RIYADH, 13 November 2006 — A spirited debate broke out in the Shoura Council yesterday after remarks made by Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khaled Al-Anqari about Saudi universities.

Speaking to reporters recently, Al-Anqari described the Shoura Council’s evaluation of Saudi universities based on a list of world’s top 3,000 universities as “inaccurate”.

He said, “The evaluation of international universities does not depend on academic and scientific developments in the universities but on what each university publishes on the Internet.”

He asserted that Shoura members who introduced the topic of the ranking of Saudi universities on the Top 3,000 list “meant well” but were mistaken in thinking the list evaluated universities according to their academic positions.

Shoura member Dr. Bandar Al-Hajjar, who brought up the topic last week in the council, defended himself, saying the list was based on “accurate academic criteria.”

He explained, “The list is prepared by the University of Shanghai every year in August and is available on the Internet. Since it went online in 2003, the site has received over two million visitors.”

On the list of the Top 3000 world universities, King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran ranked 1,681, King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah ranked 2,785 and Riyadh’s King Saud University 2,910.

Al-Hajjar said the rankings were based on four solid criteria:

• The number of teaching staff who have received international recognition and awards.

• The number of graduates who have received international recognition and awards for their academic achievements.

• The internationally recognized academic and scientific research done by members of the faculty.

• The number of full-time teaching staff in the university.

Al-Hajjar alleged that higher education in the Kingdom was held back by regulations within the Higher Education Ministry. “One of these is the fact that the children of non-Saudi professors cannot attend Saudi universities,” he said.

This has, he pointed out, led to the departure of many academics whose children were denied education here. He also said that the Saudization of whole university departments had not been advantageous. “If you go to a German university, for example, you will not see an all-German teaching staff in a certain department,” he said, noting the importance of exchanging knowledge between Saudis and non-Saudis.

Dr. Khaled Al-Turki, another Shoura member, said that many non-Saudis in the field of higher education were leaving the Kingdom because of the lack of financial and academic incentives.

Dr. Abdullah Bukhari said it was imperative for rectors of Saudi universities to share in the decision making of the Supreme Council for Higher Education. He also expressed the belief that Saudi universities should be allowed to set their own financial and administrative rules in order to benefit the community. “They should be completely independent to such an extent that every university will have the freedom to allocate salaries according to its agendas,” he continued.

Dr. Muhammad Al-Zulfa, another Shoura member, said immediate steps should be taken to improve higher education in the Kingdom.

“We must refrain from pointing fingers and come up with a strategy,” he said. “I do not know why the minister of higher education is confusing the issue,” he said, describing the fact that two Saudi universities were so near the bottom of the list was a “scandal to the entire Middle East region.”

The council postponed voting on the issue for the second time in order to further discuss the Project for the Supreme Council for Higher Education and University Law in future sessions. Members are expected to continue discussions of the law in future sessions as it covers over 30 subjects.