and the active support of the international community in general.

I therefore wish you full success in your proceedings and would like to assure you once again of the Director-General of UNESCO's support to the PEACE Programme and to the development of a strong higher education system in Palestine as a contribution to the peace process for the development of Palestine.

Dr. Ranan Ashrawi, Minister of Higher Education, Palestinian National Authority

After the series of talks that we have had this morning, that have covered probably most of the topics I want to cover, I feel the last thing you need is another speech. But I think I am going to give you one.

First I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the organizers of this Conference, and for the long and hard and difficult work that they took in order to put it together, with its long tradition of co-operation and dedication.

I also would like to thank An-Najah National University for hosting this Conference and the Masri family and Masri Foundation for the opening of the new auditorium and for their ongoing and continued dedication to the Palestinian nation, to Palestinian education which is enhancing the authenticity of the Palestinian identity.

I would like to welcome all our international guests here in Palestine which is not just a state of mind, which is not just a hope or an inspiration but is in a state of emergence as a new state, on the ground: the fusion of the people and the land. The relation of our history, the relation of an ancient and proud culture that has long been denied and is now in the process of being vindicated through an act of will. This act of will by the Palestinian people wherever, under the general state of injustice, whether in exile or under occupation has maintained that without the basic component of justice without the basic recognition of Palestinian national rights and identity, there can never be genuine peace or stability. We thank you for sharing this commitment for genuine peace, blending the components and the constituents of peace that are based on great awareness because our real enemy is the politics of exclusion and domination. Our real ally is knowledge, values, and a sense of commitment to all that is just and valuable in human society.

We are involved in two very difficult processes which are parallel: mutually dependent and simultaneous. It is the real process of the evolution of occupation and the evolution of statehood, and both in tremendously hard work, serious challenges and very painful decisions. The peace process as you know is undergoing serious difficulties. I am not going to go into all the details of Israeli intransigence, of the regression into the land which again is the reality of exclusion, of domination, of adapting to impose the will of one side on the other, and therefore challenging the magnitude of this peace process, and the prospects for long-term peace and stability.

The Palestinians are, as usual, with their dedication, with their strong will, with international law, active, and aware, and they are political people who have not been broken by occupation or exile and who have not been defeated by these. But we see in them challenges. Again we are involved in the process of nation building which is equally challenging, equally arduous and much more difficult in many ways, because we are laying the foundations of a future, after such a long legacy of pain and of
Injustice and we do not want to go back into the past. We are not interested in presenting ourselves. as victims or in mutual victimize. We are interested in looking forward to a future for the Palestinian people everywhere on the land of Palestine with our own legitimacy and you are here to participate in that consultation with me in building institutions.

An academic foundation is the basis of the nation building process, because it involves one component which is the means and ends of our endeavor: the human component. The human mind is one of the most valuable trusts that we have. We, as educators, _e entrusted with it and we cannot in any way sell short this trust. That is why I keep saying that this newly formed ministry, as a result of the decision of President Arafat and of the Palestinian National Authority, which is also struggling to bring this here today, is a relatively new one but with an old heritage based on present and serious challenges - closures, and restrictions on people's movement, in political movements, freedoms notwithstanding. This ministry also sells to you a future vision, and the future vision is all-encompassing to the Palestinians everywhere, based of course, on the experience of the Palestinians here and elsewhere, in building the foundation of our own reality.

As you know, the universities and all institutions of higher learning emerge essentially as an extension of the will of the people, as an act of affirmation of identity, as an act of positive defiance and resistance against all attempts at the abrogation of this identity in us, and also as part of the institution building process which started even under the occupation and in exile. It is like a secret marriage between the PLO and the leadership in exile, and the Palestinian people here who have to work together in order to maintain our relation with the process, our institutions, even though we were held accountable as being illegal because we were not supposed to affirm anything at all, least of all our national identity.

I believe in certain criteria and values for education, as one that is induced, and these values must be promoted by education, and by society. Education must be relevant, and not in the official approach to relevant, as a didactic but as an integral part of what is required in the process. At the same time, education must be appropriate, using the means available, plus being ongoing and sustainable. Simultaneously, I must say, in being appropriate and available, and integrated, there must be no compromise on quality or standards. We have to be absolutely clear and ruthless on these issues. We cannot justify any type of shortcoming by saying "we are being unjustly treated while we are learning under conditions that are difficult." We have to be true to ourselves, before others. I cannot make this compromise with myself, and therefore there will be no compromise on quality or on standards. We have to be involved, again, in long- term planning- while we are meeting immediate and short-term needs, which are by no means, an easy task. Therefore, we have to be moderate and flexible in our approach and in our rhythm.

Part of the challenge of the Ministry is to provide economic security and support for the universities and this, of course, involves international effort as well as our own effort to provide this type of sustained support and financial security. We are also working on a leader framework and basis for economic works in order, again, to provide a firm and clear foundation for all institutions of higher learning. They are putting this into context, the Palestinian reality being rooted and firmly embedded in the knowledge of our identity and our needs and our future requirements and of course international correlation as the global context of Palestinian higher education. That is why we are committed to the two principles simultaneously: the principle of authenticity and the principle of contemporary innovation and we will not sacrifice either for the sake of that. We are also committed to enhancing research and supporting research activities, here and internationally. We are all putting effort into that. We are giving more effort and time to technical and vocational training which will meet the needs of our people and to create an integrated society that will be part of a nation building developmental process.' This is being laid.

We are also committed to faculty development, not just, as Dr. Bararnki said, not just the new graduates, but also the faculty who are in institutions, who constantly ­need to feel that they are part of an ongoing, progressing process. And of course we are committed to institution building, and to do this, we have to create an environment of feasibility and co-ordination among institutions of higher learning, and of course with international development. Therefore, we view ourselves, as people who have national goals but who also have a global vision. And we will dare to intervene and to conclude and to make ourselves ready because in this age of information, the universality of knowledge holds to the importance of skills to intervene and to influence serious global knowledge. We need to have the tools and the ability not only to gain access, but also to be part of the shaping of this age and this knowledge.

Therefore we will be part of this new definition of power and leadership globally. It is no longer the possession of arms or even resources that can give you power, it is the possession of knowledge. Knowledge as define_ by information, skills, and ability to intervene, the values and attitudes that you bring to the interaction of this knowledge as well as your ability to effect change. This is the source of power and leadership. So we may be a very small nation in the making, a very small country struggling for its independence, but we also need the tools in order to utilize them and the skills and the access in order to give us these new sources of authority, of leadership, of power to intervene and to place ourselves on the global map of knowledge and education.

Having been entrusted with these human resources and knowledge, I would like to emphasize that our focus is one of decentralization, one of accepting privatization, (even governments are being privatized nowadays), of enhancing civil society and the work of civil society and being part of these new concepts of governments: inclusive, participatory, broad-based governments, based on respect for diversity and pluralism and of course versatility and ability. Therefore we see this as a process of empowerment, both national empowerment, as a nation, and the empowerment of the individual to be part of the decision-making of that nation, challenging, of course, the given norms and attitudes that have long been used to justify the exclusion of the Palestinians.

And in order to do that we have to be part of the dynamic process. We are going to build our own democracy, internally, again as an act of will. To maintain the rule of law and to designate just laws. We are going to safeguard basic rights and freedoms and create a nation based on institutions that use meritocracy and professionalism as basic principles of assessment and evaluation. To do that we also guarantee non-discrimination. I do not think that anyone should be excluded from education or any kind of form of endeavor on the basis of any handicap whether gender, physical, or economic. Gender is being used as an excuse to exclude women. I may not be one of the greatest advocates of women's rights or I may not be the first to tell you that President Arafat is committed, on his honor, to women's rights.

As a nation in the making we need to mobilize and utilize all our resources: we cannot exclude anybody. But we need to attract people. Palestinian expertise is all abroad. We need to end this exile. We would like to bring them back to be part of the nation building process and part of the political process as well. We need involvement and therefore, not just with our Palestinian expatriates but also with the international community of which you are a part, an outreach program, to network, to co-operate to work together on the basis of parity and mutual empowerment because we have a lot that we can learn from each other.

I salute this endeavor, the PEAC.E Programme, its objectives, and particularly its aim in assisting Palestinian universities and education. It is the time for excellence in endeavors; I look forward to the results, the resolutions, and the recommendations of this meeting of minds here today. I am proud of you that we will meet together in full partnership and support for Palestinian education. Thank you very much.

The next speaker was Dr. K. Yassin, Director of Thafer Al-Masri Foundation, who presented. The contribution of the Foundation to the development of Palestinian society. In particular, he referred to the cultural, educational and social projects meant to restore the city of Nablus, including the Auditorium donated to An Najah National University. He announced the decision of the Foundation to build a College of Fine Arts for the University.


FIRST PLENARY SESSION

Professor Abu-Lughud

A Vision for Higher Education in Palestine: Education for National Integration and Development

1.

Introduction

The state of Palestinian higher education and the problems it suffers ITom are accountable to the fact that, since 1967, there has been no legitimate national authority, capable of directly supervising this aspect of Palestinian education as a whole. The Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza have gained a great deal of experience and skill in organizing their educational affairs generally, and in overseeing the activities of institutes of higher education specifically. This explains how the Palestiruan universities currently in existence and the Council for Higher Education were created by popular initiative.

By way of mutual co-operation between the universities and itself, in addition to support from. the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Council for Higher Education was able to fully assert its steering authority and direction over the institutions of higher education in Palestine. Such a feat came in the absence of any kind of political authority co-operating with it in this task.

Despite the accomplishments of the system of higher education, which allowed the Palestinian people to retain their national identity and develop under the exceptional circumstances of adverse military occupation, there is clearly a need for a radical change in the present system. Therefore, we might allude to another important achievement, which proves to be useful as background information to this report: the fact is that the Palestinian people gained important skills in the fields of establishing, administrating, and developing educational institutions. One of the main results of this experience was the evolution of people's understanding 'of higher education, its effectiveness and drawbacks. They learned how to better take into consideration social, cultural, and geographical factors in organizing and administrating higher education in this day and age. In order to more clearly illustrate this point, consider that several universities were formed out of institutions which formerly served as high schools. Universities were created in areas which are geographically difficult to reach, as well as a result of regional competition between the inhabitants of different areas of Palestine. The Palestinians were subsequently able to overcome many of the impediments to study created by the occupation. Those who oversaw higher education understood the particulars of Palestinian society and managed to effectively administer it, despite both their limited resources and the collective punishment measures of the occupation authorities.


Basic Legislation for Higher Education

Presently, we are beginning a new era, one which sees a national authority striving to enact its and the people's sovereignty over Palestine and its public institutions. As this authority's main concern is fulfilling the will of the people, the true indicator of its legitimacy, it has formed a legislative council by holding elections. This body is the sole, legitimate legal authority charged with governing and safeguarding the Palestinian people. We have no doubt that the legislative council will succeed in this task. '"As for higher education, it is absolutely necessary for the legislative council to issue a law in this regard, dealing with a) the definition of higher education in an institution and b) what such a definition entails, as far as rights and duties are concerned. The following is a conceptualization of what we believe the goals of this basic law should be:

1. The law will determine the philosophy and aims of Palestinian higher education as well as serving as a reference for those who work in this field.

2. The law will determine the type of institution that will present the educational programs leading to the awarding of advanced (i.e. post high school) degrees in all fields of study. These include all university-level studies: humanities, sciences, social sciences, fine arts, as well as all professional and technology studies such as law, engineering, medicine, pharmacology, agriculture, technical science and other studies which culminate in the awarding of a BA or BSc degree. This institution will also be responsible for certifying all masters' degrees and PhD's in all fields, in addition to vocational degrees, pharmacist's licenses, and medical degrees.

3. The law will also legislate the organization of institutions so as to best serve the interests of the Palestinian people, wherever they might be. Thus the State of Palestine, along with public sector agencies, institutions, and non-profit groups will be able to form institutes for higher education - junior colleges, universities, vocational and training centers, etc. All those institutes will be subject to the rules and regulations issued by the general institution for higher education, as designated by law.

4. It is also necessary for the Palestine state, or a committee directly empowered by the state, to be able to create Palestinian colleges, universities, or institutes outside of Palestine, in accordance with the laws of the host country. So if we wanted to found a Palestinian university for Palestinians living abroad, such a university would have to be open to all without prejudice. The Palestinian law for higher education must deem this step legal firstly, so as to facilitate the institution responsible for higher education's compliance with the laws of the host country. The case of the Arab University in Beirut is applicable here. It is legally an Egyptian university (a branch of Alexandria University), and was established as a university for all the Arab peoples, in accordance with Lebanese law which allows for the creation of foreign universities on its soil. The same is true for the two American universities in Beirut and Cairo, which are not branches of any universities in America, but are chartered in the US.


5. The law will also determine the tasks and special powers of the Ministry of Higher Education and its relationship with the various institutions of higher learning.

6. Finally, the law will determine the tasks, special powers, and framework of the Council for Higher Education and its relationship with the Ministry of Higher Education, and the Palestinian colleges and universities.

3. The Dependence of Universities and Academic Institutions

If this general and complete legislative law is successful, then the Palestinian state apparatus will be able to oversee a public university or universities which the PLO had helped establish and support such as Al-Quds Open University and Al-Azhar. As for the other private universities, they will remain so, whether or not they consider themselves profit making institutions. If a university is privately run, yet non-profit, it can be considered public and private at the same time. The same is true for research centres under this law, which we will classify them as private or public.

What is meant by a public/private, non-profit institution are those universities, research centres, or colleges registered as public institutions, run by a Board of Trustees. The ownership of the university/centre/College can be public or private, registered in the name of the Board of Trustees or supervisory group, such as the Islamic or Christian waqf agencies, or in the name of any charitable outfit. The one common characteristic is that the university research centre/college charter must declare that the institution is non-profit in order to enjoy this special dual status.

4. Private Institutions: Profit Making Companies

The basic question here is: should the creation of institutions of higher education as a financial investment by individuals be made legal, as is the case in Jordan? This type of higher education institution, which awards university - level degrees in numerous fields of learning, is practically non-existent in developed nations, Western and Eastern. Such a type, which has become popular recently in countries like Jordan, sprung forth from the concept of private ownership of primary and secondary schools, which developed under extraordinary circumstances in this particular age.

The idea of creating private, profit making higher education institutions must be approached with caution. At this crucial stage of development, when there are eight different non-profit universities in Palestine, and general studies are being carried out to improve the level of higher education, the establishment of such institutions could be allowed in exceptional circumstances, and under strict guidelines which guarantee a high standard of achievement.

The establishment of private, profit making arts, technological, and vocational institutes (flight training school, auto-mechanics schools, etc.) should be permitted. It should be clear, however, that this type of institution cannot grant legitimate university degrees, and different types of guidelines need to be placed on these types of institutions than on academic ones.

5.The Objectives of Palestinian Higher Education

A. The General Objective and Defining Priorities

Palestinian higher education must be committed to a wide variety of goals which seek to increase the student's level of knowledge in the arts, sciences" literature, social studies, etc. and allow them to develop and grow. These goals will also allow for the student to think and be inquisitive at a high level, while at the' same time encouraging independent thought and creativity. The student will thus learn how to be productive, while benefiting from all the educational sources he/she encounters. The goals of higher education will stress the importance of Arab and Islamic civilization and strive to instil its value system. Respecting democracy, objectivity, and others' opinions will be an aim of higher education as well. The overall desired result of these goals is to meet the educational needs of Palestinian society, while taking into account its unique culture, history, social values, and civilization.

