Private colleges in Iraq in numbers.. Numerical proliferation and declining quality graduates genera

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[size=52]Private colleges in Iraq in numbers.. Numerical proliferation and declining quality graduates generations of unemployed[/size]

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Linda the watcher[/size]
[size=45]Despite government spending of more than $22 billion on the education sector, it remains one of the sectors most affected and most influential on the future of Iraq, and it still suffers from a lot of shortages, both governmental and private.[/size]
[size=45]Privatization of education in the eighties[/size]
[size=45]Since the end of the eighties of the last century, the Iraqi government has developed a guiding plan for the private sector according to which it defined the instructions, controls and encouraging policies that it adopted at the time to encourage investments in the field of private university education, within a scheme based on the fact that the relationship between public and private universities is not competitive but complementary, with the aim of accommodating the increasing number of universities. High school graduates who are on the verge of university education, and the first private private university was established in 1988, which is the “University College of Heritage,” followed by several other universities.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq includes more than 66 private universities and colleges officially recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, including eight universities in the Kurdistan region. These universities and colleges include more than 570 departments in specializations that included medical, engineering and humanitarian groups, while there are 35 public universities, which constitutes half of the Al-Ahly quorum.[/size]
[size=45]Special education needs support[/size]
[size=45]Universities and private schools are supposed to be of a positive nature and constitute a factor of strength for the Iraqi state, but the reality of the situation, which I monitored (Baghdad Today), revealed the opposite, as most of these colleges focus on the profit factor and care about quantity, and most of them are turned into shops for selling certificates, according to specialists.[/size]
[size=45]And the large number of private universities is accompanied by chaos that does not benefit the reality of private education in the country, and instead of the number leading to more graduates and better job opportunities, these universities produce generations of unemployed.[/size]
[size=45]Corruption in admission is the most prominent problem. Students with a low GPA who are not accepted into government universities and institutes often apply to private universities with lower standards. Admission to private universities can be obtained through bribes, and medical departments are also accepted in some private universities. High school graduates from literature, commerce, or economics programs, which violate academic standards, and this is due to corruption and nepotism, according to specialists.[/size]
[size=45]The high material costs that require enrollment in the university also come as a dilemma, and although the Ministry of Higher Education had asked private universities to grant a reduction in costs of no less than 20 percent of them, some private universities did not comply with that and the Ministry did not move a finger under the pretext of the independence of private colleges. economics for the ministry.[/size]
[size=45]Educators and university professors surveyed by (Baghdad Today) consider that the private education sector has caused many problems in Iraq, including a decrease in the level of education and an increase in unemployment as a result of the random establishment of colleges without a feasibility study.[/size]
[size=45]Reasons for the dominance of the private educational sector[/size]
[size=45]The government's disregard for the need to legalize this sector and follow up on its educational outputs is one of the most important reasons for the dominance of the private universities sector.[/size]
[size=45]Where the Iraqi Minister of Planning, “Khaled Batal,” stated in a previous press statement, which I viewed (Baghdad Today), that the share of private university education in Iraq has reached about 30 percent of the students accepted annually, and stressed that the goal is for the Ministry of Higher Education to support the political class. Iraq to raise this percentage to 50 percent.[/size]
[size=45]The role of the media promotional machine for private education at all levels comes to take advantage of the shortcomings that public schools and universities suffer from, and to show the services provided by private education, which are considered the element of attraction in the first place, such as transportation lines, meals, modern and good buildings, and what is rumored about that success without effort sometimes.[/size]
[size=45]Private colleges for money-generating majors[/size]
[size=45]The expansion is concentrated in private universities for the faculties of dentistry, engineering, and pharmacy, specifically because they are the majors that generate the most funds for these colleges, according to (Baghdad Today) monitoring, as the number of private dental colleges in 2021 reached 30 colleges, compared to 20 government colleges. As for the private engineering colleges, their number reached 58 colleges, which include multiple branches, while the governmental colleges numbered 37, while the number of governmental human medicine colleges was 33, while the national colleges consisted of 3 colleges.[/size]
[size=45]In a related context, the former deputy in the Iraqi parliament, Jawad Al-Moussawi, issued a statement, which was seen by (Baghdad Today), in which he appealed to the responsible authorities to stop the creation of three private medical colleges in Iraq, namely (Al-Kafeel, Al-Ain, and a branch of Tehran University in Karbala), despite the decisions of the Council Ministers to wait with regard to the establishment of private colleges, the recommendations of Resolution 92 Committee and the statements of professional associations, in addition to the serious violations of the Private Higher Education Law No. 25 of 2016, and the Ministry of Planning’s refusal.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Musawi explained in his statement that “Iraq currently has 36 general medical colleges, which are more than general medical colleges in Britain,” adding that “in the year 2027, the number of doctors in Iraq will be more than 95 thousand doctors, and all this increase in graduate doctors is accompanied by a severe shortage.” The infrastructure of medical colleges, especially the newly developed and private ones, with the lack of teaching staff, and the absence of an educational hospital that includes the minimum requirements of the ministry, in addition to a severe shortage of hospitals,” he said.[/size]
[size=45]Absence of responsible laws...creates chaos[/size]
[size=45]The Private Higher Education Law in Iraq No. 25 of 2016 allows the Council of Ministers, based on a proposal from the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and after completing all the foundation requirements, to grant a license to establish a private university, college, or institute to any of the following: Retired holders of a doctorate or master’s degree Or non-employees who hold the rank of assistant professor at least, provided that their number is not less than 9 members to establish the National University, 7 members to establish the National College, and 5 members to establish the National Institute.[/size]
[size=45]Specialists and jurists polled by (Baghdad Today) confirmed their opinion that the law includes many loopholes that need quick solutions by the Iraqi parliament to change them, such as the establishment requirements, and giving financial and administrative authority to private universities and colleges, so that they can control tuition fees to increase their profits as they want.[/size]
[size=45]They also criticized the lack of an accurate plan for the development of private colleges commensurate with the community's need for certain specializations. Rather, the law imposes conditions whenever they are available to a specific party that may establish a private college.[/size]
[size=45]Among the most prominent proposed laws are the conditions for the newly created private university to have clear contributions to the development of higher education and scientific research, and to have the financial capacity to meet all the requirements that are determined by instructions issued by the Ministry.[/size]
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