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Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies
Conditions of
Social Sciences in Iraq:
A General Survey
Summary
I-
Introduction
1-1: This report
examines the conditions of social sciences in Iraq to assess their strengths
and weaknesses. The research team included six academic figures from
various disciplines and regions, together with six young assistant
researchers.
1-2: The research plan
was premised on Maurice Godelier’s definition of social sciences as
inclusive of all faculties other than natural and technological sciences.
Three clusters of determinants were examined: institutional (in the
academia), political, and socio-cultural factors. The major focus, however,
was laid on the institutional factors: organization of faculties, the
curricula, the teaching staff, reference or text books, , problems of
methodology and terminology, organization of faculties, libraries, among
other determinants.
1-3: Field research
plan began with the collection of quantitative data sets, and proceeded to
examining qualitative aspects, both of which based on documents,
interviews, and questionnaires that cover the last decade, and where
possible even earlier.
1-4: The survey
targeted three major regions: Kurdistan (Sulamaniya and Erbil), Baghdad, and the South (Basrah, Nassiriya and Amara,
Kufa, Karbala
and Diwaniya). The team managed to extend survey to two other provinces:
Slahudin (Tikrit) and Anbar (Ramadi and Falluja).
1-5: The IIST team
received a warm support from deputy prime minister Dr. Salam Zaoubai, the
minister of Higher Education Mr. Abid Thiyab Ujaili, the minister of
Scientific Reasearch Mr. Raid Fahmi, and the ex-Planning Minister, Dr.
Mahdi Hafiz. A countless host of colleagues from the academia extended
support to our team.
1-6: The report is
divided into eight sections as follows:
I-
General background and Overview:
2-1: The modern system
of higher education was centrally introduced by the newly created Iraq
nation-state since 1921. It took three decades before Baghdad University
would emerge in 1957 to serve the needs of state and society in their
process of modernization.
2-2: Throughout the
seven decades of their existence, Iraqi academies had two distinct phases.
The first phase was one of systematic quantitative and qualitative growth;
by contrast phase two was one of moderate quantitative growth, but of
gradual, but steady, decline in qualitative terms.
2-3: The last quarter
of century was particularly negative: structural dynamics of decline were
set in motion that weakened academies, and almost crippled social sciences.
These are political, institutional, and socio-cultural factors.
2-4: Politically, the
central (government) promoted natural and technological sciences, at least
in terms of funding and scholarship. By contrast, social sciences were
heavily censored in line with the monist ideology of the ruling party, and
were also manipulated for social and ideological engineering ends.
2-5: Institutionally,
the structural organization of the social science faculties that was
established in the fifties, has hardly sustained any rethinking. No new
disciplines were added (e.g. anthropology, linguistics). The same applies
to the curricula, text books, and teaching techniques, among other things.
2-6: Socio-culturally:
By norms of state and society, most social sciences were held low. This was
translated in admission terms, salaries, and employment opportunities of
graduates.
2-7: Wars (1980-8 and
1990-1) and sanctions (1990-2003) drained much of central resources. As a
result, a brain-drain ensued and academies were cut-off from the world and
impoverished.
2-8: The invasion and
occupation of Iraq
in 2003 has demolished the old state structures and initiated a macabre
political process fraught with uncertainties. Sundry dynamics were set in
motion:
On the one hand,
academies re-linked with the world through scholarship, the internet, the
freedom of travel, unrestricted importation of books and freedom of
publication. Teaching staff salaries improved (from $8 to a minimum of
$450). Faculty deans were now elected. With the presence of international
bodies, agencies and firms demand on local research and knowledge ended
state monopoly of the ‘market’ for academic products.
On the other hand, political and criminal
violence exacerbated the Islamic-conservative influence over academic life.
New forms of restrictions on the teaching process and the curricula were
evident. A life-threatening atmosphere triggered a new wave of academic
exodus abroad. These developments almost neutralized the positive
developments mentioned above.
The continuation of
political violence and instability may well hamper prospects of
development.
II-
National Regional and Sectoral
Growth: Academies, Teaching Staff, and Students:
3-1- Higher learning
was confined to one central university based in the capital Baghdad.