On the practical level, however, our society presently lacks the necessary studies which could determine and define what the needs of our society are to sufficiently grow and develop. Such studies would enable institutes of higher education to successfully address these needs by developing relevant educational programs, i.e. general and specialized curricula and courses of study. Those who have made a somewhat serious attempt to define these needs do not disagree about certain pressing priorities that need to be addressed. It is widely recognized that there is a lack of competent and capable individuals in technology, media, education, medicine, and law, administration, etc. Accordingly, there is a general agreement that higher education must contribute to the achievement of Palestinian cultural and national identity and this constitutes an important priority.

B. The Specific Objective

In theory and on a practical basis, we believe that the top priorities of higher education are those that help, culturally, scientifically, and practically in realizing national integration and development. Institutes of higher education fully realize the importance of this goal because in the immediate future, it will be their duty to deal with all the negative effects of the past, stemming from British and Israeli expansionist colonialism. The years of foreign domination seriously damaged the fabric of Palestinian society, leading to the expulsion of a large number of the population, and the fragmentation of an entire nation. These educational institutions must now correctly harness the energy and skills of the Palestinian people to pave the way for progress. In our view, these institutes of higher education have an important role to play in promoting national integration and development, the task which will reunite a fragmented people – from the Palestinians occupied in 1948, to the citizens of the West Bank and Gaza, and I those Palestinians living in the Diaspora. A united and integrated Palestine will be able to grow economically and technologically. Moreover, these educational institutes will also have to find the most suitable way to strengthen and support the process of integration with the entire Arab world, since, the higher education curricula will be sensitive to the special relationship of Palestine with Arab society as a whole.

A specific section of the education curriculum needs to be set aside specifically in accordance with this goal of integration, so as to let this concept develop (we have to distinguish between the concepts of integration and unity). It can be expressed through different educational and cultural media shaped by the surrounding environment, but it mainly helps crystallize an integrative force.

Integration also covers societal integration, the phenomenon which helps close the gap which separates Christian and Muslim, allows men and women to be treated as equals, reconciles town and country folks, secularizes, and lets close-minded tribalism and family loyalty become a non-issue. Societal integration creates a society harmoniously functioning in a practical 'manner at all levels.

If the national system of higher education accepts the principle of stressing national integration as the basis for the revival of Palestinian society, then implementation of this concept demands that two important concerns be taken into consideration:

1. The Palestinian curriculum, on all levels, should comply with this goal without reverting to authoritarian tactics or infringing on academic freedoms, so as not to become a sort of brainwashing tool.           

2. F or the national system of higher education to comply with this goal and help achieve it, it should organize and distribute institutes of higher education in a logical manner geographically, economically, and with respect to social concerns. The fulfillment of this goal also demands shaping a policy which would positively affect its implementation. Palestinian educational institutes outside of Palestine would also have to comply with this policy. In conclusion, we can safely summaries the objective of this type of education by the motto "Education for National Integration and Development", a formula which meets all educational goals in all stages of learning.

6. Short and Long Term Needs: Priorities of Higher Education

Our evaluation of what the priorities of higher education are and will be in the coming stages stems from what we see and logically understand to be lacking in Palestinian society. There are no detailed studies on societal needs in the numerous social and economic sectors, such as industry, agriculture, commerce, construction, education, production, services etc. which the field of higher education requires to function properly. Despite this fact, Palestinian society is in the process of facing up to this challenge across the educational spectrum. Therefore, we can divide these priorities into two groups:

A. Completing the Initial Set-up of Higher Education on the Structural Level and for the Future.

Despite the fact that there are 8 universities in Palestine, none has developed programs in all fields of specialization. On account of this, it is necessary to conduct exhaustive studies on the needs of these institutions in order to immediately allocate whatever is possible in terms of human resources. This is the first step in meeting the needs of higher education and serving the community. For example, there is presently no program for studies in communications in its various forms in any Palestinian university. They could all try to start a program in this field right away, although it would be insufficient as far as equipment and training go. It would be preferable to designate one university to make an all-out effort in this regard, while other universities would specialize in different types of other, badly needed programs. This kind of strategy would allow for the identification of the needs of society, how and what educational programs can serve those needs, and then designate such programs within a given university.

Another important consideration is Palestinian society's need for technical and practical expertise in the short, medium and long range. We need medical schools and centers, as well as science institutes. As we are at the beginning of the process of building a state which will be based on a constitution and the sovereignty of law, we also must realize the importance of having our own law school. Such an institution will flesh out the various laws remaining from the decades of foreign rule and clear up what the law in Palestine is and requires of all citizens.

B.A New Structure

There is a need for advanced professional and technology colleges which can combine undergraduate and graduate studies such as public management colleges and others which employ the most modem management and organizational techniques. Scientific and technical research centres are also in demand in Palestine.

Founding a medical school in Palestine is easily one of the pressing priorities of higher education. The establishment of a regular medical school whose main aim is to train and graduate capable doctors to treat the Palestinian people is very feasible and probable. The general state of the Palestinians in this field could allow for much more, i.e. a complete medical training facility and -hospital, with medical facilities, and training in veterinary care, dentistry, pharmacology, and nursing. At the same time, this type of medical facility could also have an extensive research centre, one that specializes in diseases prevalent in the Arab world, and receives the necessary financial support to perform such research. This complete medical university would become a main centre for scientific research in the region (similar to Hadassah or the specialized clinics in America like the Mayo Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio).

Our society is developing and looks to interact positively with the rest of the world in the 21st  century, tree from dependence on others. The only secure way of assuring this is to actively build schools, institutes, and universities which fulfill societal requirements. We must then create academic institutes and an academic system which will realize this national ambition. Quickly and effectively. The present situation in Palestine makes the completion of the educational infrastructure possible alongside the building of advanced study centers.

In order to remain highly qualified and creative in the realm of sciences, we must also discuss the necessity of creating a specialized university like California Institute of Technology (CALTECH) or Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which concentrates on the study of theoretical and applied science and technology. This type of university will also ideally offer students a well-rounded education by giving courses in the humanities and social sciences.

In addition to what was previously discussed, serious thought must be given to finding a formula which accommodates the present institutions and supports them in their areas of distinction. For example, if a university has a program for training those who would work in the tourist industry, an important sector of the Palestinian economy, then that university should be considered the chief institute for training future restaurateurs, hotel managers, tour guides, etc. The university should therefore receive sufficient funding to expand its programs and better train its students, so as to reach a high level of aptitude in this field. Therefore, we will evaluate all universities in Palestine to see which ones stand out in which fields, in order to better develop high ­level programs of study in universities which prove themselves capable of such a task.

7. Number, Type and Geographical Distribution of Universities

Owing to the fact that our future vision of higher education's primary objective is to bring about the aforementioned development and integration, it is therefore important to consider the number of universities in Palestine and their geographical distribution.

There are currently eight institutes of higher education in Palestine, a number that will most certainly increase. It has become clear, however, that all these universities, without exception and whether in spite or because of their important achievements, suffer from a number of problems. In addition to their financial difficulties, there is an urgent need for improving teaching and management techniques, as well as the quality of teaching materials, laboratories, and libraries.

All real solutions to these type of problems can only find answers in the long term. An easier way to begin searching for a long term solution is to take measures that provide for a sound, well organized operational structure for higher education, which allows the greatest number of students to benefit. Considering that there are already universities functioning despite the difficulties they face, how can we effectively address these universities' common problems?

If we are to accept the generally accepted premise according to which a truly distinguished, complete university requires a population base of one million people, then the Palestinian people, who number over six million, form the basis for six major universities in Palestine. Though this population is scattered all over Palestine and the various Arab countries, the future promises to herald the return of a large number of refugees and displaced persons to their homeland. With the return of a sizeable portion of our people to Palestine, it is more than plausible to assume there will exist here 4 comprehensive distinguished universities in only a decade. These 4 institutes of higher learning will serve the educational needs of four million Palestinians.


The current Palestinian universities do not offer a wide range of educational programs and specializations, and changing the present situation is a tall order, one that requires a complete overhaul of the existing university system. We suggest a decision be made designating three universities in the West Bank and Gaza as comprehensive, while a fourth. Institution of this type would be built for the Palestinians inside Israel. This fourth university would work towards integrating this particular sector of the Palestinian people into the national consciousness. The remaining universities would then specialize, Le. One would become an institute for the study of science and technology in a particular city, while another would offer only programs that deal with the life sciences, etc. The aims of this kind of organization and structure are a) to ensure the centralization of higher education, b) to make higher education available to the. Largest number of qualified students, c) to allow students to be able to study wherever they like, be it near or far from home. A critical component of this plan is qualified and capable teaching, which will enable those qualified students enrolled to substantially benefit from higher education in accordance with the goal of national integration. This plan would also facilitate the establishment of smaller colleges and technical institutes in areas in which no large universities exist. Subsequently, the principle of centralization and decentralization would apply to these smaller, specialized institutes of higher learning, in disciplines such as law, administration, communications, etc.

After completing detailed studies on what needs to be done in this respect, we can then begin to refigure the process of higher education and ease the collective pressure on Palestinian universities. One method of easing this pressure and democratizing higher education would be through the establishment of junior colleges. This type of college would offer a two-year introductory program in a given number of concentrations, and would be spread throughout all areas of the country. Those students who successfully complete this course of study with a sufficient grade point average will be allowed to continue towards a bachelor's degree in one of the major universities. Such a scheme would afford institutes of higher learning the opportunity

*The figure of 4 million is based on the estimated 3 million people living in the West Bank and Gaza and the 1 million Palestinians living inside Israel.

to reach a higher number of students on a more personal level, as well as easing the collective pressure on the larger four-year colleges and universities. Likewise, higher education will become available to a greater portion of society, a fact that will likely bring about a more qualified cadre of people in all regions and facilitate the realization of the desired goal of national integration.

Now, we must make reference to another aspect of higher education which demands a different kind of treatment altogether. The reference here is to the concept of the Open University, specifically, Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Open University, an institution only recently established. We believe that this university should receive the necessary support in order to successfully carry out its educational and cultural mission within Palestinian society. The Open University system allows students to study at home while adhering to university guidelines and course materials. The university offers an open form of education, one that allows the greatest number of qualified students from all over Palestine to make use of its resources. The style, structure, and method of teaching in the Open University system are unique and the potential educational role in society it plays may be even more important than that of traditional universities. No matter how many traditional colleges and universities there are, there should always be opportunities afforded to those who cannot study on campus in a collegiate atmosphere. Al-Quds Open University embodies this concept and is making higher education available to all the socio-economic groups in Palestinian society. As it is not a full comprehensive university, we can classify it in the same category as those specialized universities such as a life science college, a college of science and technology etc.

8. Graduate Studies

Palestinian society, culture, and scientific capability have progressed and developed greatly, a fact which stems from the large amount of research and scientific output attained by the Palestinian people in all fields of knowledge: the humanities, social, natural, and physical sciences, technology, etc. This progress did not come about randomly, but rather by way of establishing and supporting graduate studies and research centres which are still in their developmental stages in Palestinian universities. Perhaps the best method for encouraging the development of graduate studies in Palestine is to have one university which has sufficient financial and human resources'. to establish the graduate studies program of its choice, after consulting with the . Council for Higher Education. Now is high time to get started on such a project in , Palestine. We hasten to add, however, that such a project should not get off the ground before careful planning which will guarantee its success in the long run.

9. Accessibility of Higher Education

Based on the proposed framework for education contained in this report and the hypotheses surrounding it vis-a-vis the number of universities and their function, Palestinian universities and colleges should be able to accommodate 40,000 students in _approximately one decade. This number is not arbitrary, but rather based on the population base in Palestine with which we are dealing. In other words, when Palestine begins to enjoy a greater degree of stability, the Palestinian Authority needs to prepare all institutes of higher beaming on all levels to increase their capacity for absorbing students by 50%. This of course assumes that we work towards national integration and making the system of higher education more accessible to both the Palestinians returning from abroad and those inside Israel. In order for these different groups of our scattered people to be able to study successfully in Palestinian universities and colleges, we need to adequately prepare the necessary faculty, as well as provide the proper classroom space, books and study materials. We estimate that we need to make available 250,000 square metres of building space for classrooms, lecture halls, desks, locker rooms, physical education facilities (gymnasiums, playing fields, swimming pools, etc.). These figures are in keeping with UNESCO estimates as well as those mentioned in the initial reports prepared by members of this committee.

As for qualified personnel, considering that the instructor/student ratio should be around 1/22 (according to UNESCO reports), there should be no less than two thousand instructors with advanced degrees employed in the education of the desired 40,000 students. Obviously, instructors with doctoral degrees or the equivalent would be preferable. In accordance with this goal, we must plan to incorporate 1,000 additional instructors to the existing educational system. A possible way of meeting this need would be to hire competent internationals and Palestinians, currently working or studying at universities in the Arab world and elsewhere. In preparing a practical program intended to benefit the development and growth of Palestinian universities and research centres, we hope that our system of higher education will be acceptable by international standards within 10 years.

10. Enrolment of Students in Institutes of Higher Education

We expect that a large number of Palestinian high-school students, currently studying abroad, will want to enroll in universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. If the peace process continues on its current path, we can expect a great deal more contact with the Palestinians made homeless in 1948. At this juncture, the higher education system must lay down the bases for acceptance for first-year university students as well as the bases for changing from a foreign or Arab university to a Palestinian one.

As for students who wish to matriculate in institutes 'of higher being, we must lay down certain guidelines for determining whether or not they will be accepted for study on this level. The possession of a high school diploma (altawjihi) or its equivalent should be mandatory for acceptance into one of these institutions.

Such a condition does not at all preclude other specialized and prestigious universities from laying down additional conditions for acceptance. We should also note that in our projected vision of the framework of institutes of higher education, we stated that students in junior colleges should be allowed to move to a college or university which offers a bachelor's degree. Thus, we realize the importance of a merit­ based system of acceptance for all high-school students applying to study in colleges and universities.

11. The Responsibility of the State towards Higher Education and Research

The state must understand its important responsibility towards higher education and guarantee that the skills of qualified personnel are channeled into preserving and developing Palestinian society. At the same time, it does not hold this responsibility by itself, and while the state cannot afford to stay on the sidelines as far as higher education is concerned, the private sector also has a significant role to play. For numerous reasons, social, political, and ideological, citizens in the private sector will have to bear a part of the burden.

On the practical level, assuming such responsibility touches on two crucial points:

1. The state has the right to create public institutes of higher education in any and all fields along the lines drawn up by the authority charged with running higher education, namely the Ministry of Higher Education. The state also reserves the right to administer such colleges and universities as it sees fit or appoint a board of trustees to perform that task. Such a system will allow for the proper running and funding of these institutes, and represents what is meant by the term 'state universities'.

