ED 125 492 The Admission and Academic Placement of Students from Selected'Arab Countries. A ...

109 Pages·2007·2.68 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
HP 008 085
ED 125 492
Molek, Frank J., Ed.
AUTHOR
The Admission and Academic Placement of Students from
TITLE
Selected'Arab Countries. A Workshop Report.
American-Association of Collegiate Registrars and
INSTITUTION
Admissions Officers, Washington, D.C.; National
Association for Foreign Student Affairs, Washington,
D.C.
Nov 75
PUB LATE
109p.
NOTE
MF-$0.83 HC-$6.01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Administration; *Admission (School); Bibliographies;
DESCRIPTORS
*Comparative Education; Educational History;
Elementary Education; *Foreign Countries; *Foreign
Students; Guidelines; *Higher Education;
Organization; Post Secondary Educaticn; Secondary
Educatidb; *Student Placement; Tables (Data);
Vocational Education
*Arab Countries; Egypt; Jordan; Kuwait; Saudi
IDENTIFIERS
Arabia
ABSTRACT
A group of 25 members of the higher education
of
community of North America visited the Middle East for the purpose
improving admissions Criteria and academic placement of Arab
students. Group findings and the consensus of recommendations are
Saudi
reported. Countries studied were: Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, and
Arabia. Examined were each country's people, its educational history,
technical,
structure, and administration, and its primary, secondary,
vocational, and higher educational institutions. Also included is a
list of special services and a bibliography. (Author/KE)
***********************************4***********************************
*
Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished
*
makes every effort *
* materials not available from other sources. ERIC
items of marginal
*
* to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless,
this affects the quality
*
* reproducibility are often encountered and
makes available
*
* of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC
is not
*
* via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS
document. Reproductions *
* responsible for the quality of the original
the original.
*
* supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from
***********************************************************************
THE ADMISSION AND ACADEMIC
.
'
PLACEMENT OF STUDENTS FROM
4
SELECTED ARAB COUNTRIES
A Workshop Report
EGYPT
KUWAIT
JORDAN
SAUDI ARABIA
Report Editor
Frank J. Molek
Associate Director of Admissions
Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON WORKSHOPS
The National Association for Foreign Student Affairs
The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
U
;
z
Reprinted by permission of Ciannom Post
3
if
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
rt./
Acknowledgements
viii
Introduction
EGYPT
x
Map
1-3
American Team, Egyptian Resource People
4
'Chart of Educational System
'The Country and Its People
5
5-8
education - A History
.
.
.
8-9
'Education - The Structure and Administration
9-11
'Primary and Secondary Education
.
11-15
'Technical and Vocational Education
Higher Institutes
15
15
- History and Development .
15-17
- Helwan University.
'Universities
- Admission Requ -ments At National Universities
18-1198
.
19-20
- Grading System
.
20
ion of All Institutions
- SummarN and Description
20
- Ain Shams University
20
- Alexandria University
20
- Asciut University
20
- Cairo University
20
- Helwan University
20
- Mansura University
20
- Tanta University
23
- Zagazig University
23
University and St howl System
23-24
American University in Cairo
25
Placement Recommendations
25
'Spet ial Services Available
25-26
Bibliograpli%
JORDAN
28
Map
29
Introduction
29,31
American Team, Jordanian Resource People
30
'Chart of Educational System
.
31
'The Country and Its People
32-33
*EducationA History
.
33-35
'Primary and Secondary Education
35
`Vocational - Technical Education
36
Commerual Schools
36
'industrial Schools
37
'Agricultural Schools
37
'Teat her Education
38
Higher Education
38-41
- [he University ofJordan
41
of Yarmouk
- [he University
41
-West Bank
42
Plat ement Recommendations
111
KUW AIT
44
'Map
45-47
'American "learn, Kuwait Resourte People
46
'Chart of Educational System
47
The Country and Its People
47
'The CountryA History
47-48
"EducationA History
48-51
EducationKindergarten through Secondary
51
'Secondary Vocational Technical Education
51-52
'Private Schools
'Religious Institute
52
.
52-54
'Special Guidelines for Admissions Officers
.
.
'Higher Education
53
53-56
'Kuwait University
....