Expansion beyond the centre to the provinces went
through three stages:
Phase one began in 1964
with the foundation of two universities in Basra and Mosul provinces,
followed by a third in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniya in 1969. A second
university, Mustansiriya, was also established in Baghdad in 1963. This diffusion signaled
a drive from the centre to the periphery, recognizing the growth of one
million cities (Mosul and Basra). The case of Sulaymaniya was to
meet Kurdish demands for ethnic autonomy.
In the second phase,
diffusion from the centre to the provincial peripheries went on, with each
province having its own university, save Samawa and Amara which have
colleges affiliated to Diwaniya and Basra
universities.
The de facto Kurdish autonomy in the years
1990-2003 triggered a similar trend to expand universities to all three
Kurdish provinces (five universities all).
As of 1988, central
authorities retraced on their monopoly of higher learning and allowed a
come back to private, native and foreign, academic institutes.
3-2- As a result of
this expansion, Iraq
has now 22 public universities and 20 private universities.
This trend brought
about a similar increase in the number of social science faculties:
sociology (from 1 to 8), philosophy (from 1 to 5), and so on.
This quantitative
development has its merits, but with some disadvantages quality wise, since
human and material resources were spread thin.
All universities at the
moment fall under the jurisdiction of the central authority of the MHE in
financial and administrative terms, but have come as of 2003 under the
spell of local, often violent, politics. In the Kurdish region,
universities are answerable to the regional finance and higher education
ministries in Erbil and enjoy this measure
of autonomy.
3-3- The general growth
in the size of the students’ population bent on receiving higher education
was the result of demographic growth, free public higher education, and the
upward social mobility offered by receiving higher academic degrees. The ‘welfare state’ also pursued a policy
of near total absorption of secondary school graduates into academic life
as part of its social contract to offer full employment in order to buy
political consent and live up to its proclaimed social ideals of equality,
and of course to meet its needs, however limited, for experts. By this
‘inflationary’ policy, the ‘welfare state’ under the ancient regime thus
deepened the detachment of academic development from the actual needs of
state and society. With the UN imposed sanction in place in 1990, oil
revenues deteriorated and the state policy of unlimited academic growth was
doomed. Redundancy of the teaching
staff soon followed, leading to a paradoxical situation: a growth in universities and students numbers coupled by a relative
decrease in the size of the teaching staff. The trends of students
population growth continued after 2003, and is analyzed in table No.1.
3-4- In the same period
(1994-2007), a different, zigzag, trajectory is evident in the case of the
higher education teaching staff. Their size during the years 1994-2003
remained more or less stagnant, largely due to the steady outflow of
veteran tutors in search of political or economic security. A massive
growth followed in the year 2003 (table 2 and 3).
3-5-Analyzing the
growth of the academic teaching
staff by region (Baghdad, Kurdistan,
South, Midland,
and Middle Euphrates)
during the period 2004-6 reveals a steady growth in absolute
but not in relative terms within. In 2006, the distribution of the teaching
staff region wise was as follows: Baghdad
50%, Kurdistan 10.7%, Midland
14.1%, Mid Euphrates 10.3%, the South 14.8. This distribution does not
match the demographic weight of the regions, and all regions examined are
understaffed, save Baghdad
that accounts for roughly 25% of the population but accounts for 50% of the
academic teaching personnel. The rates of growth in each region in the
period 2004-6 were as follows: Baghdad
13.3%, Kurdistan 11.7%, Midland
26.6%, Mid Euphrates 20.1%, and the South 10.5%.
3-6- The relative
national weight of the above regions within the context of overall national
figures, on the other hand, went down between 2—4 and 2006; the decrease
was mostly effected the uneven development (overgrowth in certain regions
causing rations in other regions to sustain relative fall).
3-7-Sectoral (social
science) profile during 2004-6 was not dissimilar: the social science teaching staff also sustained an absolute increase
nationwide but relative decline in most provinces except Kufa and Karbala as a result of
overgrowth of stable provinces, mild growth of others, and insignificant
growth in beleaguered provinces. The
relative decrease then signifies a redistribution and uneven growth
region-wise. Najaf, Kufa and Karbala
registered 44.7%, 26.1% and 23.1% growth.