2. Higher' education legislation should allow for the establishment of registered public/private universities, i.e. universities which are not owned by the state but are registered by a non-profit public association, so who will be responsible, especially for funding, for these types of universities and scientific institutes? It is clear that these institutions will be licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education to offer educational degrees, and so a great deal of the responsibility lies with the institution itself The stipulations of receiving a license should require the college/university to cover most of its expenses, meaning that the state is not charged with covering all expenses. The 'state, however, should be required to assist these institutions for national reasons, by employing the following two methods:

I Agreeing with the university administration what part of the operational budget can be covered by the state. For example, the state could decide to give a grant which covers half the expenses of each student at this type of institution. If we assume that a university spends 2000 Jordanian Dinars (ID) on each enrolled student per year, then the state would supply the university with 1000 ID for each enrolled student. This sort of agreement can also apply to how much the university needs to build and develop. In any case, this is a hypothetical scenario and any such agreement between the state and a university would need to be carefully studied ii. Having the Ministry of Higher Education run detailed studies to determine how much the system of higher education and all its institutions need to properly function and grow, and have the Ministry request a specific amount from the state for this purpose. The Ministry can then make _ants to the universities on the basis of certain, agreed­ upon criteria. In this case the universities and colleges would be completely tree to teach, educate, and operate as they wish.

The state will not be expected to cover the expenses of those private, profit ­making universities, permitted legally by the law of higher education to exist.

Higher education is a co-operative process in which both the state and the private sector take part. Private universities also have to assume responsibility for their expenses. In order to be less of a burden on the state's coffers and to keep their independence and freedom to operate as they may choose.

The supervision of institutes of higher beaming and research centers is a pressing concern. The state must effectively support this kind of supervision, and perhaps the best method is the aforementioned second one. By having the Ministry of Higher Education determine and administer what the higher education sector's financial needs are, it allows universities to remain independent in operation and forces them to find additional sources of funding.



Professor Dr. Lucy. Smith, Rector Magnificus, University of Oslo

Building a System of Higher Education: Experiences from another Small Country

I remember when I visited Al Azhar University in Gaza a few years ago. We looked in on a lecture for beginners, and there were several hundred young female students with their white scarves, listening to the lecturer. To me, this was a very moving sight, a sight that I very often recall in my memory. It was a symbol of hope and promise for the future of the Palestinian people. This hope and promise must be kept alive and strengthened!

I was presented to the students as the rector of the University of Oslo and I told the students that, one day, one of them would be the rector of that university. They laughed, but I hope that some of them did hide this in their hearts. The Palestinian people need both young girls and young boys with ambition and a quest for knowledge.

We, the participants to this conference, all know the importance of a viable, efficient and high-quality system of tertiary education for the Palestinian people. Natural resources are limited, and the future of the Palestinian people will depend primarily on its human resources. Already, much - remarkably much - has been achieved with the eight universities and many colleges. I have visited some of the universities. I have been impressed by the high standards I have seen, but also struck by the obvious lack of resources.

the long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank has of course influenced several aspects of the Palestinian society, including higher education. But what is so impressive is the fact that the Palestinian people have managed to keep a high educational level in these difficult years, and to give knowledge to children and young people. As far as I know, the Palestinian universities have probably been the only major institutions which have deep roots in the local communities and which have, over the years, continuously been able to function as coherent bodies, with a relatively effective administration.

But this is certainly not the time to rest on your laurels - or for the international academic society to think that having reached such results, the Palestinian universities need no help in the future. It is quite clear that international assistance is absolutely necessary to develop further the educational system, and even sustain the current system.

I am no expert on the situation of the Palestinian people or on their educational system. I therefore prefer to speak about something I know a bit more about, and I thought it might be useful to draw some parallels to the experiences of a small country like Norway in the field of higher education.

I will start by going back as far as the very beginning of the 19th century. Norway was then a part of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. Norway did not at that time have a university of its own. The young people who wanted a university degree, had to go to Copenhagen university. The establishment of the University of Oslo in 1811 was the result of a long period of persistent work by Norwegian patriots. A Norwegian university was regarded as an important element in the struggle for national independence. Nicolai Wergeland won a prize for the best treatise on a Norwegian University. He maintained that the establishment of a Norwegian university was a matter of absolute necessity, the only thing that could satisfy the Norwegian people, and reconcile the people with its position as regards Denmark.

In 1811 the Danish-Norwegian king in Copenhagen no longer could resist the pressure, and he signed the decree that declared that a complete university should be established in Norway. Bonfires were lit all over the country, poems of gratitude were written, and people - rich and poor - contributed to the university, either in money or in grain. At one time, a few years later, the university had no money to payout the salaries, but they had full granaries.

The university came to a country that was poor in resources and marked by war and economic problems. But for Norway and for the university, I think it was extremely important that the university was up and standing in 1814, when Norway was more or less forced into a union with Sweden.

During the first years, the main task was to educate officials for the new state, besides the work of organizing a new university. But slowly, the professors also started doing research, and after a few decades, good research was going on in many fields. But 135 years would pass until Norway got its second university, the University of Bergen, which was founded in 1946. The authorities felt that it was important to concentrate the scarce resources, not least the human resources, in one institution. But as you may know, Norway is a long country, with many mountains, and traveling in former days was complicated, not because of man-made hindrances, but because of nature itself. One of my husband's great grandfathers lived in a city in the south of . Norway, 300 kilometers from Oslo. He walked from his hometown to Oslo twice a year. He shared a winter-coat with his room-mate, so in wintertime, they could only attend the lectures every second day. But people from the west coast or from the north of Norway, would have a much more complicated journey.

As you have understood, there were more differences than similarities between Norway then and the situation of the Palestinian people today as regards higher education. There are already many Palestinian universities, the organizations are in place. What I wish to emphasize is the great importance of a national university.

Norway is a small nation of 4,4 million people. We have now 4 universities, of which the University of Oslo is by far the biggest, with its more than 38,000 students. The University of Tromso, up in the north of Norway, was established mainly for political reasons, the hope being that the students will stay on in the north when they have completed their studies. This has actually happened to a certain degree. Norway also has 26 state colleges with mainly professional studies like nursing, engineering, journalism.

The policy of higher education and research of the Norwegian government has recently been expressed by the term "Norgsnett", which means the Network of Norway,  that is a network of research and higher education in Norway. By this the government wished to emphasize that the organization of the institutions of higher education in Norway should be based on a principle of co-operation and division of labor. The University Act states: "Within a national and higher education network, the institutions shall co-operate and complement each other's academic activities. Educational courses shall be planned and viewed in relation to other international and national facilities". The main idea is that a small country like Norway does not have resources that allow for 30 institutions of higher education to do the same thing.

I believe that at the present stage, and with the present lack of resources specialization and co-operation is also a must for the Palestinian institutions of higher education. It is extremely important not to spread the resources too thinly over too many institutions. For a small country it is of utmost importance to have at least one or two universities of international standard, and with scholars that can be members of the international research society.

As institutions, the universities reflect and represent basic social values. These values, when enacted, correct social development, transcend conflicts and contribute to international understanding and solidarity. This also implies that members of a university - both students and staff - often harbor and express criticism of the society of which their institution is a part. Universities are consequently often exposed to attempts at control and even reprisals. In the Norwegian Act relating to universities and colleges, it is stated: "The institutions can not be instructed as to the content of their teaching, research or artistic or scientific development work".

It is in the strategy of the University of Oslo to protect actively its own independence towards the authorities and towards the commercial interests. We believe that one of the most important tasks of a university is the critical function. The universities shall be critical of all institutions and all actions, both by private and by official people and I institutions. It is also our policy to direct our attention to universities that experience repression.

We, who are representatives of the academic communities, do hope, and do expect, that the peace process will be resumed and continued with palpable results. We wish to discuss what our contribution can be to enhance the peace process. We believe strongly that the PEACE Programme and the promotion of the inter-university co­operation with the Palestinian universities can make important contribution to advancing the peace process.

There is, as I said before, a need for academic solidarity, and a stronger commitment from the universities in other countries. Most of the universities in Europe, however, are not in a very good economic situation. To be able to contribute in a meaningful way, they and the PEACE Programme will therefore need support from their authorities and from the international organizations.

On the other hand, it is equally important to have a clearer assessment of the needs and the strategies for the further development of the Palestinian universities. Building a good system of tertiary education takes time. And there is one important fact that must be emphasized. Research takes time. Co-operation in research should preferably last for several years. To build competence in a specific topic may also take very long time. It is now extremely important that the Palestinian Authorities, including Faculty members, look into the future, make plans for the fut\;1re! And a fruitful co­operation with universities from Europe presupposes long time planning - also from the Palestinian universities.

The University of Oslo is currently establishing a systematic expansion of formalized co-operation with universities abroad. We must identify the Norwegian university profiles of interest and capabilities in collaboration efforts which reflect significant Palestinian needs with regard to teaching, learning, research and service.

The Palestinian universities have probably been the only major institutions which have deep roots in the local communities and which have, over the years of occupation, continuously been able to function as coherent bodies with a relatively effective administration.

The Co-operation between the University of Oslo and Palestinian Universities

Late in 1994, a delegation from the University of Oslo visited seven Palestinian universities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The objective was to prepare a substantial documentation for funding to the Norwegian Agency for Development Co­operation (NORAD), to strengthen the competence and capacity building of Palestinian universities and to strengthen the institutional linkages of higher education between Norway and Palestine.

Twelve projects were proposed following the delegation tour, and so far four projects have been supported by NORAD:

1. Department of Special Education; a project in co-operation with An-Najah National University in Nablus, with which we have had co-operation since 1990;

2. Department of Political Science and the Institute for Human Rights. A conference on. citizenship, democracy and human rights, in co-operation with Bethlehem University;

3. Institute for General Practice and Community Medicine. Non communicable diseases with focus on diabetes. The project, implemented in co-operation with Birzeit University, focuses on training and research;

4. Institute for General Practice and Community Medicine. Building competence in epidemiology in Palestine, In co-operation with Hebron University and the Ministry of Higher Education.

The last project, devoted to Building competence in epidemiology in Palestine, contains two parts: a research project with focus on health effects due to exposure to solvents in the working environment in the shoe industry, proposed by Dr. Awni Khatib, and a six-week course in project planning and epidemiological methods. It may serve as an example of co-operation which includes both a short- and a long-term perspective, providing for research, training and competence building. The short-term objectives concern procurement of advanced laboratory equipment and PCs. The Long ­term ones envisage long lasting research co-operation in advanced teaching and research. Competence building in epidemiology is of vital importance for planning a functional public health sector, as well as for describing the occurrence, etiology and therapeutic possibilities of diseases.

The University of Oslo has now accepted two Palestinian PhD students in epidemiology under the «quota system», and a third has yet applied. Their research will be based on the comparative projects at Hebron and Birzeit universities. They will, as far as we know, be the first faculty members at PhD-level in epidemiology in Palestine, and the intention is to form a research and training centre in epidemiology in Palestine ­linked to one of the universities.

The six-week course in Project Planning and Epidemiological Methods, which will be repeated annually for three years, will give basic knowledge in epidemiology to health institutions, hospitals, universities and health planners all over Palestine. During the course, the participants are planning epidemiological projects which will open for new research co-operation with the University of Oslo and new PhD-students. After some years, similar courses will be given by the Palestinians to the Palestinians, hopefully in a Palestinian State.

I will close these remarks by once again looking to the beginning of my own university. In those form formative years, in a very poor country, the university proved that academic achievements in many fields are not primarily dependent on economic resources, but are first of all a result of active and free spirits and of the willpower and energy of dedicated human beings. This spirit that ran through the new Norwegian university and its intellectual surroundings in those days were profoundly strengthened by the national political revival that took place. And the growth of the university was at the same time an important part of the whole national building process. That is also the vital role of the Palestinian universities today.

Professor Ana Maria Cetto
 Universidad Nacional Aut' noma de Mexico

Science in a Rapidly Changing World

Let me express ;:my most sincere thank_ to the PEACE Programme for inviting me to this important meeting and giving me the opportunity to share with you some concerns and reflections on education and Science in developing countries, at a time that is crucial for the construction of the Independent Palestinian State.

Palestine is a distant entity for us Latin Americans, as distant as is our part of the world for Palestinians. And yet, the more one reads and learns about the history of the Palestinian people, old and recent, their dramas and their achievements, their culture, their ancestral fight for freedom and independence, and their present problems of development, the closer one feels we are to one another. Not only because of the assets we have in common a rich and long history, a noble people, a strong cultural heritage and traditions but also because of the vast amount of difficulties, historical drawbacks and have-nots which we also seem to have in common leaving aside the specificity. Although both our territories reach a latitude as high as 30 degrees North, we belong to the South; we are part, with many, many others, of what is euphemistically termed the developing world for the simple reason that we do not form part of the developed world. We pertain to the large periphery of the present world system, in the economical sense, in the political sense, and of course in science as well. It is in this context that I have tried to answer myself: What role can science have for us, for you? What can we do with it, for it? What sense does it have for us to invest in science, to develop scientific curricula, to create scientific institutions? What are the prospects for our countries, for our people, at a time when science, as well as technology, seem to play a definitive role in shaping the development of humankind?

In his book The Origins of Modern Science, the historian Herbert Butterfield ascertains that the Scientific Revolution of the XVI and XVII centuries "outshone anything since the rise of Christianity and reduced the Renaissance and the Reformation to the rank of mere episodes, mere internal displacements within the system of medieval Christendom, 2. This is to imply that science, as it evolved mainly in Western Europe in the last three or four centuries, has brought about a fundamental transformation of civilization in the western world. Many factors are considered to have triggered this scientific prosperity, among them the political independence and stability in the region, the technological superiority, the territorial expansion through the conquest of the New Continent, the creation of urban societies with a strong middle class. in the newly formed nation-states, even the separation of Church and State and the rise of political thinking. All in all, what is clear is that Western Europe sprung after the Renaissance period as an independent and powerful entity with a clear conscience of what it wanted; it started to develop an identity which has evolved so far as for present-day Europeans to consider themselves a "community of destiny", in the words of Edgar Morin.

This thrift led in Western Europe to a boom of intellectual creativeness and innovative activity that has hardly been surpassed. A passion arose to extend the scientific method or approach to all spheres of thought, equaled only by the passion to put science to work for the causes of agriculture and industry (including noticeably the military industry). Suddenly, for the first time in history the changes in human and social life started to occur within one generation and were visible for everybody; , suddenly, people, scientists, in particular started to believe that they could bring about    these changes at their will and even control the behavior of natural systems.

One should of course bear in mind that this is not the first time in history that scientific activity is part and testimony of a strong and thriving civilization. Science, understood as an intellectual endeavor geared towards the systematized production of knowledge, has developed in different fields of relevance for other civilizations, in other regions of the world, in other periods of history. The Arab world contributed its very valuable share especially in mathematics, optics, and medicine during a glorious time of various centuries that is hardly registered in the European annals. Certainly, however, modern science is of an unprecedented breadth and scope, it is immensely industrious and productive, it is highly organized and professionalized, and its influence seems to have no frontiers. One hears of an international scientific community, to which every scientist belongs in principle; multilateral projects are set up to address so­ called global problems; the colleagues travel and the scientific journals circulate all around the world; and we are on the brink of becoming a global academia thanks to the electronic telecommunications.

Here one asks oneself, however: Is science really so international?

A consensus has built up in recent times, that scientific creation should be indeed viewed as a social process, as is also artistic creation, or technological innovation.3 It has become clear that science is at least as much an expression of the values and institutional structures characteristic of the society in which it appears, as it is an expression of the properties and 'laws' of natural phenomena. No science is produced in an empty or neutral space; no scientist is independent of predecessors, previous discoveries, theories, paradigms and models. And yet, it is the new effect, the new question asked to nature, the new idea or observation reported, which, even if small, makes each scientific work worth; though, rather than being merely worth in itself, it is, again, worth within a context, in a given social and historical framework in which science continuously evolves along with many other human activities.