56
'Post-Secondary Technical Schools
.....
'Teacher Training Institutes
58
58
'Other Schools
58
'Placement Recommendations
59
'Bibliography
SAUDI ARABIA
60
Map
.
61-62,64
'American Team, Saudi Resource People
.
63
'Chart of Educational System
64
'The Country and Its People
'The CountryA History .
64-65
.
'Primary, Intermediate, Secondary, Technical Education An Overview....
65-70
.
.
71.73
'Teacher Education
.
'Higher Education
73-74
.
.
.
.
'Summary of UniversitiesTheir Faculties and Degrees
74-75
-Islamic University
.
75-76
-Islamic University of Imam Muhammad Ihn Sa'ud
76-77
-King Ahdulaziz University
. .
77
-King Faisal University
78
-University of Petroleum and Minerals
78-81
-University of Riyadh
-Other Institutions
81
86
'Placement Recommendations
87
'Special Services Available
87
'Bibliography
COMSEC
.88-94
'Reflections Lee Thompson
.94-95
Bibliography
APPENDICES
'Workshop Staff and Participants
97
'Country Visits
98-99
99400
'Workshop Presentations
lt,
5
PREFACE
material already outdated. In spite of this inevitability, it
Today. more than ever, the influence of the Middle East
their colleagues
is the purpose of this task force to provide
the Western world is
az, one of the cradles of civilization of
with as timely, accurate, substantial and helpful a piece of
felt by many Its economic, social and political influence
research material as is possible.
Today, we
crosses virtually every part of our daily lives
As with the workshops on Scandinavia (September
find not only many people from the Arab world in the
1973), the group was divided into four (4) country teams.
United States studying or maintaining professional careers,
Originally, Lebanon wan ,vone of the countries to be in-
but we also find ourselves vastly influenced in our own
cluded. Extensive planning by the team and in-country ad-
lifesty les by their culture Additionally, more and more of
However, the
ministrators promised a full country stay
ccikerned with educational
us from North America are
political/military situation of the summer of 1975 con-
deselopment in this region of the world We find an in-
tinued through the fallprohibiting such a visit, and
Middle East
creasing number of students from the
country
research
JCOW was required to postpone the in -
of higher
institutions
North American
studying
in
on Lebanon. Much to the credit of the
'Lebanese team
And in fact, their influence has had a major
ath
educ
members and the good services of the American Friends of
impac t upon their North American counterparts
the Middle East in Beirut and Amman, the *gram in-
In October and November 1975, 25 members of the
volving the educational system ofJordan was designed and
visited
community of higher education of North America
planned We are particularly grateful to the many people
the Middle East for the purpose of improving the process
in Amman, to the government of Jordan, as well as to the
by which admissions and academic placement of Arab
United States Mission for their support, candor and help,
students cakes place This report attempts to catalog the
fulness in light of the situation. We will see the section on
findings of this group and to portray the consensu, of
Jordan as a part of the general report Additionally, it is
re«unmendations that were Identified by the group As
possible, a small
important to know that as soon as it is
t he prefacc of previous workshop
in
has been stated
group of the Lebanese experts will make arrangements to
student advisors
reports, admissions officers and foreign
complete their task to publish a supplementary document
report suggests qualita,ive and quan-
will find that th(
under separate cover
before c run al
coat ise,considerations that should be made
The format of the workshop followed closely that of the
educ Atli nal del isions arc made
Scandinavia workshop Following a three-day orientation
sponsored by
as the tenth in -a series of workshops
This
days in their
in Cairo, the teams spent the following ten
Earlier
Committee on Workshops ()COW)
the Join
respective countries The entire group then reassembled at
worksho s were sponsored by the National Association of
the end of this time to write its report, make its recom-
Foreign Student Affairs (NAFSA) JCOW was created in
mendations and present those recommendations for final
of
Collegiate
1969 when the
Association
American
approval We all found the format to be particularly help-
Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) and the
The opportunity for extended in-country stays to
ful
College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) joined NAF-
gather necessary research information was imperative.
