The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Parliamentary Higher Education Committee has held a joint meeting at the Ministry to discuss a collection of university and academic matters in Iraq.
Starting the meeting, the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Prof. Dr. Nabil Kazem Abdel-Saheb welcomed the members of the Parliamentary Committee, praising at the same time the message of integration that the legislative and executive authorities are keen on achieving the requirements of the public interest.
Abdel-Saheb called on the Iraqi Council of Representatives to support the Ministry of Education to create public universities that correspond to the rising population growth index and to legislate a law to form a Higher Council for Education that undertakes the task of establishing policies and strategies that will advance the reality of education in Iraq and support the university professor in a way that matches his stature and efforts in scientific research Community service and a review of the retirement law, which caused the retirement of a percentage of those with important and rare specializations from specialized university professors, pointing out that Iraqi universities will witness a shortage of academic titles holders of professors and assistant professors over the next three years.
In turn, the Chairman of the Education Committee, Prof. Dr. Muzahim Al-Khayyat, expressed the happiness of the members of the Parliamentary Committee for this visit to the Ministry of Higher Education and the emphasis on joint work to expand the circle of positives and develop the goals of higher education in Iraq and to face quantitative and qualitative challenges, especially related to labour market variables and the financing file of educational institutions, pointing out to the readiness of the Parliamentary Education Committee to review legislation and submit proposals for laws that would support the scientific research process and strengthen the mechanisms for selecting university leaders.
The attendees reviewed the axes listed on the agenda, in which the applicant for the Ministry gave a brief and a full explanation of the course of the procedures responsible for formulating the approved decisions in light of the laws and instructions in force. These axes issue the expansion file in postgraduate studies. The attendees agreed on a decision to rotate and occupy the admission plan for the academic year 2023/2022. It was not possible to add to the number of students who will start at the beginning of this year, whose total numbers have reached more than twenty-five thousand students, distributed on the base plan, which includes twelve thousand and seven hundred and seventy-six students and the deferred expansion outputs, which resulted in the acceptance of ten thousand and four hundred students, as well as the rotation and occupancy seats that it will be around one thousand nine hundred and seventy-nine.
The participants in the meeting unanimously agreed on the possibility of reconsidering the issue by increasing the academic seats in the 2024/2023 academic year if the necessary logistical and human requirements are available.
The attendees completed the axes of the meeting, including appointing the first students and holders of higher degrees, discussing the mechanisms for creating scientific departments, the criteria for selecting university leaders and the timings of the academic year, especially with regard to the completed stages in medical colleges, a number of study items outside Iraq, sources of funding for scientific research and organizational contexts for graduation ceremonies.
The Parliamentary Higher Education Committee concluded its meeting with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research by agreeing to form a joint committee to prioritize the review and amendment of laws related to the higher education environment, especially the Law of Foundations Equivalent to Certificates No. 20 of 2020 to organize some procedural paths, guarantee students’ rights and secure scientific sobriety.
