Are Our Universities Workshops for the Future, or Arenas of Problems?

Written in Arabic. Below is an English summary — read the full article in Arabic ←.

Higher education is the cornerstone of any advanced society — so what is the real state of Iraq's universities? This long essay is a frank inventory: political interference and quota-based appointments in university leadership; chronic underfunding; outdated curricula disconnected from the labour market; the brain drain; and weak research output.

For each problem the chairman traces causes and consequences, concluding that the sector's decline is not an accident but the cumulative product of policy choices — and that reversing it is "a national responsibility that falls on everyone", requiring strategy, budgets and a clear vision of what universities are for.