three
the sponsorship of
SA in
Since
1965
projects
is was quite necessary to have ad-
Many also felt that
workshops have been held at the East-West Center in
ditional time at the end of the workshop to allow for im-
Honolulu, two in Puerto Rico, and one each in Bad-
mediate rewrite and update of the reports
Goodesberg, West Germany, Santo Domingo, Dominican
We suggest that you refer to the reports of the previous
Republic, West Africa, and Scandinavia
document)
nine workshops (listed on the back of this
The 25 participunts in this workshop were selected from
will
They vary in style, content, and format, but all
background and ex-
over 100 applicants Their diversity in
provide the admissions and placement officers with in-
they
pertise was shown through the variety of institutions
sights concerning the background and rationale for selec-
represented However, the majority were administrators
tion placement decisions
who work in the admission and placement of international
In this workshop we were fortunate to have as an ob-
students at the professional and graduate school level. Vir-
server the President-Elect of the Community
Section
It
tually all of them came from admissions backgrounds
(COMSEC) of NAFSA, Lee Thompson She has included
should he pointed out that all participants joined in the
her observations as part of the final section of this report.
However, primary
planning of the workshop itinerary
We feel that her findings will round out your information
responsibility was held by the team coordinators who were
changing
on the educational systems within a rapidly
planning of the
in- country
the
in
involved
deeply
sot iety
arrangements with the in-country host(s)
We hope that in some small rneasuie our enthusiasm for
It is important to state here that the countries involved
what we have learned and what we now share with you will
As this
in a state of constant flux
educationally
are
students from
continue to bring even more closely together
will find some of its
it
document comes off the press,
6
and grateful ttiat if it were not for the support of the
the Middle East and those here, and that our relationship
Georgetown University Admissions Office, I would have
with the Arab world will continue to grow even stronger
In acknowledging the assistance of the many who sup- been unable to honor Bob Hefling's request that I assume
the Editorship of this report four weeks before
ported this effort I was particularly fortunate to have had
the
over of this document and
Ann Epstein design the
I owe my colleagues at Georgetown and my
workshop.
produce much of the graphic art work associated with the
wife (and co-echtoril Juliana my thanks
manuscript The experience of working with a group of 25
professionals in a vibrant part of the world was one of the
Frank Molck
most exciting things I have done. However. I am aware Editor
/
7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Counselor of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Saud Al-
was the
the Middle East
The 23 days spent
in
Gharabally_and Mr. Yusuf Al Badr, Cultural Attaches of
culmination of more than two years of effort on the part of
the State of Kuwait, and Mr. Wham Salman, Cultural
who played a
many people To identify all of the people
Counselor of Lebanon, devoted many hours to first, the
significant role in the formation and success of this en-
seeking of in-country financial support, second, in helping
deavor would be an insurmountable task In chronological
third,
in
obtain
and
and
references,
identify
to
order I do wish to recognize groups as well as individuals
establishing schedules for the participants.
without whose able assistance this workshop would never
I wish to express very special thanks to Dr. and Mrs.
have materialized
William Polk and their children, who so graciously opened
Members of the Joint Committee on Workshops
thirty-six members of the
their Cairo home to the
(JCOW) as well as the staffs of the central offices of the
of
evening
unforgettable
an
for
group
workshop
National Association for Foreign Student Affairs (NAF-
hospitality and conversation. Dr. Polk as well as other
SA), The American Association of Collegiate Registrars
distinguished guests of that evening provided a unique
American
the
and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
orientation and introduction to the Arab World.
Friends of the Middle East (AFME) were involved in the in-
To Mrs. Amany EI-Diffrawy and her able assistant, Mrs.
itial planning Their wise counsel and cooperation con-
Cheridan Abdul Kader of the Cairo AFME office the par-
tinued throughout the total planning and implementa-
ticipants and I owe a great deal. As director of the Cairo of-
tion period
fice, Amany assigned Cheridan to our workshop full time.
Financial support for the workshop was provided in part
However, she and the other members of her staff were also
by the governments of Kuwait, the Arab Republic of
available whenever we needed assistance. The efficient
Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. (Lebanon had agreed to provide
help of that office that was so generously given made our
unable to
in-country logistical support; however, we were
stay in Cairo an unforgettable experience.
take advantage of that offer.) In addition, the Lilly En-
To my assistant, Bob Hannigan, I am deeply indebted
dowment, the Arab American Oil Company, the Kuwait
for the many, many details he handled so well, and to
Oil Company, the International Education Research Foun-
Frank Molek, who stepped in at the last minute to assume
dation, the College Entrance Examination Board, the
the tiring and endless tasks of the report editor I am also
Bureau of Cultural and Educational Affairs of the United
most grateful.
