Universities must look for new funding streams

Higher education facilities across the region must rethink their sources of funding going forward, in view of the global economic crisis, a leading academic has warned.

Arab universities and colleges would have to improve methods of administration and cost-effective spending, as well as increase their efforts to find new sources of finance, to ride out the economic storm,  according to Dr Abdel Men'em Othman, director of the regional education bureau of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Speaking at the Arab Universities Union's 42nd Conference in Kuwait, Dr Othman warned that Arab-based educational institutions must act now to stop them suffering the same financial problems as academic institutions iin the US, Europe and Asia.

A regional UNESCO meeting in May would assess the achievements, challenges and cooperation of Arab higher education organisations, he added, according to news agency KUNA.

An framework for higher education teaching would also be drawn up at May's meeting, he said.

The document would then be submitted to the relevant authorities in the Arab states before being taken to an international conference on education in July, in Paris, Dr Othman said.

The union of the Arab universities is a non-governmental body of executive managers of higher education institutes in the Arab world that aims to enhance academic cooperation between the states.

Representatives from more than 150 organisations attended Monday’s meeting - an unprecedented number that constituted a historic event, according to Dr Saleh Hashem, secretary general of the union.

At a summit of Arab leaders in Kuwait in January it was agreed that the next decade would see the region paying greater attention to education and increased spending on teaching and scientific research.

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