This is what happened, for instance, at the University of Kirkuk, which awarded students on July 2 five additional points as a result of the difficult conditions experienced by the students and the growing ease of obtaining forged certificates. This led numerous Iraqis — even the elderly — to rush to obtain higher education. They were not seeking education as such, but rather a university degree, even if through twisted and illegal ways, as a means to secure a job, including senior officials who had forged their educational degrees to keep their prestigious office.
This situation has led to a substantial inflation in the number of graduates who obtained a university degree, but remain unemployed.
Professor Ahmed Abed who teaches at the University of Al-Qadisiyah, told Al-Monitor, “We must develop mechanisms that promote confidence in university education. The new Higher Education Law consolidates the role of universities in development and reconstruction and the investment of theoretical research in applied fields."
He said that Iraq's universities lag behind and do not keep pace with advanced universities in the world, calling for “overcoming this obstacle by participating in foreign conferences, collaborating with advanced universities and giving the students paid scholarships to these universities.”
Mohammed al-Shammari, a member of the Commission of Higher Education and Scientific Research, told Al-Monitor, “Universities are in urgent need of independence in terms of admission policies and preparation of the curriculum, which must be scientific, away from any political, sectarian or nationalist ideology.”
These solutions must be accompanied by the eradication of corruption in higher education. The squandering of funds allocated for the development of universities, whether the 29 governmental universities or the 38 private universities, must be stopped. Updating the administrative system based on an inherited routine promotes the universities’ effective role in the development of society.
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