The present heterogeneity and fragmentation of our societies, the extreme social and economic disparities world-wide and our highly complex and plural cultural Mosaic, make it therefore difficult to believe in the universality of science. Although it is true that much of the scientific_ information - that which is not classified and which flows into the mainstream communication channels - is accessible to a relatively wide community, it is just that: information. It is but a step in the process of doing science, which serves to give evidence of scientific progress and to communicate some of its results. Science does not become international by the mere transfer or transmission of scientific information, valuable as this may be; rather, it runs the risk of becoming trans-national. A risk that turns into reality each time this information reaches a passive receiver who has nothing to add to it or build upon it.

The periphery of our world is increasingly populated with passive receivers of modem science and modem technologies. We have become eager consumers of so many products of modem times that make our lives apparently easier and more agreeable, without however taking part in their conception, design or production. We gradually find it more difficult to renounce these commodities which, from the point of view of their genesis and production, are alien to us. Yet, ironically, our part of the world is at the same time populated with producers of goods that swiftly escape from their own reach and with originators and transmitters of a wealth of popular traditions and knowledge which is sometimes deeply rooted but in general scarcely systematized and recorded. Examples of such wealth that rapidly come to mind pertain to traditional environmental knowledge, as in sustainable agricultural practices or water management, to health care and natural' medicinal products, to child rearing, to nutrition and food processing. A large amount of such knowledge is excluded or dismissed by western science.

Alternatively, one could say that the producers and owners of this body of knowledge have not incorporated it into the modem science schemes, and generally have not developed a science of their own. Yet it is the sort of knowledge that is essential for survival and is therefore - in normal conditions - left to evolve according to the evolution of external conditions and in response to the emerging needs; in this sense, it forms part of an adaptive knowledge system which constitutes the basis of long-term human survival. It is the sort of knowledge that is more based on accumulated experience, understanding, feeling and intuition, rather than on analytical thinking and erudition. It is, of course, a social product as well, though not as highly structured as modem science and not as efficiently organized; it is most often of local relevance; it does not get published, nor does it circulate internationally; but it has stood up to the test. of the centuries.

Its lack of systematization and the absence of records, however, render this knowledge highly vulnerable. It gets scattered or lost when a society is disrupted by colonization or massive migration; it is liable to fall into oblivion or into a precarious state with the massive introduction pf foreign products or procedures which displace the traditional ones. Not that the traditional or popular knowledge becomes thus necessarily replaced, complemented or impr9ved by a modem knowledge system, more appropriate to the local conditions; it often happens that it is not replaced by any knowledge at all. In the words of Edward Said, "over the missing 'something' are superimposed new realities...; the symbols of a universal pop culture enshroud the vulnerable". This painful denaturizing of cultures is in many cases irreversible, and with it, most valuable elements of our civilization get astray forever.

This process is advancing at a rapid pace, being pushed by the world-wide expanding techno structure and by the dynamism of modem economic institutions. One can think that this puts the future of humanity at an enormous risk, since in an atmosphere of a very great uncertainty about what is to come, we seem to be throwing 'an eggs in the same basket'. 5 Will the present dominant system annihilate the social and natural diversity that has until today been an essential element in the development of life and reproduction of the human race, or will its evolution allow it to maintain this necessary diversity and make it flourish further?

Who can tell?

In most fronts, in practically all human activities, the changes are proceeding so swiftly, that all we know for certain is that the next century will be very different from the one that is about to conclude. At a time when the density of human beings on the planet and the frequency of our interactions have become so high, it is increasingly difficult to keep one's own pace or to evolve in isolation. Whatever path of development one chooses - were we free to do so - will necessarily imply interdependence and a strong interaction between social groups, peoples, nations, institutions. This means, then, that there should be also a collective and plural participation in the design and the construction of the roads that will be stepped by future generations.

A big challenge for us is precisely this: to prepare for the transition from dependence to interdependence, and to choose our own modalities of evolution within this context. But we have in mind an evolution that does not merely imply improvement (which in some cases sounds even like a dream); it implies development understood as the systematic strengthening of our economic and social life in accordance with our rules, cultures and interests. It implies, still further, the building (or reconstruction) of our capacities both with a view to contribute our share to the evolution of all humankind, and to benefit from and become enriched by being part of this humankind. This sounds as an even more ethereal dream; it is our dream for the twenty-first century.

Our tasks start at home with the construction of an identity, which is achieved by recognizing common backgrounds, features, resources, needs and aspirations of our societies, and shaping them into a coherent expression. "The search for a future ends inevitably with a reconquest of the past", are the wise words of our Nobel poet Octavio Paz. This national identity - which Palestinians have time and again seen so battered and shattered -, is needed to promote basic policies for the collective betterment and evolution of our societies, and at the same time it is a necessary _element for defining and implementing any reasonable external policy. The strength of' any nation in the international arena relies heavily on its identity; on the articulate expression of its specificity; on its internal decision to act sovereignty.

_Universities play a central role in these tasks. They constitute the centers for critical thinking par excellence. They foster a cultural and intellectual activity that helps to give cohesion to our societies, recover their history, restore their dignity and develop their identity. The universities and higher schools bear the tasks of compiling the existing knowledge, building upon it to generate new knowledge, cultivating technological creativity and innovation, and, finally, the high task of transmitting all of this to the younger generations and thus helping them shape their future. They serve as links and bridges to other centers of intellectual activity, in different countries and parts of the world. They constitute niches for the creative work of artists, writers, scientists, thinkers and students. The universities are the places to ponder over ways of constructing peace, when there is war in the streets; to search for non-violent forms of social interaction; to develop new or alternative economical theories, models for development, judiciary systems.

Much of this is scientific work. To fulfill such tasks the universities must organize and carry out a good deal of science, in all disciplines of the human and social, natural, exact and engineering sciences, and in the various cross-disciplines. The construction of this scientific capacity unit a tradition becomes established is, however, a long and complex process, that requires a continued effort, a stable investment and clear policies. Especially so if, as discussed before, this scientific capacity is to develop from within, primarily on the basis of the local background and resources, and with a view to respond to genuine needs and motivations; it is delusive to proceed otherwise. Scientists coming from other latitudes and the science produced in other places can constitute a very important support and catalyses, by providing historical records of accumulated knowledge, successful examples of methodologies and procedures, relevant information, interesting experiences, and so on; all this cannot, however, replace the local efforts to develop science as an endogenous activity. It is on these terms that international scientific co-operation works at its best. It is thus that science can become truly international, when we all contribute to it from our very local perspectives and with our modest capacities. Then it will also be more plural and representative of the intellectual capacities of humankind, and it will be fit to respond to the big challenges that mark the turn of this century.

WORKING GROUPS SESSION

Summary of debates

The Conference continued its deliberations in four Working Groups. Debates in all working groups were lively and resulted in numerous recommendations and in proposals for practical action. They are summed up below.

Working group 1 : Institutional Development of Higher Education in Palestine.

Chairperson: Professor Ivar Ekeland, Universite Paris IX-Dauphine

Main Speakers: Dr. Rami Hamdallah, Vice-President, An-Najah
                                                            National University, and
                          Dr. Mufeed Shami, Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education

Rapporteur: Professor Valerio Grementieri, University of Siena

The Working Group was attended by some fifty participants and occasioned a thorough debate on the current state and future prospects of Palestinian higher education. Professor Ivar Ekeland opened the session by underlining the importance of the topic assigned to it for the future development of Palestinian higher educational. He emphasised the relevance of the addresses of President Yasser Arafat and of Minister Hanan Ashrawi for the debates in the Working Group. He also referred to the key-note address of Dr. Abu Lughod, during the first plenary session and Dr. Munthir Salah's brief presentation of the historical development of higher education in Palestine during the opening session, which should be kept in mind by the participants of the Working Group, in their deliberations.

Professor Ekeland gave the floor to Dr. Mufeed Shami, of the Ministry of Higher Education, who presented the document: Higher Education in Palestine: Institutional Development. Dr. Shami pointed out that Palestinian higher education evolved out of badly felt needs, on the initiative of private sector groups and individuals, including members of the Palestinian Diaspora. Most of the 8 Palestinian universities were established under occupation and were supported mainly by the PLO. They are independent, autonomous institutions and have their own boards of trustees.

Of the many issues facing higher education at present, Dr. Shami focused on problems related to access and quality. With regard to access, he pointed out that student numbers have grown constantly and the figure of 40,000 students will be reached soon.. Access raises problems of admission criteria, assuring equity and, above all, preserving quality. With regard to criteria of admission, it was pointed out that the use of the Tawjihi score as a criterion, has led to an unbalanced situation in which students with high scores pursue science, engineering and pharmacy programmes, while those with low scores pursue studies in the humanities and education. Entrance examinations have been introduced for certain programmes (English, Physical Education, Fine Arts), but the system requires further refining.

As far as equity is concerned, it. was pointed out that, until recently, higher education was tree for all students. At present, fees are charged and they have been on the increase. This calls for the introduction of a scholarship system and a student's loan scheme for poor, well qualified applicants. At the same time, it is necessary to create alternative educational opportunities for young people who seek admission to higher education. In this respect, the 22 community colleges in the West Bank and Gaza (run by UNRW A, the Palestinian Authority, or by the private sector) can play a major role, particularly in view of the fact that, many of them offer programmes in technical, vocational and service fields that are badly needed. Some of them could and should be turned into technical schools. Al-Quds Open University is one other possibility to solve the pressure for new admissions, provided the quality of its programmes is enhanced. Study abroad should be available for particularly gifted students, who can make an important contribution to Palestinian society upon their return.

The participants in the discussions identified a number of major challenges facing Palestinian higher education which require urgent action to be taken by those concerned. The following recommendations were made in this regard:

1. Elaboration of a national policy with regard to higher education, as a first priority need. The system of higher education, well-tuned to the needs of Palestinian society, should be of high quality, so as to render it competitive on the international and regional scene. The system should integrate both existing universities and the community colleges, with changes in missions, structures and programmes of existing institutions, as required, in order to assure their efficient functioning and, gradually, their self sustainability;

11. Setting up an evaluation and accreditation system of Palestinian universities and colleges, to be conducted by an appropriate national body, while also involving the institutions themselves in the process, through self-evaluation. The aim of the evaluation should be to raise the quality of programmes, to increase their relevance for the needs of society, to remove current imbalances among programmes and, more importantly, to remove duplication of similar programmes offered by several universities. The evaluation exercise is also important in order to increase efficiency, through integration and co-ordination among existing institutions and programmes, so as to constitute a coherent national system of higher education;

lll. To assure access to higher education, through measures aimed at achieving both equity and quality. This requires clearly defined admission criteria, (including entrance examinations, when this applies) and a system of scholarships for young Palestinians of needy families, who have the necessary qualifications to pursue higher education studies;

IV. Evaluation, revision and development of programmes and curricula, Both at the university and college levels, as a means to achieve quality. Special emphasis must be placed on the development of programmes and curricula in science and technology;

V. institutional and staff development should be pursued systematically, both at the national level, as part of the overall strategy for the further development of Palestinian higher education, and at the level of each institution;

vi. a special effort must be made to improve management at various levels of the higher education system;

vii. in the efforts to reach all the objectives mentioned above, international academic co-operation and support are called upon to play an important role. Building up closer links with the international academic community is vital for the Palestinian higher education institutions at this crucial moment of their development. Co-operation structures and networks such as the PEACE Programme, are particularly useful to further promote and diversify these links.

            Working group 2: Raising the Quality, Relevance and Efficiency of Teaching/Learning and Training' at Palestinian Higher Education Institutions.

Chairperson: Professor Vincent Hanssens, Secretary General, International Federation of Catholic Universities

Main Speaker: Professor Afnan Darwazeh, An-Najah National University

Rapporteur: Professor Louis Lemkow, Vice Rector, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

The workshop was attended by forty five participants, with well over 30 interventions. The main speaker presented a comprehensive paper which concluded with a set of concrete proposals. An additional list of recommendations came from the floor.

Quality in the university context is a broad and complex concept, not easy to define. The participants agreed, however, that, any attempt to assure quality in higher education requires an examination of the ways and means to raise the efficiency of the institutional system as a whole, with particular reference to the following elements: goals, contents and curricula, delivery systems, management, and evaluation. It was, of course, stressed that availability of funds for concrete projects and programs was fundamental to any notion of raising quality. Financing will certainly play a critical role for the future of the Palestinian universities. Some background statistical data was given on the Palestinian universities: student and staff numbers, qualifications of academic staff, student drop-out rates, (there was some disagreement over the interpretation of this data), libraries, computing facilities, etc.

Assessment of needs was discussed at length, both by the main speaker and by the participants, who emphasized that it represented the key to improving quality, efficiency and relevance of teaching/learning and training. Also much discussion was devoted to the issue of training programs for staff on "how to teach" as well as on "what. to teach". Training of academics in how to use new technologies, and knowledge of new management systems was highlighted. There was a broad consensus that management systems should be democratic and strong attention should be given to achieving relations of trust between the different components of the university system: academics, students and administrative staff. Evaluation of both students and academics was debated, with a significant divergence of views.

It was pointed out that the lack of freedom of movement in Palestine and the closure of universities, as a result of Israeli policies, represented a considerable burden and difficulty for the normal and efficient functioning of the higher education system. There was an important role for foreign universities and academics in raising the Palestinian human rights issues in their own countries and in demanding the observance of academic freedom and institutional autonomy for the Palestinian universities.

The following recommendations were formulated by the Working Group:

1. Needs assessment studies on different issues related to higher education should be undertaken, before taking decisions. Priorities should be established, by striking a balance between needs and what can be realistically afforded in the long run, in view of the actual potential existing in the Palestinian society;

11. The quality of education in Palestinian universities should be defined in terms of: sustainability, accessibility; and efficiency in responding to community needs;

lll. academic programmes and curricula should be submitted to continuous re­evaluation by a specialized committee, consisting 6f;' local and international experts, including curriculum designers;

IV. a policy for the recruitment of academic staff should be instated. The relevant qualifications for posts should be defined and additional training in such questions as classroom management and instruction should be provided, particularly for new staff;

v. university instructors and professors should receive training on teaching methods. "Knowing how to teach" is no less important than knowing "what to teach". Special training courses should be organized for this purpose in all universities and colleges. The experience of other universities abroad could be utilized, including that of the UNESCO supported Arab Network for Professional Training of University Teachers, based in Alexandria, Egypt, which should be requested to pay special attention to the needs of Palestinian universities with regard to pedagogical training. A "Learning Resources Centre" should be established, to serve the needs of all Palestinian universities;


university and college teachers will be empowered to do basic and applied research, by providing them the necessary modem facilities and skills. In this connection, libraries should be endowed with the most recent publications and materials, and facilities for the use 6)f computers, E-mail, and the Internet should be provided;

co-operation, between Palestinian and foreign universities in research, exchange
of visiting professors, publications, materials and training programmes should be further promoted. The PEACE Programme and/or other organizations must be approached to provide the Palestinian universities with a sufficient number of scholarships in order to meet needs in particular fields of knowledge;

Palestinian universities should take advantage of' new information and communication technologies, in order to overcome the lack of the movement of students and faculty and lack of space available for the universities to expand physically. A pilot training project, in co-operation with European partners, on the use of new technologies should be established. Funding should be provided for the creation of local and global networks, and for the preparation of multimedia materials;

PEACE programme- member-universities should reinforce their solidarity with Palestinian universities, by calling on the relevant international organizations as well as on their governments to ask the Israeli authorities to put an end to the continuous breaching of human rights, freedom of movement of students and staff and to the repeated closures of the Palestinian universities.