(tables 4).
3-8- In the same period (2004-6) the
development of the overall students population by region is different from
that of the reaching staff. While the general trend was that of steady
increase, certain universities showed negative growth (Baghhdad -3.7 and
Kufa -3.1), largely to due to political violence.
3-9- Sectoral (social
science) students’ profile in 2004-6 is even worse than the regional
students profile. The negative growth in the number of social science
students seems more pervasive. The percentages were as follows: Baghdad -9.3, Nahrain -50.3, Kufa -30.9, Qadisiya
-9.4, Karbala
-3.4. The overall decrease of asocial science students by region was: Baghdad
region -3.1, Mid Euphrates -17.3.
This is largely caused by local armed conflicts and male chauvinism
targeting female students. (table 6).
IV-Academic
Institutions: Structures, Organization, Hierarchies and Norms
4-1: Centrality of
the State:
A basic fact in the
realm of education is the central role of the state. Central authorities finance, administer
and control academic life from A to Z.
Accordingly, state educational policies are crucial to the
development of the academic life. These policies, however, changed course
more often than not as political elites changed hands at the helm. There
seem to be genuine differences between the liberal-moderate monarchic era
(1921-1958), the centrist-Iraqi
nationalist phase (1958-1963), or the Arabist-authoritarian military ‘Arif
regime (1963-8), or the Arab-socialist Ba’ath (1968-2003), or the growing
Islamist era (prevailing since 2004).
A common trend was to expand higher education
in line with the growing function of the state and its growing needs for
more technocrats and bureaucrats. Expansion was also part of a ‘social contract’ for full employment
and wider distribution of oil
benefits. Another common feature was to favour natural sciences and
technology, in line with ‘developmental’ visions. A neutrality vis-à-vis
social science was a marker of the monarchy only. Under the Ba’ath,
police-like surveillance and monitoring of social sciences was almost the
constant norm. Scholarship policies were tailored along these lines. And
private academies were nationalized.
With few changes, the
basic features of this centralism still prevail.
4-2: Hierarchical
organization:
The educational pyramid
is topped by the ministry of higher education (MHE) which is organized in
six departments, three of which directly control the academic institutions,
determining the contents of the curricula, the text books, admission terms,
scholarships, post-graduate studies, salary levels, human resources, and
the organization of universities and faculties.
According to MHE, there
are plans to create 14 new colleges, 37 new college departments, 3 new IT
academies, among other new facilities.
4-3: Organization of
Disciplines:
The units of organization
in the academia are: the university (the major unit), the college (the
section), and the faculty (or department: the sub-section).
Social science
disciplines are organized in four major forms: discrete, educational,
embedded (or aggregated), and humanities. A fifth form is gender-based.
The discrete type is
the oldest form: a separate unit per discipline. This applies to Political
sciences, Law, and economics, and fine arts. They are detached from each
other and from the neighbouring disciplines: political sociology, or
anthropology, for example. No organic links exist between them.
The educational type
aggregates various disciplines into one single college, The College of
Education (Tarbiya), has a number of often unrelated number of social
sciences (languages, literature, history, geography, philosophy, etc.), but
combined with a host of natural sciences. The college is geared towards the
production of secondary school or college teachers and lecturers. Recently
the cluster of social sciences has been detached from the cluster pf
natural sciences, breaking the old Education College
into two different colleges.
The embedded type includes a number of social science
disciplines that we usually find in the Education
College, but they are now aggregated
in the College of Arts, echoing an old American and French
tradition brought via Egypt
in the early 1950s. This is copying of the same disciplines; but whereas
the Education College serves pedagogical ends, the Arts College is focused on theory and
research. The wisdom of this duality of Education and Arts is questionable.
A new method of organization has been
experimented in Sulaymania, where humanities have been separated
from other social sciences and grouped into one college, with no replicas
in the Arts College
that is usually found in Baghdad
and other provinces.
Lastly, the gender
type includes several Colleges of Education for girls re-established
recently to provide segregated social sciences learning.
4-4:
Principles of Classification of Social Sciences:
The organization of
universities into colleges and the division of colleges into faculties, is
embedded in ready-made concepts borrowed from an alien cultural habitat, France or the US. Once the principle is
applied, it would hardly change, irrespective of changes in the discipline
themselves.
