Yemen needs a dynamic, efficient and high quality higher education system. Its natural resources are not as extensive as many of its neighbours’, and it will depend on the exploitation of its human resources if it is to develop into a successful 21st century economy and society. Its universities will be central to this. Moreover, the number of secondary school graduates will increase by possibly four or five times in the next two decades, and the higher education system will need to expand to meet this additional demand.
The Yemeni Government’s vision is of a higher education system that will lead the nation’s development – economically, culturally, morally and socially. It should offer students the education they need to enter the employment market as highly qualified manpower, while developing them as individuals and citizens. It should conduct research that will be of value to Yemeni industry and society, and it should put its resources to the service of the Yemeni people more generally. To do all this successfully Yemen’s higher education system is in urgent need of renewal and updating. At present it suffers from a number of weaknesses.
Most striking, the outputs of the higher education system do not correspond to the inputs. The resources from which it benefits – while low in absolute terms – are not out of line with other countries in the Arab world – and indeed are higher than many other countries at a similar stage of development. In terms of GDP devoted to higher education, Yemen comes out relatively well. But a constant complaint is that students are inappropriately taught and there is very high unemployment among graduates. That is doubly wasteful. It wastes the resources that have been invested, and it also means that Yemen is not benefiting from the highly qualified manpower that it has.
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