Working group 3: Promotion of Advanced Studies and Research at Palestinian Universities: the Role of Regional and International Co-operation.

Chairperson: Professor Hanna Nasir, President, Birzeit University

Main Speaker: Professor Henri Jaqaman, Bethlehem University

Rapporteurs : Professor Willy Laporte, University of Gent, and             Dr. Ziad Abdeen, Professor, Al-Quds University

The Working Group was attended by fifty five participants. In a short introduction, Dr. Hanna Nasir underlined the relevance of the topic of the Working Group for the future development of Palestinian higher education. At present, most programmes offered by Palestinian universities are at the undergraduate level and there is a shortage of research practically all domains. Dr. Henry Jaqaman presented the Working Document: Promotion of Research at Palestinian universities - Investment in Research, and Development, emphasizing that the development of Palestinian society is not possible without research. This requires considerable investments, which are lacking. As things stand at present, the Palestinian researchers should be satisfied if the modest amount of US$10 per capita (Le. a total amount ofUS$25 million) could be raised and allocated for research. He further proposed a number of solutions, which are included in the recommendations below.

More than 25 interventions came from the audience. They referred to concrete needs in advanced studies and research at Palestinian universities, and put forward practical solutions to redress the current situation. The following recommendations were formulated about three topics: Advanced Studies, Research, and the Role of the PEACE Programme.

Advanced Studies

Considering that any effort for social and economic development of Palestinian society requires the existence of highly qualified people, and that the most important decision a nation in development can take is to invest in human resources,


it is of the highest priority that, at a first stage, Palestinian universities should offer education on a graduate level, not only for basic sciences and technology but also for humanistic, social, cultural and educational sciences. At a later stage, post-graduate and doctoral studies should be provided.

Considering that, at present, scientific know-how in a range of fields is missing, and that there are not enough research opportunities at Palestinian universities, and considering that building up a research tradition and a research culture needs time and considerable resources,

it is recommended that scholarships should be provided to gifted graduates for study abroad at a post graduate or doctoral level. During the next few years, graduate studies could be supported, by bilateral or multilateral agreements with universities which can send teachers for intensive courses, or by: international programs of the European Community and of other international funding organizations.

Considering that, because of a variety of reasons, Palestine has a large number of small size universities, a sustained effort should be made to achieve rationalization, through close co-operation between the eight existing universities,


Research

Considering that research should be the base for university education and considerer's that research is a prerequisite for development,

- a research culture should be initiated. Hereby, the Palestinian National Authority, the Palestinian society at large and the international community should be motivated to provide funds, structures, and facilities. Moreover, a national research plan should be elaborated, with clear objectives and priorities;


a national council for scientific research should be created, as a stimulating and coordinating body; national scientific societies should be founded, to develop links and contacts with the scientific societies and associations; a national data bank, or clearing- house should be established, in order to serve as a centre for scientific information; a system for evaluating research quality should be developed.

Considering that the Palestinian resources are limited, international support should be 'provided by

Integrating Palestinian universities or research groups in existing European programmes and, initiating joint research ventures, from which all partners could benefit.

Recommendations for the PEACE Programme

The Palestinian universities should make an inventory of their most badly felt needs and priorities with regard to advanced studies and research, which should be transmitted to the PEACE Programme Office, for distribution to the member-universities.

In their turn, the member-universities of the PEACE Programme should indicate the domains in which they want to be involved, including the resources - both human and material - which they are in a position to provide.

The Peace Programme should match the needs of the Palestinian universities with the offers of the PEACE Programme member-universities into concrete projects, and should seek international support for their implementation.

Working group 4: The Role of Palestinian Higher Education in Meeting Community Needs at Local and National Levels.

Chairperson: Professor Carlo Di Benedetta, Co-ordinator, Cgmmunity of Mediterranean Universities

Main Speakers: Professor Manuel Hassasian, Vice President, Bethlehem
                                                                                    University
                         Mr. Said Kana'an, Director of Research Centre, An-Najah
                                                            University
                         Mr. Ghassan Shak'a, Mayor of Nab Ius

Rapporteur: Professor W. John Morgan, Professor, University of          Nottingham

Forty five participants attended the Working Group, of which 33 were Palestinian. Two of the main speakers, Professor Emanuel Hassasian and Mr. Said Kan'an

introduced the debates. Mr. Ghassan Al-Shak'a, who had contributed to the elaboration of the joint paper, vias unable to attend, because of civic duties.

The debates that ensued, pointed out the vital importance of the topic, bearing as it does on the relationship that universities and other higher education institutions must develop with Palestinian society. Moreover, the universities in particular have the responsibility of representing Palestine in the international academic community and of preparing its citizens for full participation in both the society of nation states and in the global economy. There was some criticism that the paper, at least as presented orally, did not focus on the problem given, but concentrated instead on the particular role and functions of university research centres. This was considered to be too narrow.

The contributions from the floor emphasized the lack of a workable definition of what is meant by the rather vague term "community needs". Such a definition was seen as an essential prerequisite to policy and action. It can only be reached through the use of criteria understood and agreed by the members of society, a task of civic education and participatory democracy. It will also be necessary to re-evaluate the effectiveness of the system in the light of the needs not thus identified. Given the scarce resources, it is important to agree on priorities. This implies a certain rationalization of the system. Public understanding and acceptance of the objectives of the higher education system, is also essential; if there is to be public resourcing and the exercise of accountability. Numerous examples were given from the floor to illustrate these points of principle.

The main recommendations of the Working Group were:

1. That the Palestine National Authority commissions a series of interim economic and social plans, based on research and public consultations, which could be carried out by the universities. These should consider particularly (but not exclusively), labor markets and employment, demography, health and social policy, the environment, scientific planning, technological innovation, justice and the rule of law, etc.

11. That the Palestine National Authority, in the light of the findings and in consultation with the institutions, evolves a national policy for education which prepares students for lifelong and recurrent education.

111. That such a policy should include a national system of accountability, evaluation and accreditation that takes into account the perspectives of the consumers of higher education (students, parents and potential employers). This will assist in the setting of priorities and the maintenance of standards.

IV. That the institutions of higher education be required to formulate their aims and objectives in a mission statement that can be recognized and understood by such consumers and checked by them against performance.

That the universities in particular recognize that they have an obligation to educate, as well as to train, the members of the society. This could mean the provision of non formal, civic and cultural education in addition to continuing training for the professions and offering the standard formal programmes of teaching and research. This may be achieved through a system of community colleges, whose work is validated by the universities.

Progress towards the above, particularly the setting of clear objectives for innovative programmes, based on thorough needs analysis and subject both to internal and external evaluation, should be a necessary determinant for development agencies and potential donors in the allocation of funds and of other support. The PEACE Programme could act as a register and evaluator of projects.


­
SECOND PLENARY SESSION

Panel Discussion - Summary of debates

The Second Plenary Session was chaired by Dr. Rami Hamdallah and it was devoted to the presentation and discussion of the reports of the Working Groups. In order to allow for an overall view of the recommendations emerging from all the working groups, the four rapporteurs presented their reports after which a general discussion with regard to all of them was opened. There were many interventions from the floor, which emphasized the top priority of certain recommendations, or referred to new activities that should be undertaken. It was also pointed out that the separate recommendations of the four Working Groups sometimes overlap. Hence there is the need to integrate them into an overall set of conclusions and recommendations, emerging from the Conference as a whole. Moreover, it was pointed out that some of the recommendations could be considered for inclusion in the work plan of the PEACE Programme which had been adopted by the General Assembly of the Programme, the previous day. These tasks were entrusted to the Organizing Committee of the Conference and to the Steering Committee of the PEACE Programme.

Panel Discussion:

Palestinian Higher Education in the International Context: the role of interuniversity co-operation

The panel discussion was co-chaired by M.A.R. Dias, Director, Division of Higher Education of UNESCO and by Dr. Khaled Kan'an, Assistant to the President, Al­-Quds Open University.

Dr Kan'an underlined two facets of international co-operation, which are of particular relevance for Palestinian higher education. They reflect the spirit of both solidarity and competitiveness that underlies such co-operation. It is important, therefore, for the Palestinian universities, for their teachers and students to know that, by seeking co-operation with higher education institutions abroad they enter a competitive field, in which they must act, as equal partners. On the other hand, such co-operation is also an expression of solidarity and of assistance in their efforts to better meet the needs of Palestinian society.

Dr. Shihab Eldin, Director of UNESCO Cairo Office, referred to the need of strengthening links between Palestinian universities and universities in other parts of the world, particularly in the area of research. Since such links require substantial funding, he urged that a funding campaign be launched in the industrially developed countries, with the support of influential academics, scientific societies, foundations, public and private companies, etc. A special role could be played by Palestinian intellectuals, businessmen and entrepreneurs in the Diaspora. He further referred to the activities of the Cairo Office of UNESCO and offered its co-operation for the promotion of research at Palestinian universities, for enhancing the quality of teaching, particularly in science and technology, including through the PEACE Programe Network.

Dr Sufian Kamal, President of Al-Quds Open University, referred to the gap between developed and undeveloped countries concerning higher education and the important role that interuniversity co-operation is called upon to play in reducing it. Palestinian universities are in great need of further developing their international links, in the effort to enhance their quality and relevance, to introduce advanced programmes and to promote research. Interuniversity co-operation needs will and ability, but also financial means. Palestinian universities have the will and are constantly developing their capacity, but the financial means are extremely limited. Dr Kamal made the following concrete remarks and recommendations aimed at promoting the participation of Palestinian universities in interuniversity co-operation:

- All forms of interuniversity co-operation (bilateral and multilateral links, networking, etc.) should be pursued_

- International co-operation with Arab universities is reduced, and should be expanded_

- The Palestinian universities seek both moral and academic support from the foreign universities with which they co-operate. The latter are expected, therefore, to expand their role and to assume more responsibilities in this co­operation

- Some Palestinian universities are less active in international co-operation,
. because they lack the necessary know-how and infrastructures. The PEACE Programme should give priority to assisting them in order to build up the necessary knowledge and structures which should allow them to remedy this situation_

- PEACE Programme should give priority to granting scholarships for Palestinian staff, so as to strike the right balance between opportunities for post graduate students and for young academics to pursue further studies and to upgrade their training abroad_

- there are ample opportunities and a very strong need to develop co-operation with Palestinian universities in the field of the distance education. In the specific conditions of Palestine, distance education can play a key role in increasing access to higher education by making. it available to young people who would not have access to traditional forms of higher education. Also, it can overcome current difficulties in £Tee mobility of both staff and students. On the other, hand, it can be an instrument for upgrading teaching and research, through access to scientific data bases and to advanced teaching materials and methodologies.

Dr. Carlo Di Benedetta presented the activity of the Community of Mediterranean Universities (CUM), which counts at present over 150 universities in all countries bordering on the Mediterranean. CUM provides an excellent team work for co-operation with Palestinian universities on a regional basis. In fact, two Palestinian universities are members of CUM. It is on these grounds that, despite its own financial limited possibilities, CUM has decided to make a contribution ofUS$18,000 to the PEACE Programme, for scholarships for Palestinian students. As an associate collective member of the PEACE Programme, CUM could also contribute to the upgrading of academic staff at Palestinian universities and to the promotion of research, through the "CUM schools", and through various joint research projects now in progress, or through new ones which could be initiated in order to meet specific needs of the Palestinian universities.

Mr. Anthony Smallwood, speaking on behalf of Directorate General lB of the European Commission, began by recalling his meeting with Thafir EI-Masri in early 1985, during the Commission's first formal mission to the Occupied Territories, following the visit by Commissioner Claude Cheysson to East Jerusalem the year before, which marked the starting point of the co-operation programme with the Palestinian people. Mr. EI-Masri's constructive ideas strongly influenced the European Union's early programme and Mr. Smallwood expressed his pleasure at being able to participate in the inaugural event at the auditoria dedicated to Thafir EI-Masri's memory.

He briefly reviewed the support given by the European Union to Palestinian higher education and stressed that this support was in recognition of the unique social and education role played by the universities in Palestinian society. European support had been extensive, not only via Med Campus, Peace Campus and the PEACE Programme, but also through project and programme funding, via the Higher
. Education Council. More recently, European funding had provided recurrent cost support to the higher education sector to cover the collapse in external funding following the Gulf War. However, this was a short-term measure and recurrent support would be run down rapidly in favor of more concrete actions.

The European Commission remained committed to the continued development of a healthy Palestinian education system within which higher education had a critical role to play. All donors needed to recognize the new challenges of sector development and rationalization. Such issues would form part of a dialogue with the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education on how to ensure that continued European assistance to the Palestinian higher education sector will be used most effectively. He hoped that the higher education sector would retain its special relationship to the socio-economic

well-being of the Palestinian people and was confident that it would continue to benefit from its international links, including those built up under the PEACE Programme.

Speech by Dr. L. Eudora Pettigrew, President, State University of New York College at Old Westbury; Chair, International Association of University Presidents; UN Commission on Disarmament Education, Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies

The Role of the International Association of University Presidents

I am very pleased to be here today and have this opportunity to speak to you. As a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) and as President of the State University of New York at Old Westbury, I bring you greetings from all of my university presidential colleagues from throughout the world. I am deeply moved as I visit this region of the world which has such a rich and remarkable history, dating back beyond antiquity.

I want to talk briefly about the role of the university today as we prepare to enter the new millennium. I will address how the university interrelates with society in general and its potential to effectively improve society as a whole. I will also speak briefly about the International Association of University Presidents, and some of its major goals. In addition, I will provide some observations about how the IAUP and its resources might be helpful to the rebuilding of universities in Palestine.

The first and perhaps the pre-eminent task for the university is the transmittal of knowledge through teaching. Through its faculty, the university has the major responsibility of co-coordinating the dissemination of knowledge from one generation to another, to the genera] community and ultimately to the world. Teaching links the past and the present and can point to the direction for an inspiring future of great dimension and positive force. Faculty and staff of institutions of higher education carry the hopes of the future often through dangerous passages. When traveling a long road it is often difficult if not impossible to see far enough ahead or behind to understand if the journey has charted any particular direction. Faculty, administration and staff must climb to a high point, if only for a few minutes, to get a full view. This conference allows participants to make that climb and to look for future goals as well as the past. Curriculum and teaching can only benefit from that view.

Second, the university, through its faculty, conducts scholarly research which frequently has major benefits for society - particularly research in the sciences which has led to countless medical and scientific breakthroughs. University research is constantly pushing back the parameters of human knowledge and its successes often benefit society as a whole. Research on social issues including education, health, economic development, environmental concerns must be major components of future directions. Such research should be both basic and applied and must be de5igned to benefit the world culture and should focus on ways to develop economic viability of the world cultures.

And finally, the university - again through its faculty - has a responsibility to become involved in service to its relevant communities. Known as public service or community service, these activities often involve the voluntary participation of faculty and other university staff in local community projects and activities often of benefit to members of the non-university community. Such service can complement teaching and research. Teaching can be conducted for community residents on a variety of topics such as health or government. Applied research can be beneficial to the country, i.e., environmental concerns - agriculture, water conservation.

