Universities must address research deficiency
AS THE NUMBER of universities in Saudi Arabia continues to expand, it seems we have reached a critical juncture when we must stop and ask the question: What is the value of a university? What function does it serve in society? If these questions seem facile and self-explanatory, I assure you that they are not — and that there is, in fact, a great need to explore exactly this issue right now. According to a recent survey, 11 of our public universities have not generated a single paper or significant piece of research over the past calendar year.
Meanwhile, we hear other reports that the teaching methods, standards and range of subjects at some Saudi universities are more comparable to high schools than what we would normally associate with post-secondary education. That is, after entering university, students are still studying the same range of subjects in the same way — by rote, with very little opportunity for critical thought.
So, it is time to seriously ask ourselves- what is the true purpose of a university? If it were merely a matter or training young adults for a professional role, we would not need to have universities with degree programs.
Training programs and apprenticeships fulfill that job-preparation role, perhaps faster and more efficiently than a university does. Students, who choose to attend university rather than trade school, are generally looking for something much more than that. Even the word “university” connotes universality — something transcendent and inclusive.
In most countries, the universities serve as a reservoir of existing knowledge and a place where new knowledge is generated. Ideally, students are there not merely to complete requirements for graduation but to be a part of a community of lifelong learning. That is why, in a university convocation ceremony, the university president may speak the words “I admit you” to the graduate. Upon finishing his degree, the university graduate is ‘admitted’ to an intellectual community consisting of both students and professors.
High schools, with their goal of conferring basic knowledge to the students, can be content to remain within existing parameters of thought and information. But, clearly, a university should be different. At least part of its function can and must be the generation of new knowledge in a wide variety of fields — from the most abstract areas, to knowledge with relevant practical applications for our country. And in generating new knowledge, technology and understanding, universities in any given country have the opportunity to participate in a global dialogue.
Our present lack of standards, which has allowed for the deficiency in new research in a significant number of our post-secondary institutions, is doing us no favors. It is time to live up to our intellectual potential and capabilities and allow our next generation of students to do so as well.
Without setting the standard for higher education in the present, we leave no hope for students in the future. But this disturbing trend can be reversed at any time — as soon as universities remember their true purpose.
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