Mirage

One of the very few writers worth reading in the Kuwait Times is Dr. Sami. This article published today, I think, really hits the nail on the head.

The mirage of Kuwait's scientific research

By Dr. Sami Alrabaa, Staff Writer
Baheeja Behbehani writes in Al-Qabas, Nov 16, that she is thrilled by the
news that the Kuwaiti Cabinet is discussing a proposal to create a "higher
council for research." This council will be in charge of coordinating scientific
research in Kuwait. Research conducted by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific
Research (KISR), Kuwait University, and by the Public Authority for Applied
Education and Training (PAAET) will be coordinated by this proposed council.
Behbahani adds that coordinated research would help Kuwait resolve water,
electricity and environmental problems. What is Dr Behbehani talking about?
Research in Kuwait?! What is this? First of all, the question is, is there
any research in Kuwait and who is doing this research? Years back, in the 1980s
a colleague was honest enough and frank to publicly say in a speech at the
Kuwait University Club, Kuwait loves modern things and institutions that sound
modern. Kuwaitis are fond of coining or adopting big names like university,
research, etc. However, what remains at the end of the day is the name and
nothing else. In fact, by international standards, Kuwait University and the
newly-founded private universities qualitatively cannot be and maybe should not
be called as such. The name is too big for these organisations. They are rather
schools or community colleges, at best. "Our students leave these schools
unqualified, unfit, and incompetent," said Nasser Al-Khorafi, a Kuwaiti tycoon,
in an interview with the Deutsche Welle TV. If KISR did not have those Western
researchers, no research would be conducted. An American friend who works for
KISR told me, the locals are unqualified to do research and unwilling to learn.
They cash good salaries for doing nothing. The place is merely a money-mill. The
same applies to Kuwait University. As a former insider of Kuwait University, I
could fill volumes with "research" stories. Practically no serious
research has ever taken place at Kuwait University. For Assistant and Associate
Professors to be promoted to full Professors, the majority of local colleagues
concocts their own research data, plagiarise, and/or ask an expat colleagues to
write research papers for them. The Public Authority for
Applied Education and Training (PAAET), is the worst in terms of research and
promotion. No research has ever taken place in this institution. Research and
publication credentials are not required or bypassed pertaining to appointment
and promotion. A former colleague of mine who used to work for Kuwait University
as a language teacher moved to PAAET. There, she was appointed as Associate
professor, albeit she had never produced one single refereed publication. So,
where is the research Dr Behbehani is talking about? Hence the proposed "higher
council for research" will have to be added to all those modern facades of
Kuwait. If someone does not know Kuwait and had never been to Kuwait and reads
about the council, he/she might think, what a modern society Kuwait is! We
should be reminded that not everything that glitters must be gold. Mirage is
endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and its research desert. Things in this desert
sound and look modern, but they are not. It is all a mirage. Places in Kuwait
that call themselves universities and academic institutions are fancy buildings,
but they lack qualified human resources and do not deserve the title 'academic.'
Think of the latest shameful scandal at Kuwait University whereby one of the
best academic books has been banned. Unfortunately, oil revenues in
Arab Gulf countries have generated wealth - temporary wealth - but failed to
generate creative brains. History does not remember wealth. It remembers brains. drsami@kuwaittimes.net