Universities all over the world are engaged in some fashion in teaching, research and service. The International Association of University Presidents with more than 600 members is a major world organization engaged in all university functions. The IAUP was founded thirty two years ago, in 1964. Its main purposes are to promote the peace, welfare and security of mankind through education, to generate friendship, understanding and confraternity among leaders of higher education, to arrange for joint research through the exchange of faculty, students and academic materials as well as to facilitate cultural and academic exchanges as a means of helping in the maintenance of world peace and the preservation of the cultures of mankind.

The organization is particularly interested in facilitating dialogue and collaboration among institutions of higher education in developed and developing nations. As a result of the hard work and dedication of member's from throughout the world community, IAUP has realized several major achievements since its founding. These include the designation of the International Year of Peace in 1986 through the United Nations, the increased participation of women in education, the signing of numerous exchange and academic collaboration agreements among universities of the world, the. Internationalization of curricula and the training of leaders in member institutions.

The Association is tree from political and partisan interest and maintains dialogue with international, regional and national educational associations as well as other official organizations within the international sphere.

In 1989, the Executive Committee of IAUP approved in substance a proposal to work in conjunction with the United Nations on disarmament education and the next year the Association membership approved the formation of an IAUP/UN Disarmament Education Commission for the purpose of advancing the teaching of disarmament education in institutions of higher education. The Commission membership includes chief executive officers of colleges and universities, faculty scholars, diplomats and government officials, arms control experts and others from such diverse disciplines as literature and the arts, journalism, politics, economics, health, environment, business and industry. Presently, there are over seventy corresponding members from many countries with a significant number from Russia and other Eastern European countries. There are also more than twenty observers and along the same lines, opportunities for graduate education for Palestinian faculty who have had limited opportunities to pursue advanced degrees could be available through IAUP institutions.


consultants. The Commission members give of their time and resources for meetings, sub-committees and conferences. I am now chair of the Commission.

The Commission in conjunction with universities and colleges has conducted seminars and workshops for scholars from developing countries, as well as other countries and has developed course work in conflict resolution, confidence building, conventional arms issues,' no clear proliferation threats, environmental conservation and recovery, economic development resulting from the conversion of military dollars to peace economics, health, psychology, legal education and journalism. Concepts of peace and security have been incorporated into course work. Course materials have been widely distributed to scholars in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Each participating university/college has assigned a host professor and a faculty committee to oversee the development and instruction of the course work. The results have been achieved because of IAUP' s commitment to peace through education.

With more than six hundred member institutions, IAUP has a broad array of resources which are available to higher education systems such as Palestine's. In the area of teaching, member universities could be interested in providing experienced professors in exchange programs which would enable Palestinian professors to serve as exchange professors at foreign universities. Established teacher education programs at IAUP member universities could serve as models for planning and developing such programs throughout Palestine.

The heads of universities in Palestine could benefit from visits to or extended stays at some of the IAUP campuses. Exposure to a variety of management styles and approaches might provide Palestinian senior staff opportunities to enhance their management practices. University heads from IAUP institutions could benefit from visits to Palestinian institutions. Rebuilding universities as will be done in Palestine can be instructive to other countries. In the area of academic research, similar or related research projects underway at individual IAUP and Palestinian campuses might benefit jointly from interaction and sharing of research findings.

Public service or community service ventures currently underway at IAUP campuses might have the potential to be replicated at Palestinian campuses. For example, voter registration drives interactive programs between universities and elementary/secondary schools, environmental developments, agricultural planning for economic developments may be useful for the Palestinian culture.


What about the future of IAUP and its Commission? A review of the IAUP's activities since its founding clearly indicates that it has a, successful track record internationally. For example, the IAUP Commission on Disarmament Education has clearly influenced university curricula throughout the world through developing seminars, symposia and course work on this subject. It should be emphasized, however, that the IAUP is not an institution of higher education. It is meant to serve as a catalyst, a gadfly, to stimulate interaction among and between institutions of higher education.

It might be possible in the future to share some of the Commission's activities with institutions of higher education in Palestine. Possibly, through combined efforts, IAUP institutions with Palestinian institutions can work to provide a powerfully effective learning environment. Plans do not always lead us nicely and neatly forward. Choices must always be made along the way. If we know anything about the feel of the present and the difficulties in finding a dream for the future, it is that life is far from simple, it is full of complexities and interdependencies. If planning for the future of higher education in Palestine could be conducted jointly with IAUP assistance, the results might assist to interpret the unpredictable intervening events. There is strength in working together and strength must be used to confront and surmount tough realities and strength must be available to make steady if not orderly progress. I invite you to share your thoughts, plans, ideas with fellow IAUP members. There is an inter­connectedness among us that transcends country boundaries, disciplines, even political disagreements. We must maximize our common needs to the benefit of human needs and human rights.

In closing, I have been very privileged to have this opportunity to speak to you today. My colleagues in IAUP and its Commission on Disarmament Education and I formally invite you to join hands with us in working together in friendship and mutual respect in our continuing endeavor toward ensuring a more peaceful planet. My experiences with IAUP and the Commission give me an ever present sense of optimism and an unshakeable belief that universities that work together and believe that they can and will be successful can and do make a difference.

Speech by Dr. Ibrahim AI-Khawaja, Assistant of Secretary General, Association of Arab Universities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to speak, briefly, in Arabic for several considerations: First, I am a representative of the Association of Arab Universities. Second, I am a professor of Arabic. Third, I am a member of Palestinian Arab Language Conclave. On behalf of the General Secretariat of the Association of Arab Universities, I have great pleasure to extend my thanks to UNESCO and to the PEACE Programme for inviting our Association to attend and participate in this important international conference. I would like also to extend my gratefulness to An-Najah National University for having this academic conference. I highly appreciate the university efforts in the organization, and preparation of the conference. All this, coupled with warmth and hospitality, has made this conference possible and distinguished.


As many of you know, the Association of Arab Universities is a non­governmental organization headquarter in the Jordanian capital, Amman, and has more than 120 Arab Universities in its membership. These, of course, include the eight Palestinian universities. In fact, I had wanted to speak in detail about the most important goals of the Association which are in full harmony with the aims of this academic conference, but because of pressure of time, I have to speak in brief.

I have listened, in this academic conference, to the speeches of organization representatives, the goals of whom cross and meet with ours. We fully support their views and opinions. On behalf of Professor Ihab Hassan lsma'il, Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities, I would like to express our readiness, as an Association to continue providing all assistance possible at our disposal. For instance, in the few years, a fund has been established to support the Palestinian Universities. Although, the fund, until now, has not achieved all its goals, in terms of funding Palestinian university programme it has succeeded, in the last two years, to secure $40,000 to support scientific research at Palestinian institutions of higher learning. The Association is yet to provide another $40,000 in the near future. The fund administration, based in the university of Jordan and run by the University of Jordan, President Dr. Fawzi Gharaybeh, has raised a considerable amount for the same purpose. We hope the Palestinian universities will maintain their close contacts with the Association bodies and institutions. This should enable the universities to make active use of them in different ways.


_­The Association has the following institutions:

­I. Arab Council for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research. This Council is based in the University of Cairo, Egypt.

2.  Arab Council for the Training of Arab University Graduates. The University of Jordan is home to this Council.

3. Centre for the Registration of University Dissertations. Dissertations are available on microfilms and microfiches. The Centre is based in Ain-Shams University, Egypt.

4. Centre for the Registration of University Theses. This Centre is based in the University of Jordan, Amman.

5. Arab Network for Vocational Development of Faculty Members at Arab Universities. It is based in the University of Alexandria.

6. Support Fund of Palestinian Universities. This also includes all announcements of scientific subjects. The last common scientific prize was co-ordinate with the Association of Arab Universities Research Council based in Baghdad.

7. Scholarly journals in different disciplines. These referred journals are published by the Association centre.

Recently, the Council of the Association approved plans for the establishment of scholarly societies for deans of faculties at Arab Universities. Moreover, the Association has called and encouraged twinning projects between Palestinian Universities and their counterparts in the Arab world. This has been initiated by the Arab League's Cultural Committee. A number of twins have been forged with Palestinian universities.



Ladies and Gentlemen,


I do not want to digress on this, but I would like to emphasize, once again, that the Association of Arab Universities, with all its humble facilities, is willing to co-ordinate and co-operate with the various scientific and cultural institutions: UNESCO, European Community, International Association of Universities ALECSO, International Association of University Presidents and the PEACE Programe for Educational Co-operation with Palestinian Universities.
CLOSING PLENARY SESSION

Professor Hans van Ginkel, Rector Magnificus, Utrecht University, Vice President International Associations of Universities.

Solidarity and Action: International Co-operation with Palestinian Universities

It is a great pleasure to be here with you in Nablus: in this beautiful conference hall of
your An-Najah National University. I was invited by the organizing committee to address you as participants of this International Conference on the Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State, under the auspices of the PEACE Programme. In Paris, during the preparations for the World Conference on Higher Education in 1998, announced this morning by Dr. Dias of UNESCO, my good friend Professor Abu-Lughud and I discussed this matter more in detail.

Wholeheartedly I accepted this invitation. With great enthusiasm I great you now. The discussions this morning illustrate how useful this meeting is. I greet you on behalf of the universities from Europe and world-wide, in at least four capacities, all of them are closely related to each other and to the theme of this Conference.

To start with, I am here representing the International Association of Universities (IAV), of which Professor Hanna Nasir is a member of the Administrative Board. I also represent the European Association of Universities (CRE). Each of these organizations has about 550 members, all research-universities. They implement activities in the field of management seminars (CRE), information services (IAU), special projects and meetings (both IAU and CRE). Those two large bodies of universities share the opinion that a solid system of higher education is imperative for the development of any country or region in the world; not only in delivering the necessary human resources in terms of qualified academics, but also in building up a sound research capacity, accountable to society.

But I am representing those two bodies in my capacity of Rector of Utrecht University in the Netherlands. I have been holding this position for some ten years now. During this period I came to treasure international co-operation between universities all over the world, based on a sense of true academic partnership. Last but not least, I am an academic myself, convinced of the contribution that any single member of "academia" can and should give to society.

Universities

Allow me to present a few remarks illustrating how I look at universities and higher education.


There is of course no such thing as a precise definition of the university. Yet, we all agree about the people who, together, make up such a university. They are people who are creative, capable, critical and professional, who feel responsible, are accountable, but also show compassion for their tasks, for the relations among staff, students, colleagues, and the outside world!

"Creative" means that people constantly try to pose new questions and find new answers. Not for the sake of the questions and answers themselves, but always in connection with the progress made in their scientific field and to the needs that are identified by society. "Capable" meaning that people have the relevant capacities and compassion to function for the benefit of the society. "Critical" meaning that people from universities will never accept or change moral values, political ideologies, beliefs etc. without a thorough analysis of the consequences, implications etc. "Professional" meaning that people from universities are adequately equipped for performing their role in society. People who do not in the first place take into account their own interests, or only the easy answers, but concentrate on what needs to be done, also in a more fundamental way. Now this seems to me the essence of the mission of a university in fact of institution of higher education. And it is this type of institution that can truly contribute, in a decisive way to the further development of the Palestinian international \ identity and the independent sustainable development of Palestine. .

Values and Norms

We should also keep in mind here the development of the idea of academic freedom and autonomy. These notions should have wide implications, not only for the scope and quality of teaching and research programmers at universities, but also for the governance of a university, especially in a time when outbursts of extremism are almost a common feature. My good friend Michal Severynsky of Lodz University, Poland, explained once the importance of the universities in his country in socialist times, in particular in the period of martial law. He called universities "places that teach democracy".

Universities, whose existence is based on a concept of freedom and autonomy, cannot escape their broader responsibility to try to help in solving urgent problems of racism, environmental pollution, hunger, war etc.

For institutions of higher education, international co-operation and linkages with partner institutes ought to be a fundamental component of their institutional policy, their commitment to the cause of education and research. Linkages should be based on true partnership: partnership between institutions of higher education and research, between people who want to achieve a maximum of academic creativity and innovation and who want to invest in such a partnership, both through staff and through financial input. Sincere commitment of people and a real flow of ideas and knowledge are more important than written agreements, big sums of money and all kinds of evaluations. Mobilizing people is the key to success. The development of networks, of partnerships in themselves are good laboratories of practicing democracy and good governance, just because of the important different between the partners!

Human Resources

I think that my ideas about the mission of universities anywhere in the world and about academic solidarity should also be exercised in the relationship with Palestinian universities and institutes of higher education with the aim to enhance the human resources. The future of an independent Palestine will depend to a large extent on these resources.

In my opinion, the PEACE Programme has proved to be an invaluable instrument in mobilizing international academic commitment. In this sense, I do think that this conference is already a success by the sheer fact of its existence. The presence of your President, Mr. Yasser Arafat and your Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi clearly illustrates the importance of this event. Professor Munthir Salah and Professor Baramki, Professor Chitoran and all the others involved in the organisation, can be congratulated. The Conference as such is a clear token of academic solidarity and of partnership. But I want to add immediately that this is not enough. A confession of academic solidarity should always be followed by implementation of academic solidarity through action. I dare to say that we have seen enough confessions of solidarity, solemn vows, to assist the Palestinian people without the practical implementation. We, i.e. the international academic community, should go on and set the example. We need to mobilize people in order to assist their colleagues here in this troubled country who do their job under very difficult circumstances in order to raise the quality of teaching and research. We need to assist our Palestinian colleagues to enhance research in areas of particular relevance for the future of the Palestinian society, like issues of water, land etc. In that sense we can make a modest but crucial contribution to the peace process in this region. In that sense, Palestinian institutions will be able to take their rightful place as equal partners in the international 'academia'.

Instruments

A number of instruments have been defined: scholarships for students, exchange of staff, undertaking of joint research-projects etc. in order to really implement the solidarity. Think about the importance of the staff development programmes and solidarity the TOKTEN Programme (Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals). We need to encourage the international academic community to devote more energy and' resources in the development of linkages with Palestinian partner ­institutions. The PEACE Programme should continue and even strengthen its important role here. Scholarships might help to bring about the other wave Professor Sufian Kamal was asking for this morning. Brain Gain, not Brain Drain, bringing people back to Palestine should receive here special focus!

It is therefore imperative that the Palestinian institutions of higher education themselves formulate as accurately as possible the needs and strategies of their institutions. It is in my opinion also imperative that the Palestinian institutions of higher education proceed on the road to a rationalization of resources. The optimization of university resources in a national system not only of higher education, but of education at large is imperative. Such an integrated approach of planning of policy and strategy will certainly reinforce the system of higher education and thereby the position of each of the individual institutions involved.

Of course funding has to be provided in relation to the needs of young people and society itself At the last Biannual Conference of the CRE, held in the Czech Republic; the importance of networking and strategic alliances for universities was stressed. The PEACE Programme could play a role here for the Palestinian universities. It already plays an important role in terms of an umbrella-organization in initiating these international linkages. The fact that at the moment the PEACE Programme has 66 members clearly shows the good results, I come to offer you help, trying to mobilize commitment within the IAU and CRE for the PEACE Programme. Your programme should play a catalytic role in attracting assistance for targeted projects that you define, based on equal partnership.