Another guiding
principle is that Iraqi pedagogues gave more emphasis the practical rather
than the theoretical value of various disciplines. To this very moment
important disciplines like linguistics, anthropology, figure as ‘subjects’ within a larger
discipline rather than being disciplines in their own right.
4-5: Curricula and
reference books are centrally determined by the MHE; at one point even the
final exams were centralized (1997-9). Faculties have the right to convey
recommendation relative to the curricula. Only at the postgraduate levels
has the college a measure of freedom in the selection of the curricula.
4-6: Terms of admission
into the academia are centrally controlled. Higher education is officially
viewed as social service of a kind, it is free for all. The only criterion
was the degrees a candidate has in the secondary school final exams, an
impersonal yardstick.
A measure of
discrimination was introduced, favouring members of the ruling party, or
government civil servants applying for postgraduate courses. By contrast, a
positive discrimination was introduced in favour of talented applicants,
irrespective of the degrees in exams: this applies to the college of fine
arts.
4-7: Admission terms
and conditions for social sciences favour secondary school graduates of the
Literary Branch. Science secondary schools are mostly barred.
Choice of faculties is
again made contingent on the degrees acquired. A hierarchy is set up,
topped by Law, Political Sciences, Languages, Information, Literature,
Education, down to Economics. The highest level requires 80-70 degrees (the
highest mark is 100o, the passing threshold is 50o), the lowest is
60-65o. This differential puts
economics at the bottom of the ladder. This arrangement hinders private
choices and lowers the social value of most social science disciplines.
4-8: Terms and
conditions of admission into post-graduate studies is partly achievement
oriented (based on degrees). This does not apply to government-employed
applicants. A similar
discrimination favouring ruling
party members existed before 2003.
Fine Arts and the
Islamic Law faculties are exempted from these central conditions.
V-
The Curricula, Text-Books, Methodology and Terminology
5-1: Social Science
faculties teach some 25-35 subjects in four years. With few exceptions,
each subject receives 2-4 hours weekly. The Curricula are determined, unified and
standardized by the MHE who also control authorized textbooks. All
disciplines must have the one and the same curriculum and textbook anywhere
in the country.
Pedagogues interviewed
revealed a strong inclination to ‘decentralize’ both the curricula and
textbooks to give more freedom to faculties and their teaching staffs.
5-2: Central text-books,
commissioned by the MHE, are standard and universal. Some text books
examined by our team are twenty to thirty years old. Only few are ten years
old. This mostly applies to theoretical subjects.
Iraqi pedagogues
demanded that a time-line for the validity of any text-book should be set,
and updating procedure should be introduced.
A single-text book per
subject has also been criticized, and demands were strong for the introduction
of a plurality of reference books (reading list).
The ‘tradition’ of
preparing abridged manuals (summarizing the single central text-book) by
tutors has also been disapproved by a host of pedagogues interviewed for
this report.
Single-text books and
concise manuals have become mere ‘exam-reference-points’ to be memorized
verbatim, leading to poor knowledge.
5-2:
Methodology is another
major weak point in social sciences in Iraq. At present, this
involves: general methodology, theoretical reference points, and
terminology.
Examining these
aspects, it was found that there is no specific course that clearly deals
with methodology, rather with “Research Methods”. The latter is confined to
writing techniques, and has two hours weekly for the first two academic
years only.
5-3: Theoretical subjects: A- They are
very low (20% of the curriculum) where theory is crucial to the discipline
as in languages, history among others. B- Or they are too high to allow for
field research where the latter is crucial (sociology and anthropology).
C-Or the non-basic theory (i.e. theories from neighbouring disciplines, say
politics in the Law faculty) is higher than basic-theory (relevant to the
discipline). D- Interdisciplinary approaches are evidently wanting; E- A
host of new subjects- seem to be missing, such as ethnic studies, nations
and nationalism, gender issues, sociology of religion, social movements,
political anthropology, security studies, conflict studies, comparative
politics, the rule of law, philology, philosophy of arts, theories of
literature, linguistics, philosophy of history, and so on.
