Future prospects for higher education in the Arab world

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the future prospects of university higher education in the Arab world, by developing a vision for a general goal and a set of achievable objectives in the foreseeable future.

The paper starts from a set of facts centered on the community awareness in the Arab world, and testimonies presented in some conferences and seminars on the subject of higher education. It also provides a vision for higher education in terms of goals, aims, outputs, indicators, and evaluation tools, within a logical framework appropriate for the Arab context.

Finally, the paper presents a perception of the obstacles and problems that may hinder the realization of this vision, which include painful historical and factual realities facing the Arab nation in its transition to the new century, and which may be a glimmer of hope in a long, dark tunnel.