I want to end by 'promising' that I will encourage as much as I can the academic solidarity with Palestinian universities in my four capacities as outlined in my introduction. The next conference organized by the PEACE Programme will show whether the deed did indeed follow the solemn vow. To start with, I will strengthen the commitment of my own university, Utrecht University. I thank you for your attention.

Mrs. In'am AI-Mufti, Member of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century


Learning: the Treasure Within
The Relevance for Palestinian Higher Education

Mr. Chairman,
 Distinguished Participants,
 Ladies and Gentlemen

It is indeed great pleasure for me today, first to be once again in Palestine after a separation of twenty years, and equally to present to you the report of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty First Century. It was my privilege to have been nominated by his Excellency Mr. Jaques Delors, Chairman of the Commission, as one of its members representing the Region, to participate in the valuable efforts of both UNESCO and the European Union sponsors of this Conference in promoting international understanding and co-operation.

This Conference convenes in Nablus at a crucial moment as we strive to lay solid foundations for a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace. What bases could be more effective for building, solid ground for peace and international co-operation than education? It is therefore equally pertinent to commend the ongoing efforts of the Steering Committee of the Palestinian European Academic Co-operation in Education, their diligent efforts to promote international co-operation with Palestinian universities and to channel international support are invaluable in consolidating peace in a spirit of genuine academic solidarity.

In presenting the Commission's report, I shall concentrate, on higher education and international co-operation which is the subject of our Conference; but higher education cannot be taken in isolation of the preceding levels, since its success depends on the ability of students to interact positively with it. The pursuit of excellence in education is a standard that must be applied at all levels, and indeed the principles and strategies of the Commission's report that apply to all stages of Education. I have selected tram the report certain themes to discuss with you today. Among these themes are: the role of education in society, a glimpse of the background, formation and mandate of the Commission, its methodology, the stages and bridges of learning from childhood to higher education, education for women and girls, technology in the service of education, the central role of the teacher, and reform strategies.

The International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century was formally established by UNESCO at the beginning of 1993, working with the assistance of a secretariat provided by UNESCO, but completely independent in carrying out its work and preparing its recommendations. Chaired by Mr. Jacques Delors, former President of the European Union, the Commission comprised a group of fourteen other figures, from all over the world and form a variety of cultural and professional backgrounds.

In accordance with its mandate the Commission studied and reflected on the challenges facing education in the coming years and formulated suggestions and recommendations in its report which can serve as an agenda for renewal and action for policy and practice which are both innovative and feasible, while taking into account the wide diversity of situations, needs, means and aspirations existing in countries and In regions.

In confronting the many challenges that the future holds in store, humankind sees in education an indispensable asset in its attempt to attain the ideals of peace, freedom and social justice. And in this context, our Commission affirmed its belief that education has a fundamental role to play in personal and social development. While the Commission does not see education as a miracle cure or a magic formula opening the door to a world in which all ideals will be attained, it looks to it as one of the principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby to reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war. The Commission focused its reflection on one central and all-encompassing question: what kind of education is needed for what kind of society of tomorrow? It considered the new roles of education and the new demands made on education systems in a world, of accelerating economic, environmental and social change and tension. It studied the implications for education of the major trends in the evolution of contemporary society; it attempted to keep at the heart of its work those most intimately involved in education: learners of all ages, first of all, and those involved in fostering learning, whether they are teachers, parents, members of the community, or other participants in education.

The method adopted by the Commission was to engage in as wide ranging a process of consultations as was possible in the time available. It held its working sessions in the. Five regions of the world. Gathering representatives of a wide range of professions and organizations directly and indirectly related to education. A series of presentations by distinguished individuals enabled the Commission to hold in-depth exchanges on a wide range of topics related in various degrees to education. Individual consultations were carried out, face-to-face or in writing. A questionnaire was sent to all the National Commissions for UNESCO, inviting them to submit documentation or unpublished material: the response was very positive and the replies were studied carefully and made use of Non-governmental organizations were similarly consulted and in some cases invited to participate in meetings.

The report covered several outlooks, principles and directions. It highlighted the following major ideas:

1. The coming century, dominated by globalization, will bring with it enduring tensions to overcome, but whatever the diversity of cultures and systems of social organization, there is a universal challenge of reinventing the democratic ideal to create, or maintain, social cohesion.

2. In this context of inevitable globalization, learning throughout life will be one of the keys to meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century. To that effect, all societies aim to move towards a necessary Utopia in which none of the talents hidden like buried treasure in every person are left untapped.

The Commission proposed ...four pillars that are the foundations of education, ­learning to be, learning to know, learning to do, and learning to live together. The far reaching changes in the patterns of life require of us a better understanding of other people and the world at large, they demand peaceful interchange and indeed harmony ­the very things that are most lacking in our world today. Having adopted this position the Commission has put greater emphasis on one of the four pillars that it proposes that is learning to live together in the "global village".

But how can we learn to live together in the "global village" if we cannot manage to live together in the communities to which we naturally belong- the nation, the region, the city, the village, the neighborhood?

The world had been faced with so many misfortunes caused by war, crime and underdevelopment. There is every reason to place renewed emphasis on the moral and cultural dimensions of education enabling each person to grasp the individuality of other people and to understand the world's erratic progression towards a certain unity.

A fresh approach is proposed to the stages and bridges of learning whereby the paths through education systems become more varied and the value of each is enhanced. While universal basic education is an absolute priority, secondary education has a pivotal role to play in the individual learning paths of young people and in the development of societies. And, higher education institutions should be diversified so as to take into accounts their functions and duties as centers of knowledge, as places of professorial training, as the cross-roads for learning, throughout life and as partners in international co-operation.

The Commission stresses the importance of the Declaration adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995) in respect ofw9men's education. The Declaration outlines the different factors of discrimination practiced against women and girls, particularly in regard to education and training, and sets a number of fundamental goals for the international community: to ensure equal access/ by women to education, to eradicate female illiteracy, and to improve access for women to vocational training, science and technology education. The central role (teachers, and the need to improve their training, status and conditions of work, are also stressed. While the psychological and material situation of teachers differs greatly from country to country, an upgrading of their status is essential if "Learning throughout Life" is to fulfill the central function assigned to it by the Commission in the advancement of our societies and the strengthening of mutual understanding among peoples. , Their position as master or mistress in the classroom should be recognized by society and they should be given the necessary authority and suitable resources. The Commission stresses; the importance of exchanges of teachers and partnerships between institutions in different countries. As confirmed by current activities, such exchange and partnerships provided an essential added value not only for the quality of education but also for a greater receptivity to other cultures, civilizations and experiences.

Getting the reform strategies right, by a broad-based dialogue, and by increasing responsibility and involvement of stakeholders at every level, will be a crucial element of educational renewal. The main parties contributing to the success of educational reforms are, first of all, the local community, including parents, school heads and teachers; secondly, the public authorities; and thirdly, the international community. The countries where the process has been relatively successful are those that obtained a determined commitment from local communities, parents and teachers, backed by continuing dialogue and various forms of financial, technical or professional assistance.

Higher Education is at one and the same time one of the driving forces of economic development and the focal point of learning in society. It is both depository and creator of knowledge. Moreover, it is the principal instrument for passing on the accumulated experience, cultural and scientific, of humanity. In a world where resources of knowledge will increasingly predominate over material resources as factors in development, the importance of higher education and of higher education institutions can only grow. Moreover, the effect of innovation and technological progress means that economic development will increasingly demand competencies that require high level studies.

Universities would contribute to this process by diversifying what they offer:

*as scientific establishments and centers of learning, from where students go on to theoretical or applied research or teaching;

*as establishments offering occupational qualifications, combining high-level knowledge and skills with courses and content continually tailored to the needs of the economy;

*as some of the main meeting places for learning throughout life, opening their doors to adults who wish either to resume their studies or to adapt and develop their knowledge or satisfy their taste for learning in all areas of cultural life; and

*as leading partners in international co-operation, facilitating exchanges of teachers and students and ensuring that the best teaching is made widely available through international professorships.

In addition to these four functions, the universities should also be able to speak out on ethical and social problems as entirely independent and fully responsible institutions exercising a kind of intellectual authority that society needs to help it to reflect, understand and act.

In this way, universities would transcend what is wrongly held to be the conflict between the logic of public service and the logic of the job market. They would also reclaim their intellectual and social vocation as, in a sense, guarantors of universal values and of the cultural heritage. The Commission sees these as cogent reasons for urging greater university autonomy.

Having formulated these proposals, the Commission emphasizes that these issues take on a special significance in poor countries, where universities have a decisive role to play. In developing countries, universities must learn form their own past and analyze their countries' difficulties, engaging in research aimed at finding solutions to the most acute among them. It is also incumbent on them to propose a renewed vision of development that will enable their countries to build a better future. They must provide the vocational and technological training of the future leaders and the higher and middle level education required if their countries are to escape form their present tread mills of poverty and underdevelopment.

Institutions of higher education are ideally placed to use globalization as a tool for bridging the knowledge gap and in order to enrich the dialogue between peoples and between cultures. Co-operation among scientists working in the same discipline transcends national boundaries and is a powerful tool for the internationalization of research technology, ideas, attitudes and activities.

To that end the twinning of research institutions in industrialized countries with their counterparts in' developing countries will benefit both sides, as greater understanding of developmental problems is essential in solving, problems in the "global village". South-South co-operation also holds out great promise: work done in Asia or Latin America has enormous relevance to Afiica and vice-versa.

The economic sector also needs to set up partnerships with universities in both the developed and the developing world to carry out research on problems related to development in the digest regions. International donors can also give a fresh impetus to these kinds of partnerships. In a world increasingly dominated by technology, emphasis must be placed on ways both to use technology in the service of education and to prepare people to master it for living and working.

The Commission obviously could not discuss the major societal choices facing education without considering the new information and communication technologies. The issue goes beyond their simple use for teaching purposes; it calls for central consideration of how knowledge will be accessed in tomorrow's world. The subject can be merely touched upon here, since it is still too difficult to form an accurate idea of these technologies' effect on knowledge and learning. The Commission wishes to stress that these technologies are in the process of accomplishing nothing short of a revolution before our very eyes; one that is affecting activities connected with production and work just as much as those connected with education and training. The inventions that have left their stamp on the twentieth century (records, radio, television, audio and video recording, computers, or air, cable and satellite broadcasting) have a more than technological dimension; their significance is essentially economic and social. Most of these technologies have become sufficiently miniaturized and cheap to have penetrated into most homes in the industrialized countries and to be used by a growing number of people in the developing countries.

There is a very good reason to believe that the impact of the new technologies, consequent to the development of computer networks, will very rapidly make itself felt world-wide through the use of:

multimedia equipment;
interactive information exchange systems, including electronic mail and on-line access to libraries and public data bases;
computerized simulators;
virtual reality systems.


Using these tools, both students and teachers are equipped to become researchers. . Teachers then coach their students to evaluate and use effectively the information they have gathered for themselves. This is far closer to real life situations than the older styles of teacher transmission of information to students. A new partnership is developing in the classroom.

The progress of the new information and communication technologies should give rise to a general deliberation on access to knowledge in the world of tomorrow. The new technologies could be used in:

the diversification and improvement of distance education, in adult education and especially in the in-service training of teachers;

the strengthening of developing countries' infrastructures and capabilities in this field and the dissemination of such technologies throughout society. These are in any case prerequisites to their use in formal education systems.

_International Co-operation

Globalization highlights the scale, urgency and interconnected nature of the problems facing the international community. The accelerated pace of population growth, the wastage of natural resources, environmental damage, the chronic poverty in much of the world, and the oppression, violence and injustice from which millions still suffer, call for large scale remedial action that can be implemented only by reinvigorating international co-operation and putting, more resources into it. Globalization, henceforth, irreversible, and calls for global responses: building a better or less bad world has become as never before everyone's business.

Education is without any doubt one, perhaps the most fundamental, of these responses. Co-operation in education should thus be viewed in the broader context of what the international community must do to stimulate awareness of all the problems _­-

requiring solution and achieve a consensus on the issues needing concerted action. This action will involve international and intergovernmental organization, governments, non-governmental organizations, business and industry, professional and labor organizations and, of course, in the area which concerns us directly, those actively participating in the education system and the intellectual community, all working together as partners.

From Aid to Partnership

We are currently witnessing a shift in the conception and functions of international aid. The conventional forms of aid and co-operation axe being contested and acknowledgement of the need for changing, 'assistance' into partnership' is gaining ground. Both beneficiary and donor countries are looking for new forms of co­operation genuinely, based on exchange and mutual benefit.

The Commission does not underrate the force of financial constraints and it advocates the bringing into operation of public/private partnership locally and internationally. In developing countries, the public funding of basic education remains a priority, but the choices made must not imperil the coherence of the system as a whole, nor lead to other levels of education being sacrificed.

The role of political authority, which has the duty clearly to define options and ensure overall regulation, making the required adjustments is reaffirmed: education is a community asset which cannot be regulated by market forces alone. It is essential that funding structures be reviewed in the light of the principle that learning should continue throughout individual's lives.

The report to UNESCO of this independent Commission is the result of a world-wide process of consultation and analysis over a period of three years. It closes with an emphatic plea for more resources to be devoted to education, nationally and internationally, and for invigorating international co-operation in education, with UNESCO as key player.

Publishing of the report is not the end of the Commission's noble mission, since UNESCO has set up a Task Force that will ensure the follow-up to the Commission's work, by publishing the background material and studies looking more closely into aspects of the Commission's deliberations or recommendations, by helping to organize, at the request of governmental or non-governmental authorities, meetings to discuss  the findings of the Commission and by taking part in activities that will attempt to put into practice some of the Commission's recommendations.

In the twenty-first century everyone will need to exercise greater independence and judgment combined with a strong sense of personal responsibility for the attainment of common goals. It needs to be stressed further imperative: none of the talents which are hidden like buried treasure in every person must be left untapped. For the title of the report which is "Learning, the Treasures Within" the Commission turned to one of La Fontaine's fables, the "Ploughman and his children".
Be sure (the ploughman said), not to sell the inheritance our forebears_. Treasure lies concealed therein.

Readapting slightly the words of the poet who was lauding the virtues of hard _ work, and referring instead to education- that is, everything that humanity has learned about itself- we could have him say,
But the old man was wise
To show them before he died
That learning is the treasure.

Before I conclude, let me reiterate again my honor and pleasure to be with you today, to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to the PEACE Programme and An-Najah University for the kind hospitality and the meticulous organization of the Conference and my sincere wishes of continued success to all Palestinian institutes of higher education in achieving their goals in preparing the Palestinian youth for a promising future on the eve of the twenty-first century.

May I also wish our guests from outside Palestine a safe trip home, and to thank you all for your attention, God bless you.


Dr. Adnan Badran, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, Paris

Challenges to Higher Education in a Palestinian Statehood

I have always had the fullest admiration of the Palestinian people who were able, despite occupation and in the absence of the experience of statehood, to build universities that are among the best in the area. Difficulties faced by Palestinians in the Diaspora made it inevitable for them to be self-reliant. Frequent migrations have taught them to value education highly. Those with education made it through life, and those without education had difficult times. Education in its turn brought wealth to some Palestinians working abroad. It thus became necessary to build bridges between people who are out and those who are inside and to capitalize on human resources.

Palestinians do not have natural resources to rely on, no oil, limited water resources and no land. Since education is the only capital Palestinians have, it cannot be traditional, it has to be well-tuned to the needs of the people, it should seek to alleviate poverty and move towards globalization. The prerequisite for joining global education is quality and Palestinian higher education has to be competitive in an era of globalization.