5-4: Field research, Iraqi pedagogues
agreed, is another weak point in such disciplines as sociology, and
anthropology. No reference book or subject in the curriculum on field
research or empirical method seemed to exist.
5-5: Terminology in Iraq, as indeed in the larger ME, is in state of chaos, a problem
confirmed not only by the bulk of Iraqi academics interviewed, but also by
the Arab Association of Sociologists, the Lebanese Sociological Society,
and the Arab Organization of Translation.
This, it seems, has been and may well continue to be a chronic problem.
Universities in Iraq
offer few classes on ‘Definitions
and Concepts’ in certain disciplines.
With no reference books on this topic, the lack of specialized
dictionaries exacerbates the problemalthough a number of volumes
(philosophical lexicons, a dictionary of economics, sociological glossary)
have been produced in Beirut
and beyond.
VI-
Teaching Staff and Academic Qualifications
6-1- Constant migration of veteran tutors, suspension
of scholarships abroad and political appointments of deans, all
contributed to the decline of the
quality and quantity of the teaching staff in Iraq’s universities.
6-2: In most social
science faculties, dearth of
foreign-educated holders of Ph. D. degrees was visible, signifying lack
among tutors of knowledge of foreign languages and, by extension, of modern
theories and approaches in relevant fields.
6-3: Most MA and Ph.D.
holders have been locally trained
and recently graduated, which again signifies weak and limited experience.
6-4: The ratio of MA to Ph.D. holders in the
teaching staff is disproportionate.
6-5: Also observed is a divergence between the
tutors’ and lecturers’ specialization and the subject-matter they teach.
All these remarks are
quantified and substantiated in tables 1 to 6, covering each university by
college and faculty.
6-6: In addition to the poor quality of the teaching staff,
diversified teaching techniques are
wanting. The basic and in fact
only teaching technique observed is Lecture
Format. No bullet-point presentation or usage of overhead projectors,
or videos, no reading list, no workshop or conference formats, nor
students’ presentation methods applied. Classrooms are overcrowded and lack
technical wherewithal.
All tutors interviewed
confirmed that lecturing is more geared towards giving and memorizing info
than to discussion and promotion of independent thinking.
VII-
Libraries:
7-1- Libraries in Iraq
universities had their golden era up to the end of 1970s in qualitative and
quantitative terms; academics refer to the 1980s and 1990s as the period of
stagnation and deterioration of the libraries. With few exceptions, most
academic libraries were either ransacked or damaged in the aftermath of the
2003 invasion.
7-2- Libraries are
organized along the same lines of universities: Large library for the
university (top level), small library for each college in the university
(medium level), and smaller library for each faculty or department in the
college (lower level). But this
three tier system applies only to Baghdad, Basra and Mosul
universities.
Central libraries serve
postgraduates and fourth year college students.
Students of the first
three years are confined to the other libraries.
7-3- Quantitative
survey of libraries reveals a growing gap between the increasing numbers of
instituions and post-graduate students, on the one hand, and the size of
libraries, on the other hand. No growth in libraries’ infrastructure
(buildings, spaces, equipment or books and manuals) was visible in the
period 1980 up to 2004. The size of foreign books is very low, at times
even insignificant. In this regard, Basra
and Salahudin (Erbil) Universities seem to
be speedily improving; humble changes or stagnation reigns elsewhere.
7-4- The borrowing system at present is rigid and narrow: borrowing
from the central libraries is confined to postgraduate and fourth year
students. External borrowing sections are generally understaffed. Since
registration of borrowing and book catalogues are manually done, processing
is slow and cannot meet demands.
7-5- The working hours of the college and faculty libraries (medium
and low levels) are between 8.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m., but the borrowing
window is very narrow: between 9 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. minus a break between
10-10.30 a.m., thus reducing the window to 3.5 hours before a huge number
of students (in the thousands).
Working hours of the central libraries (the top level) was 12 hours
(8.00 a.m. -8.00 p.m. throughout the 1980s); but were reduced to 9 hours in
the 1990s; after 2003 they were lowered further to six hours (8.00 a.m. to
2 p.m.).