States Department of State, the Agency for International
The team chairpersons and the participants are really the
made
and Trans-World
Airlines,
all
Development,
and its subsequent
sum and substance of any workshop
generous contributions in support of the workshop
report. In the case of the Middle East Workshop par-
While in the throes of planning and fund-raising, Virgil
ticipants, I was impressed with their diligence, with their
Crippin, President of AFME, and Hugh Jenkins, Executive
pre-departure preparation, with their ability to cope with
Vice President of NAFSA, were particularly helpful to me.
the unexpected, with their dedication to their assignment,
Their moral support as well as support of a substantive
and most of all, with their humanness. Their joys, their
optimistic ap-
nature encouraged me to proceed with an
disappointments, their ill health and their camaraderie, all
proach when the prospects appeared the most grim.
helped to strengthen the group effort and made my part
officials
The participants have recognized a number of
most pleasant.
particularly helpful.
in the four countries who were
However, representatives of these countries serving in the
Robert J. Hefling, Director
United States were a continual source of support to me.
Middle East Workshop
Specifically, Mr Ghazi Abdul Jawad of the Saudi Arabian
October-November, 1975
Educational Mission. Dr. Ahmed Azzam, Cultural Affairs
8
lid
INTRODUCTION
The Middle East in ludes a number of countries, and that number will vary with the orientation of the individual iden-
During the planning stages for this workshop, the members of the Joint Committee on Workshops con-
tifying the area
sidered only the countries of the Arab Peninsula and the eastern Arab countries of North Africa The Arab Republic of
Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were selected for study, as those countries have the largest
number of students studying in the United States.
"I he civil strife in Lebanon was a concern to all of us during the final planning stages The Assistant Workshop Director had
visited that country in July and, with the able help of Orin Parker of AFME, planned an excellent program for the par-
ticipants going to Lebanon. At the very last minute, (in fact, after I arrived in Cairo on October 14) we had to cancel the
Lebanon visit due to the acceleration of the civil war and the general insecure situation that existed there. The Lebanese
team had been alerted to this possibility and Jordan had been selected as an alternate country; however, an alternate
program had not been developed for that country, nor had accommodations been reserved for the team. In spite of the last
minute change, the lack of prior planning, and the lack of adequate accommodations, the participants going to Lebanon
proceeded to Jordan and did an outstanding job of reporting on that country, as is shown by their report included in this
text
This workshop was extremely fortunate in having four well-qualified observers accompanying the group Although they
were nut funded by the workshop budget, each observer accepted the responsibility of being a regular participant, and
responded accordingly The section of this report entitled, "Middle East Mosiac," was the result of the work of one observer
and constitutes a new dimension not found in the previous reports of this nature That commentary should he of particular
interest to all professionals and volunteers who work with foreign students.
lhe participants found that the numbers of students coming to this country to further their education will continue to in-
crease The current information included here is presented in order to better consider, evaluate, place, and advise these
students in order that they return toz their-homes to apply their increased knowledge and skills so desperately needed in the
manpower development of their country By careful study of this report this dissemination of knowledge and skills can be
facilitated with the greatest benefit to all concerned
Robert) Hefting
Marc h,1976
'Mrs Thompson was the Chairman-elect of the Community Section of NAFSA at the time of the Workshop. She was in-
vited by the Workshop Director to participate as an observer and to prepare a commentary on the social-cultural
background of the students coming from the countries being studied. She did spend approximately two weeks in Egypt and
was a member of the team that went to Saudi Arabia for eight days. In addition to participating in the interviews and visits
of the other participants, Mrs Thompson took advantage of every opportunity to explore her interests with numerous
people outside of the academic spectrum This section of the report is the result of her keen obsevations and insights.
1X
EGYPT
SYRIA
Mediterranean Sea
ort
aid
Alexandri
c
L
JORDAN
El Giza
SAUDI
ARABIA
Red
Sea
il
i 0
x