EGYPT Caution greets private universities twinning requirement

Africa/Egipto/universityworldnews

Resumen: A las nuevas universidades privadas no se les permitirá operar en Egipto a menos que tengan acuerdos de colaboración con instituciones clasificadas entre las 50 mejores universidades del mundo, según el presidente egipcio Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.La medida recibió críticas mixtas de expertos en educación superior. «No se deben otorgar permisos a ninguna universidad a menos que firme un acuerdo de gemelos con la mejor universidad en el extranjero para garantizar un mejor nivel de educación a los estudiantes universitarios», dijo El-Sisi en unadirectiva dirigida a funcionarios de educación superior el 22 de marzo. La medida, encaminada a mejorar la calidad de la educación universitaria en Egipto e impulsar las clasificaciones universitarias locales, fue confirmada por el viceministro de Educación Superior e Investigación Científica, Essam Khamis, según un informe local .  Las mejores 50 universidades del mundo se determinarán utilizando seis rankings de universidades. Entre ellos se encuentran los rankings universitarios mundiales Times Higher Education , los rankings QS World University , el ranking académico de las universidades del mundo y el ranking Webometrics de las universidades del mundo . A pesar de contar con una de las universidades más antiguas del mundo, la Universidad Al-Azhar, ninguna de las 48 universidades públicas y privadas del país ha llegado a la lista reciente de las 100 mejores universidades de clase mundial. Los expertos internacionales han acogido con cautela la medida. «Es una excelente idea tener universidades extranjeras asociadas con universidades locales para establecer nuevos programas conjuntos o universidades», dijo Jane Knight, experta en educación superior internacional en el Instituto de Ontario para Estudios en Educación de la Universidad de Toronto, Canadá. Sin embargo, dijo que limitar la colaboración a las 50 mejores universidades del mundo es «demasiado estricta y restringe la posibilidad de establecer asociaciones». Knight, quien también es un distinguido profesor visitante en el Centro Ali Mazrui de Estudios de Educación Superior en la Universidad de Johannesburgo, Sudáfrica, dijo que aumentar el número de instituciones de educación superior elegibles podría en realidad impulsar las opciones. Angel Calderon, asesor principal de planificación e investigación en RMIT University, Australia, dijo a University World News que la posición de una institución en el ranking universitario mundial no debería ser el criterio definitorio de si una institución es digna o no de una asociación con otra institución. «De hecho, los criterios para un top 50 son totalmente espurios y es poco probable que produzcan un compromiso significativo», dijo Calderón, un experto en rankings y miembro de la junta asesora del QS World University Rankings.


New private universities will not be allowed to operate in Egypt unless they have collaboration agreements with institutions rated among the top 50 universities in the world, according to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The move has received mixed reviews from higher education experts.

“Permits should not be given to any university unless it signs a twinship agreement with the best university abroad to guarantee a better level of education to university students,” El-Sisi said in a directive to higher education officials on 22 March.

The move, aimed at improving the quality of university education in Egypt and boosting local university rankings, was confirmed by Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Essam Khamis, according to a local report.

The top 50 universities in the world will be determined using six rankings of universities. Among these will be the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the QS World University Rankings, the Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.

Despite boasting one of the oldest universities in the world, Al-Azhar University, none of the country’s 48 public and private universities have made it onto the recent list of the top 100 world-class universities.

International experts have cautiously welcomed the move.

“It’s an excellent idea to have foreign universities partner with local universities to establish new joint programmes or universities,” said Jane Knight, an expert on international higher education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada.

However, she said limiting collaboration to the top 50 universities worldwide is “too strict and restricts the possibility of establishing partnerships”.

Knight, who is also a distinguished visiting professor at the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, said increasing the number of eligible higher education institutions might actually boost the options.

Angel Calderon, principal advisor for planning and research at RMIT University, Australia, told University World News that the standing of an institution in the world university rankings should not be the defining criteria of whether or not an institution is worthy of partnership with another institution.

“In fact the criteria for a top 50 are entirely spurious and unlikely to yield any meaningful engagement,” said Calderon, a rankings expert and a member of the advisory board to the QS World University Rankings.

Susanne Kammüller, a senior expert in transnational education with the transnational education and cooperation programmes of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), told University World News the rankings were one way to judge the academic quality of universities, but their usefulness and informative value continues to be a controversial topic.

“The methodology and specific focus of analysis in international rankings lead to very different results among different rankings and practically exclude many higher education institutions which are excellent in their specific field,” Kammüller said.

“The rankings might be helpful to gain a broad overview on potential international partners but for the decision on a fitting university partner, ranking placements and, even less so, ranking results alone, are not an appropriate criterion,” Kammüller added.

Kammüller warned that the ideal partner would depend on specific circumstances, for example, a collaboration with a top-ranked research institution of international renown might be helpful for a new university aiming to create a name for excellence in fundamental research.

“If the aim is to educate qualified engineers to meet increasing industry demand for highly skilled specialists in an emerging economy, a good university of applied sciences without ranking status but with fitting specialisation and industry links could turn out a better choice of an international university partner,” Kammüller said.

But rankings expert Calderon said the driving criteria should be institutional affinity based on the institution’s mission and vision, as well as its orientation in alignment with the institution it seeks to partner with.

“Further, consideration needs to be given to an institution’s discipline strength and areas where it could have meaningful engagement,” Calderon said.

Fuente: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180417094909381
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