7-6- Electronic documentation is in its infancy. Not all universities or colleges have
electronic systems to provide data base, audio and visual materials for the
students. Photocopying facilities are also poor in numbers. No link was
observed between the major Iraqi universities and world research centers or
universities. Few exceptions exist (The Faculty of Law in Baghdad).
7-7-Libraries’ directors interviewed for this survey confirmed that
no independent budget is earmarked for procurement of books and materials.
The University usually has a general budget of which specific amount might
or might not be allocated for libraries, pending on top decision.
Libraries, they asserted, were never a priority. The libraries’ budgets examined
by the team ranged between $350 and $ 2300.
7-8- No specific procedure for listing and purchase of new
authorities was observed. Selection
of titles and reference books for purchase is almost random, with poor
coordination between faculty lecturers and library staff in this regard.
7-9- Survey of recent
years revealed a massive and impressive growth in the size but not
organization of the libraries of Basra and Erbil universities only.
7-10- Local academic
thesis and dissertations are usually stored locally. The old system of
providing all Iraqi universities with copies of every single academic
paper, dissertation or thesis, a system that worked well in the 1980s, had
been suspended and never restored.
Foreign and Arab
dissertations are only available through the tradition of ‘gift’ (by
authors), or private donations.
(Detailed tables on the state of library by region, university, and
faculty are provided).
VIII- Academic Research Centers
8-1- Iraqi universities
have some seventeen research centers,
nine of which are concentrated in the capital, Baghdad. The overall number of
researchers is 314 scholars.
8-2- There two types of research centers: the
first is independent, supervised
by the MHE’s Research Directorate. Administratively, the centers are part
of the university administrative machine, and the authority to appoint the
centers’ directors and research scholars rest with the MHE. Researchers are
full-timers and article 5, No.148 – 202 of the MHE statutes require that
they carry out three research papers annually.
The second type of
research centers is dependent, i.e. being a section of universities or
colleges, where researchers are non-compensated, voluntary part-timers
doing research on their own, apart from their basic teaching tasks.
8-3- Te basic fields of specialization are:
international relations, urban historical and documentary studies,
psychological and pedagogical studies, law and politics, philosophy,
geography, archeology, and fine arts.
8-4- Budget and funding are dependent on
the university top decision maker (the dean); the budget is rather limited,
and most directed to cover operational cost rather than funding research
projects, notably field research which usually requires considerable
funds. Hence most projects are
theoretical in nature.
8-5- Publication of
research periodicals are confined to some centers, usually quarterly
reviews that print academic essays meant for staff promotion purposes.
Quality of printing is in some cases very poor (copying) and the number of
issues very limited. Basra
may provide an exception.
IX- Post Graduate Studies, MA
Dissertations and Ph. D thesis
9-1- Three samples of dissertation and thesis were
examined: the first includes the academic studies for the years 2003 and
2004, which account for 324 and 720 texts respectively’ the second sample
is drawn from Sulaymaniya and Erbil universities for the years 1992-2007,
encompassing 609 texts; the third sample is taken from Basra University for
the years 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, with 221 texts.
The first sample was inclusive of social
and natural sciences; the two other samples were confined to social
sciences.
9-2- The three samples
showed a predominance of social science dissertations and theses (68 and 79
from the successive years of sample one).
9-3- Intra- and inter
regional differences were evident: In Sulaymaniya, literary studies were
predominant, followed by law; whereas studies in the fields of geography,
history, economics, sociology, Islamic studies, were very low in number. A
similar trend was observed in Basra.
By contrast, Erbil showed predominance of economic, law and
geographic studies, a trend testifying to stronger orientation towards
tackling urgent problems.
9-4- Most dissertations
in all regions are principally
descriptive; political papers seemed to steer clear of sensitive
issues; while historical treatises were mostly focused on Islamic studies
of conservative nature.
9-5- A set of common
features in all regions is: 1- The greater number of treatises were in the
field of Arabic (or Kurdish) literature and language and are of poor
quality; 2- Law studies are in the
second position, mostly relevant to actual judicial and legal problems
(e.g. criminal, commercial law); 3- Economics comes third, and, like law,
texts are relevant (private business, bank accounting, etc.); 4- History
and Pedagogy are fourth in size, and both are descriptive and traditional
in methodology and approaches; 5- treatises of sociology, anthropology,
politics and philosophy are at the bottom of list in numbers, with weak
relevance.
