Private university activities suspended for violations

On 3 May, Yemen’s Supreme Council for Universities suspended the admission of students to the University of Applied Sciences (ASU), claiming the school had violated earlier injunctions forbidding it to teach medicine. The supreme council also halted recognition of certificates issued by the private university. “ASU violated the law by continuing to teach medicine,” said Minister of Higher Education Saleh Basura. “The cabinet in May 2005 ordered the closure of 52 medical faculties in private universities for failing to meet minimum education criteria.” Basura went on to point out that the decision was taken after specialised committees had visited eight private universities “to see if the medical facilities met the criteria set up by the Supreme Education Planning Council and the Supreme Universities Council”. Basura added that ASU diplomas would no longer be recognised and, if the college persisted in its refusal to transfer medical students’ files to government universities, his ministry would have it closed down. ASU Rector Mohammed al-Saeedi, however, described the decision as illegal. “This is against the constitution and law,” he said. “The committee that evaluated the private universities’ performance is biased – all its members belong to government universities.” “We’ve been operating for 12 years and seven classes have graduated from the medical college,” al-Saeedi said, adding that he had already complained to President Ali Abdullah Saleh about the issue. The row came in the wake of a slew of adverse media reports and complaints against the universities by students. ”The main problem is that these universities hire unqualified teaching staff,” said Deputy Minister for Higher Education Ali Qasem. “They also lack the required facilities and equipment.” There are seven private and eight government universities in Yemen, where private education has become a major industry ever since the country’s unification in 1990. While some of the teaching staff in private universities is Yemeni, many are expatriates from other Arab countries and India.