By IPS Correspondents
ABU DHABI, May 31 2003 (IPS)

Arab education experts, meeting for the second day as part of the fourth General Assembly of the Association of Arab Institutions for Higher Education, organized by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ajman University of Science and Technology (AUST), have called for the integration of the Arab educational institutions to face future challenges.

The higher education expertise, who gathered yesterday to attend the meeting of the association of Arab Private Institutions for Higher Education, also recommended the need to create a strong base for scientific research by the Arab Higher Education Institutions to match the ones in the West, according to a report in the ‘Khaleej Times’.

The meeting also pointed out the importance of integration of the private higher education institutions of the Arab world to face future challenges and strengthen their capabilities to offer Arab citizens the latest in science and education.

Dr Marwan Kamal, Secretary-General of the Association of Arab Universities, said: "The number of universities in the Arab countries has doubled five times since the World War II, with many Arab governments supporting education in an immeasurable way."

He said that the reluctance of students to join Information Technology and Science studies and lack of financial support to educational institutions providing that type of education is one of the formidable problems faced by education in the Arab world today.

According to Dr Marwan, the latest figures on the number of students studying science and technology in the Arab world is not even up to 25 percent of the total number of students in these institutions.

"This is pathetic, because science studies lead to development of nations. The total annual investments of Arab educational institutions in scientific research is less than $400, while one university in the US spends six times what the entire Arab world invests in one year," he said.

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