9-6- As of 2004 new
trends were observed: growth in sociological studies; English language,
administration-auditing and accountancy, media and fine arts. This upsurge
may well be in response to the growth of private business, private media
and translation.
X Sociopolitical Factors
Hindering Development of Social Sciences
10-1 In growth or decline, the academies of higher learning are dependent on state policies.
The state is the major fund provider, consumer of the academic products,
and controller and monitor of the academic functions. This will remain largely so for the
future.
10-2- By dint of state
developmental creed or militarization drive, stronger emphasis was laid on
natural and technical rather than social sciences. This trend is still in
effect.
10-3- State policies in
scholarship funding or academic terms of admission do not favor social
sciences in general. There seems to be no indication to revise this policy.
10-4- Ideological
leanings favor or tolerated by the central authorities (mostly conservative
Islamist) generally hold as suspects a number of social science
disciplines, and research topics, and give more support for the expansion
of Islamic Law faculties.
10-5- Research projects
undertaken by the postgraduates or academic research centers are subject to
state ideological sensibilities and concerns.
10-6- With severe
restrictions on the free flow of information and access to official
archives, the scope of social research is drastically limited. Xenophobia
and exposure paranoia are extremely harsh to date.
10-7- Up to 2005, state central
allocations for higher learning accounted for 1% of the state budget, of
which only 14.5% are capital expenditure (infrastructure, buildings,
equipment, publications, and research projects). Given the unprecedented
levels of corruption, little genuine increase should be expected.
10-8- Under these
conditions, reliance on donor countries is increasing, and will continue to
increase. Donors will set the tempo and orientation of scholarship or
development that may or may not be in line with the academic urgent needs.
10-9- With varying
degrees, most academic campuses are now being under the control of armed
political groups that may well intervene to disrupt the normal course of
teaching and research.
10-10- Political and
criminal violence is targeting the academic staff, causing a new exodus
into neighboring or foreign countries.
Between April 2003 and November 2007, some 338 professors and
lecturers have been assassinated, and 75 went missing. More than 3000
scholars fled to Syria, Jordan and Egypt, wearing the teaching
staff even thinner.
10-11- While
differentiation between social and natural sciences, or among various
disciplines within social sciences, is largely horizontal in the west, a
hierarchical social value system has developed, placing social sciences in
general in an inferior status to natural sciences. Certain social science
disciplines are shoved at the bottom of the scale. This double hierarchy is
reinforced by the pay differentials, employment prospects, and cultural
value-systems, among other things.
10-12- Traditional
culture, and conservative value systems, mitigate against social sciences
or against field and theoretical research.
10-13- With the
re-introduction of private academies and the expansion of demand on
academic products by regional and international parties, this inferior
hierarchical social ranking might well change in favor of the bulk of
social sciences.
XI- Conclusions
The survey may have
presented a daunting picture of the state of social sciences; yet the
potential for positive change exists. A new wave of scholarships abroad has
started; the levels and forms of violence seem on the descending curve;
central oil revenues are skyrocketing; private native and foreign academies
are emerging and market for the Iraqi products and experts are on the rise.
This should open up a
window for a thorough reform of policy. The central character of the
educational system requires softening to allow a measure of
decentralization that may trigger localized institutional initiatives to
improve and pluralize the curricula, teaching techniques, text-books and
expansion and digitalization of libraries. Continued scholarships abroad
may well change the profile of the teaching staff in the coming years (5-10
years): more PH. D holders, better command of foreign languages, broader
theoretical horizons in modern social science, better empirical studies and
interdisciplinary approaches, and native authorship of reference books,
lexicons and specialized academic journals, and more focused research
effort.
A less violent
environment might well help reverse the academic brain-drain and reverse
the negative effects sustained thus far.
A more open political
debate may allow more attention, and, by extension, greater allocations, to
institutes of higher learning and their affiliated research centers. This
should focus on hammering out an educational policy that may re-link
academic development with the needs of society and state.
Taken together, these
and other factors could well bring forth a quantum leap in the state of
social sciences in Iraq
in less than two decades.
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