Revitalising higher education requires a concerted effort

The widespread recognition that higher education is a major driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy has made high-quality higher education more important than ever.

The growing network of stakeholders and the expansion and mass adoption of higher education have highlighted the need to diversify the sector and refine the profile, priorities and strategies of institutions so that government agencies and the higher education institutions themselves can better respond to a range of needs, demands and challenges.

Higher education in Lebanon has long been renowned for being one of the best systems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This reputation has attracted students from across the region for decades and has made Lebanon one of the most appealing countries for higher education in the MENA region.

However, this reputation has suffered in recent years due to a rise in the number of small private higher education institutions of questionable quality, the inability to respond adequately to changes in the labour market, political problems resulting in a vacant presidency since October 2022, lack of funding and a severe financial crisis.

As a result, Lebanon’s university graduates are caught in an ossified Lebanese higher education system, which is disconnected from the needs of the local and international labour markets. In addition, the higher education sector in Lebanon has been severely affected by decreased budgets and research funding, and the non-payment of salaries.

Institutions are struggling to maintain day-to-day operations, and are seeing a decline in the quality of teaching due to the unprecedented attrition of faculty and staff who seek better opportunities outside the country.

At the internationalisation level, travel restrictions, coupled with safety and security concerns, have discouraged potential international students from enrolling at Lebanese universities, leading to reduced revenue for Lebanese higher education institutions.

Quality issues

In 2023 and 2024 the Lebanese Council of Higher Education held several meetings in an effort to address longstanding concerns about the limited number of higher education institutions in Lebanon that have been reported to be non-compliant with academic standards and regulations.

Among the reported problems were serious violations of higher education requirements, including exceeding student capacity, enrolling students in masters programmes without equivalent bachelor degrees, the teaching of programmes or majors without proper authorisation and non-compliance with the required faculty-student ratios and the percentage of professors holding doctoral degrees.

The financial crisis limited higher education institutions’ investment in quality assurance, accreditation and new innovative degree programmes, leaving many with very few or no interdisciplinary or cutting-edge programmes, (for example, artificial intelligence-related programmes).

In 2024, only eight of Lebanon’s 50 universities were ranked among the top 1,000 institutions globally according to the prestigious international rankings that have become an integral part of the higher education landscape.

Resilience and reforms

Despite all these challenges and constraints, many Lebanese higher education institutions appear to be doing well and to be resilient. They have proved their ability to cope with the many crises that have occurred in recent years and to respond to the economic challenges facing the country.

For example, several universities have established campuses outside Lebanon, online programmes targeting international students and-or enhanced their continuing education offerings targeting corporate employees and students, mainly in the Gulf region. The American University of Beirut-Mediterraneo in Paphos, Cyprus, is an example of a twin campus of the American University of Beirut’s main campus.

In addition to individual institutional initiatives, on the International Day of Education on 24 January 2023 the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education launched a five-year plan spanning the period up to 2027.

Its aim is to reform the Lebanese higher education sector based on three strategic pillars: steering the higher education system; improving relevance and quality outcomes; and strengthening social responsibility and competitiveness.

Although the plan marks a significant step forward with its aim to elevate the quality of higher education in Lebanon, there remain some concerns.

Firstly, the plan is written in a very generic language that does not take into account Lebanon’s current crises. In addition, a top-down approach in its preparation was used instead of an inclusive process. Finally, a delay is observed in creating detailed implementation plans that break priority areas and programmes down into concrete action plans, with clear timelines, milestones, resource requirements and performance indicators.

Recent complaints over delays by the Directorate General of Higher Education were also raised by local and international students, Lebanese universities, Lebanese parliament members and foreign senior government officials relating mainly to the licensing of new programmes, recognising programmes and degrees and recognising the courses that have been successfully completed by outgoing Erasmus+ students at European universities.

Other complaints relate to the need to revamp the higher education section of the website of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education to ensure that it meets the needs and expectations of stakeholders, mainly in terms of updated information, user-friendliness and providing valuable information, documents, forms and services needed by its users.

A call to unity

Embracing an agile mindset by simplifying the standard operating procedures, assigning qualified and experienced personnel to service functions and digitising some processes will enhance the efficiency of higher education policy operations, increase the satisfaction among the relevant stakeholders in the services provided and ultimately contribute to revitalising the Lebanese higher education system.

This revitalisation process requires cooperation among all relevant stakeholders.

Policy-makers, higher education institutions, faculty and staff, students, parents, alumni, employers, accreditation agencies, and local and international donors must come together to find innovative ways to support the Lebanese higher education institutions in their efforts to maintain academic excellence, creativity and innovation in higher education and scientific research.

Lebanon’s ability to sustain its competitive edge in human capital depends almost entirely on a high quality restructured higher education sector aligned with local Ministry of Education and Higher Education requirements and emerging international higher education trends and developments.

Dr Bassem Kaissi is vice-chairman of the board of trustees at the Modern University for Business and Science, Lebanon. E-mail: bkaissi@mubs.edu.lb

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.