I. Challenges to Palestinian Higher Education

Thus the role of Palestinian universities is a challenging one; universities need to "tailor education" to the needs of -the people and to raise the quality of their teaching and research to the level expected of them. In addition to the responsibility of preparing students for employment, Palestinian universities have a national responsibility: the university is part of the national aspiration of Palestinian people and part of their value system.

Palestinian higher education has to render the following results:

  1. preservation of Palestinian cultural heritage, universities should fulfill national aspirations;

  1. Promotion of democratic, cultural and human values. They should encourage dialogue,  multilingualism, pragmatism and develop real democracy in the minds of men and women;

  1.  search for excellence through serious encouragement in competitions;

  1. develop human resources and make them really contribute to the social and economic development;

      5. Making studies and surveys to find the priority areas of human resources development services and to plan and structure programs on how we want a human being to be;


6. universities should be flexible in modifying plans, activating human resources and training people for life-long education through constant refreshing of their courses;

7. university education should be accessible to all those who are qualified on the basis of merit;
Universities should help in the modernization of education in a world of uncertainties and to a population of students which is increasing rapidly; universities should meet the challenges of globalization where competition becomes high and knowledge generated therein is the most important tool.

Palestinian Universities and Palestinians of the Diaspora

It is time to call upon the Palestinians of the Diaspora to help in building their own country as they have left their imprints on many countries especially in the Gulf. Palestinians are highly educated people and many are prominent distinguished professors abroad. They need to shed their knowledge and experience on the mother land. They can keep their roots abroad while helping their old country to develop particularly in human resources.

Palestinians should not follow other Arab models in university education since the experience of the eight Palestinian universities is outstanding and needs to be capitalized on. There is, however, the necessity of co-operation between all Palestinian universities and the organization of this co-operation should be the responsibility of the Council for Higher Education. Further, the Council of Higher Education is also responsible for funding and technical co-operation. Funding should be made available to Palestinian universities.

Access to Higher Education

When we speak of access to higher education, many universities and other countries have fallen to misinterpretation of this terminology. I wish to remind you that the declaration of human rights has emphasized free education mainly in terms of Basic Education for All, in terms of the compulsory cycle. That education is a must for every human being.

But when it comes to higher education, the universal declaration of human rights has said higher education shall be equally accessible to all, on the basis of merit. Let us not forget the merit, because once we talk about higher education we are talking about access to higher education by those who are qualified for higher education and who can make the quality in terms of higher education. Otherwise, we will end up with low quality university graduates, who will have no jobs because they do not meet the standard of future challenges, they do not have a brand; we have to brand people by the quality education. Low quality graduates are a waste of the investment in higher education.


It is of serious importance how to modernize and better manage institutions of higher learning. How to improve teaching to respond more effectively to a world of the twenty first century, a world of increasing competitiveness and uncertainty. What is the true value of education obtained from such an old and traditional system? The student population is growing rapidly and higher education systems are not responding to the market-place. How far will these trends shape the University of tomorrow and influence new trends in education? These, of course, are important questions for meeting the challenges of globalization and free-market economy, based on competitiveness. Knowledge will be the most important tool for this global competition. Knowledge is generated in the university and this is where a large share of research is carried out. How much Rand D can the university provide to link itself with industry? The market economy would influence not only funding of the university research, but also what l should be taught to students. All those questions should be thoroughly debated. Each one makes a topic for a full seminar.

Value of Higher Education to Palestinians

Palestinians value the pursuit of education greatly and have one of the highest enrolment rates in higher education among the countries in the region, whether living in the Palestinian territory now or living outside Palestine, in other countries. As a matter of fact, Palestinians have contributed a great deal to the development of the Arab region. They are truly behind much of the development in the Gulf and in the development of neighboring countries, particularly Jordan. Wherever they went, because of their education, they have left their prints. They brought wealth and vast experience back to their country and this is the main source for their livelihood.

Palestinians see the development of human resources as their major source of income. The number of Palestinians at work in the Arab countries, although dwindling right now, has always been very important for investment at home. When a Palestinian democratic statehood is created, and stability is established, then it is expected that the State will develop quickly because of the abundance of manpower qualified resources abroad which will be backstopping the development of the State.

Imbalances in Current Trends

Through presenting some statistics, I wish to show that Palestinian universities suffered for a long time from .imbalances between the number of students in the humanities and those in sciences in favor of humanities. This imbalance was attributed to the fact that Palestinian universities began their educational missions with humanities since they were less costly to establish and they required little expenses unlike sciences, engineering, pharmacy and medicine which need labs and other very costly requirements.

Drastic measures have to be put to redress the current imbalances with respect to the levels of study of the higher education system of the Palestinian State. Currently we have about 36,000 students in the universities but only 9,000 students in technical and community colleges.

With regard to the fields of studies, we can see that university graduates over the last 15 years represent 81 % in humanities, education, Islamic studies and business, 15% in basic sciences, and only 4%> in technical fields. Enrolments in community colleges show only 25%, in technical fields and 75% in academic fields, This is a very serious matter for the Palestinian authorities concerned. The challenge now is to deal with these imbalances. First of all it requires commitment of the State to finance higher education as a pillar of its statehood, and second it requires the private enterprise to link itself with the higher education institutions for developing the skilled human resources it requires. This link should be a partnership for training, retraining and research and development. So higher education in the Palestinian State should be innovative and not only for social status, but also for employment opportunities and the development of the Palestinian enterprises.

However, we should not underestimate the work already done. To create eight universities and twenty community colleges under foreign occupation is really a miracle, and no one should minimize the efforts which were made. But now, we should try to divert to new frontiers of disciplines' with emphases on science, engineering and technology schools, and to create the endogenous capacity of the technical know-how. For this we need resources, particularly from the European Community, to overcome these imbalances in higher education.                                                      .

Higher 'education in a Palestinian State should address transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary education. The problems facing humanity in the next millennium cannot be addressed through mono-disciplines with the traditional rigid walls. It should be flexible, based on a wide range of complimentary courses with various levels of credit hours exchangeable to allow the students to move across borderlines of specialization, according to the needs of market for professionals. The development of new technologies particularly in the information age requires the development of new brain­ intensive manpower resources. The same goes for genetic engineering and biotechnology which require a. new interdisciplinary approach to cope with scientific achievements and development. Also, addressing the environment, population, poverty and management of human and natural resources requires a new style of graduates.

Education programmes should be developed as diversity of packages, in term of short and long courses and in-service education and training for adults. Evening courses to utilize the university infrastructure could be opened for those who are engaged in work during the day-hours.

Also there is a need to develop graduate studies in relevant fields. Since they account, at present, for only 1 % of the university student population, research cannot be done effectively with this small percentage. There is a need to expand the graduate programme of each university, and to encourage research among faculty members. Funding resources should be made available to encourage research, incentives should be created to promote research activities by reducing teaching load and promoting sabbaticals, travels to present papers, and attend symposia.


Relevance

For the development of a truly democratic Palestinian State, higher education should be engaged in this development. Self-reliance and capacity building of human resources to the state is crucial. So Palestinian higher education should not develop after any model in adjacent Arab States. It should be endogenous to the geography and demography of the Palestinian State. It should be based on quality and merits, but should respond to the future needs of the state. It should stress the development of the limited natural resources particularly water resources and their management. Also, it should stress on biotechnology for intensive crop and animal production. It should stress on the exploitation technology of mineral resources. And above all, it should stresses the new frontier areas to create the knowledge-based and brain-intensive information technology - cybernetics and small and medium industries. Management of natural and human resources is considered our weakest point in the Arab world. Public and private enterprise management for the high and medium levels should be stressed in creating the state-of-art Arab management schools. The art of management is considered the most important tool in overcoming the edge of competition in the market place.

Structure of Higher Education

F or community colleges, there are two modalities, one is public, and the second is private. The private could be modeled on- non-profit foundations. Both should be encouraged to provide the technical and medium core of the Palestinian cadre. The education here should be linked to the needs of the community. It is important to stress languages and technical know-how.

For university higher education, it is important to dwell on the success of the current eight universities which exist now in Palestine. They need to be reinforced and organized in term of diversity of programmes, levels of programmes, quality, teaching and research, better infrastructure laboratory and workshop facilities. The need to use the state-of-art innovations in higher education should respond - but not be limited - to the needs of the growth and development of both public and private sectors of the Palestinian State.

The Palestinian universities should be independent and fully autonomous in term of management and in running their own affairs. Each university devises its own curricula, its own programmes, its own ways of development. They should not form a xerox copy, but should be diversified on their own to compete among themselves for quality, for better programmes and facilities. Each university should develop its own structure under its own independent board of trustees, who appoints the president and safeguards the independence and freedom of expression of the university. In addition, each board of trustees should be engaged in a continuous' campaign of fund-raising for the development of the university.

There is a need for a council of higher education to coordinate and develop the state policy of higher education and to become the national steering mechanism to diverting financial resources from the state or foreign sources to fund the universities No ministry of higher education should be created, because it has proven in other Arab countries to be ineffective and fringes on university independence. It also creates bureaucratic structure and red tape which hinders the growth of competition among universities. Any say about duplication is over exaggerated, because without duplication, competition for quality will be hindered and monopoly which yields low quality would prevail.

Financing Higher Education

1. Through the Council for Higher Education, the State should contribute to financing higher education institutions based on prorate of students admitted in science, engineering, technical fields, management and administration and humanity fields - each category has a level of allowance per student.

2. The European Community and other multilateral and bilateral funding sources should be approached with concrete projects for building the infrastructure of the higher education system for the Palestinian State. UNESCO is ready to contribute to the upstream work for identification and formulating projects undertaken to draw a Palestinian master plan of higher education. Palestinian universities are encouraged to attend the World Conference on Higher Education which will be convened by UNESCO in 1998.

3. Universities should be allowed to set their own student fees to cover their operating costs and compete for better quality of education. The fees should be paid by all students admitted to the university. However, low-income students who meet the criteria of admission may be helped to cover their fees in the following manner:

a. "Student loan" from a revolving fund, to be created in each university. Students, once they graduate and become employed, should return the "debt" to the university revolving fund to be utilized for other needy students.

b. Government scholarships for students who meet the criteria of admission. This will support both the State in building its own cadre of professionals, and the University for covering part of their student fees.

c. Study-through-working, where students are encouraged to work part ­time on or off campus to finance their education. Students here may be allowed to enrol as part-time students which may require an extra year or more to complete the requirements of their degrees.

d. Fellowships from international agencies, foundations or local industries  to support some students.

UNESCO has sent two missions to Palestine. One mission has produced the report on Higher Education in the West Bank and- Gaza Strip, a very comprehensive report and has addressed the funding mechanism of the Palestinian higher education. Another one was about the Human Resources in Palestine. Those two studies, which were undertaken by UNESCO, commenced immediately after the peace accord was signed with Israel on the White House lawn.

I would like to close by saying that the work that has been done so far by higher education system in Palestine is remarkable. The Palestinian State should dwell on what has been accomplished. Still a lot of work lies ahead. We should be more coherent in terms of what new disciplines and trans-disciplines need to be created and how to co-ordinate higher education and provide a sustainable funding mechanism. The linkages with other universities, whether we talk about networks with European universities, with American universities, or with Arab universities, are very important links to promote the higher education system. Those bridges bring knowledge, bring expertise, provide scholarships, short-term and long-term training. Also, what is needed, really, is to draw on the P_estinian Diaspora through "TOKTEN' projects, where the transfer of knowledge could be bridged to Palestine to provide the professional experience needed for the economic and social development. So Palestinians abroad will be intimately linked to contribute to build their dreams for a great country, a prosperous democratic Palestine.

The floor was then given to Professor Gabi Baramki for the closing address of the Conference and for the adoption of its Recommendations.

Professor Baramki began by stating that the International Conference on The Role of Higher Education in the Context of an Independent Palestinian State has successfully met the objectives for which it had been convened, and will play a positive role in the future development of Palestinian higher education and in promoting international co-operation between Palestinian and foreign universities. he referred to the numerous concrete proposals for future action and to the recommendations made in the various Conference sessions and in the working groups. This, he pointed out, renders it difficult to present to the Conference a final text which could be adopted as "The Recommendations of the Nablus Conference".; He asked the participants to entrust the Organizing Committee of the Conference and the Steering Committee of the PEACE Programme to prepare such a final document and to assure its wide
Circulation.

In the light of the debates of the Conference, Dr. Baramki stressed that higher education should be viewed as the basis for development and for meeting the social and economic needs of the Palestinian society. At the present stage in the historical development of the Palestinian society, higher education is called upon to make a special effort towards developing awareness of the national identity, national integration and statehood. Above all else, it is important to raise the quality of its teaching, training and research. In this latter undertaking, international co-operation and initiatives such as the PEACE Programme constitute efficient and cost-effective instruments and ways of action.

Summing up the recommendations presented in the various sessions of the Conference, Dr. Baramki pointed out that they centred on two main themes:

1. Solidarity through action;
2. Stressing high quality programmes at Palestinian universities.

With regard to the first axis, he emphasized that solidarity with Palestinian universities has been the major reason for the establishment of the PEACE Programme. At present, it has become a priority to match the expression of solidarity with action. In concrete terms, the support of the PEACE partners is expected to be in the form of human resource development, more specifically:

a) Training university staff in the management of universities;

b) Faculty development, to meet immediate and long-term needs of the universities for qualified teaching and research staff.

With regard to enhancing the quality of education at Palestinian universities, the speaker pointed out that this is, at present, a priority of the Ministry of Higher Education. The PEACE Programme can help in several ways:

a) scholarships and grants for study abroad, with stress on selecting young graduates with the relevant skills and potential for study in high quality programmes, so as to bring new blood into the faculty;

b) Support for scientific research, both basic and applied. This should take the form of joint research programmes between Palestinian universities and other member universities of the PEACE Programme. In this respect, the establishment of a National Research Council by the Ministry of Higher Education would be an important step in the support of research in general and at universities in particular;

c) Assistance for the establishment of graduate studies in relevant fields. Such vertical expansion needs to be done gradually and with a great deal of thought and proper feasibility studies. Planning ahead is vital in order to make sure that both human resources (software) and the infrastructure (hardware) are available, prior to launching any graduate program.

Prof. Baramki concluded by expressing warm thanks to all participants - both Palestinian and foreign  for attending and bringing their active contribution to the success of the Niiblus Conference. He then thanked the Palestinian National Authority and the Ministry of Higher Education for extending their full support to the Conference, as well as UNESCO and the European Commission for their generous financial and intellectual contribution. Special thanks were conveyed to An-Najah National University, to its President" Dr. Munthir Salah and its Vice-President, Dr. Rami Hamdallah for a job well done. He also thanked the PEACE Programme, the staff of its office in Paris and Mr. Y ousef Dajani, from the Ministry of Higher Education for the special effort to assure the preparation and successful holding of the Conference.

At the end of the session, a French participant asked for the floor in order to present, on behalf of the French universities represented at the Conference, a strong protest against the closure of several Palestinian institutions of Higher Education including Hebron University. He called the participants in the Conference to ask the Israeli Government to put an end to the harassment of Palestinian academics and students, in disregard of academic freedom and university autonomy. Such acts do not help stability and peace in the Region.




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