Categories: Eurasia (Russia, Former Soviet States, Middle East)

A Libyan professor at Misurata University who was assigned to review grades and degree plans for students at the school inadvertently stumbled onto a far-reaching crime ring involving  22 universities, students, and faculty.  Rasheed Meheeshy was  imprisoned in mid-May after some of his students claimed that he sexually harassed them (an accusation he claims was made up to discredit or get revenge on him), but he had already expelled students and fired 11 faculty members involved in the fake diploma scheme.  According to a Libyan newspaper, 150 fake Bachelor degrees had already been issued to professionals and people working in government.  After a stint in the hospital for ongoing medical issues that were exacerbated by the poor treatment he received in the prison, Meheeshy was sent to the hospital under armed guards and chained to his bed.  During this time, the courts decided his life was in danger as a result of the wide range of people involved in the scandal, so new guards and a new judge were brought it from outside the tribal rule of the city.

In June, two of the three students involved in the charges against him either withdrew the charges or claimed they were made up as a result of anger by the expelled students, and he was released a few weeks later.  He is scheduled for a hearing in September.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/40280/

Kyrgyzstan is planning to move to a comprehensive education system that will both identify corruption in schools as well as implement standardized, independent leaving examinations.  A major component of the new system – electronic student assessment that will digitize student record books, class scheduling, and exams – will enable ongoing, open, and nearly instant feedback of student progress.

http://eng.24.kg/community/2010/02/20/10452.html

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is embarking on another banner year for education by announcing an education and training budget of almost US$37 billion, an increase of 13% compared to last year’s fiscal budget.  This new budget will fund the King Abdullah Project for Development of Public Education.  The Project aims to create 1200 new schools and complete almost 4000 school buildings already in progress.  The Higher Education sector will be able to build four new universities, expand existing universities, and increase scholarships abroad, among other goals.  Currently, the Kingdom offers more than 60,000 scholarships to enable Saudis to study abroad while the Kingdom grows its educational system in both scope and quality to meet the ever-increasing demands of its increasing population of young people.

http://newsx.com/story/69121

Kyrgyzstan’s Ministry of Education (MOE) has closed 14 universities by revoking their licenses and telling students to transfer out by April.  There are expectations that even more schools will be closed in the coming year.  Last May, the MOE conducted an audit of the licenses of universities in the country and sent written warnings and a deadline for corrections to more than 2 dozen universities and colleges.  The schools whose licenses were just revoked did not address the problems, though at least one school is claiming it did not receive the notifications.  Kyrgyzstan currently has the largest number of universities per capita in the former Soviet states due to a university boom in the 1990s.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Kyrgyz_Education_Ministry_To_Close_14_Universities/1907899.html

The Ministry of Education and Science in Kyrgyzstan has announced that the country needs to decrease the number of higher education institutions (and branches) to focus on quality rather than quantity.  According to the Minister, many of the branches have failed license requirements due to their lack of quality.  The Ministry expects this decision to create a public furor but feels that it is a necessary step to take back control of the education sector.

http://eng.24.kg/politic/2009/12/01/9783.html

This article is a very interesting  write-up of the current teaching standards in war-torn Afghanistan.  It’s a very good read, but it basically states that the country was so desperate for teachers after the overthrow of the Taliban that it accepted pretty much all comers.  The government wants to improve the teaching requirements, but they can’t get the funding they need from outside sources without providing a clearer depiction of how much is actually needed.  As a result, they have designed a test for teachers that will be done in waves.  This first wave will test only those teachers who have at least 2 years of post-secondary education high school – only about 25% of current teachers – to determine additional training for those who need and pay raises for those who deserve it.  Currently, most teachers hold second jobs in order to make ends meet, and teaching is not their priority.  Sunday’s exam will test general knowledge, pedagogy, and subject competency.  The remaining 120,000+ secondary school graduates who are now teachers will be tested later.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1113/p06s17-wosc.html

The Ministry of Education of the Moscow region has reported that 2,000 blank diplomas and 10,000 blank transcripts for vocational/professional secondary education have been stolen. The link below indicates that the stolen documents have the following serial numbers:

50 БО с N0000001 to N0001000

50 БО с N0002001 to N0003000;

50 СП с N0000993 to N00011000.

http://mon.gov.ru/work/obr/dok/vys/4682 (in Russian)

This article in the Jordan Times discusses proposed changes to the Tawjihi (General Secondary Certificate Examination) and the challenges that its proponents face.  One possible change suggests funneling students into scientific, administrative, and other secondary school programs – with specific requirements by field -  so that they can focus on academic futures while in secondary school.  The programs would culminate with exams spread out over four semesters rather than the two that are currently in play.  The article addresses pros and cons of the suggested reforms and opinions from government officials, parents, and students.  In addition, the government has created a website that provides more information and allows for comments about the proposed changes: www.newtawjihi.jo

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=20194