North-Press Agency
Kobani – Fattah Issa/Jihad Nabo
Only a few days separate us from the end of the second study year in the University of Kobani, amid overwhelming difficulties which the university administration suffers from regarding the finding of a suitable teaching cadre for the departments which were recently opened, as well as the university building which is temporary, and incapable to accommodate the students enrolled in the university whose numbers keep increasing a year after the other.
The University of Kobani was established on September 30, 2017, with the opening of only two faculties: The Faculty of Basic Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics), and The Faculty of Literatures (The Kurdish Language and Literature).
The Admission Mechanism at the University
The co-chair of the Administration Board of Kobani University, Dr. Kamal Basrawi told North-Press: “The first year at the Faculty of Basic Sciences is preparatory, where students are scientifically prepared to choose the section they want to study in the coming year”. Dr. Basrawi stated that the university has received students for the first year, who hold secondary certificates from the Autonomous Administration, the Syrian government, and other countries’ schools, especially after all certificates were submitted to an editing committee for consideration, in order to accommodate all students without differentiation or defining the year of obtaining the secondary certificates. Dr. Basrawi justified following of such mechanism in the admission process, due to extraordinary conditions in Syria, and the deprivation of some students of joining the other Syrian universities.
The number of students enrolled in the first year of the university was about 65, only 45 of them continued their study program, including 13 at the Faculty of Literature, and 32 at the Faculty of Science, where the official study semester began on December 10, 2017.
The University administration has set some new terms for the admission process of students in the second academic year (2018-2019) when selecting sections and faculties, students’ rates were taken into consideration, in addition to giving priority for university seats to students certificated at the Autonomous Administration schools, while additional seats are allocated to students who certificated from Syrian government schools or to certificates’ holders from abroad.
Dr. Basrawi added that during the second study year, they’ve opened a new for Biology within the Faculty of Basic Sciences, and also added the Arabic language and Literature within the Faculty of Literatures in Tal-Abyad/Geri-Sepi, while the study process was postponed upon request from schools’ administrations in the city, and to be resumed during the next academic year of 2019-2020.
The number of students enrolled in the University of Kobani for the second academic year 2018-2019, was about 180 students, 115 of them are continuing their studies in the faculties of basic sciences and literature, while a total number of students in both the first and the second year is about 160 students now.
Dr. Kamal Basrawi explained that the university’s board is working now on the opening of Medical Sciences Department within the Faculty of Basic Sciences in the next academic year, where studying period will be for two years, and then it will be promoted to a four-year college, in which to be the cornerstone for the opening of the Faculty of Medicine in the near future.
The board of the university is also studying the possibility of opening some new sections for English and French Literature within the university next year, where a proper teaching cadre for French Language has been provided, and efforts are ongoing to provide a teaching staff for the English Language section, where both institutes will be opened whenever the teaching cadres are ready.
Lack of Departments and Teaching Cadres
The lack of teaching cadres is the main reason of the lack of departments and faculties in the University of Kobani, which is the most difficult issue facing the university administration, as most of the advanced-degrees holders have emigrated to the European countries during the years of the Syrian crisis in general, and the barbarous Islamic State offensive in September 2014 0n Kobani, in particular.
Therefore, the University mainly depends on a teaching staff from the cities of Tal-Abyad, Ras-AlEin, Manbij, Raqqa, and Serrin.
The number of teaching and administrative staff in the university is about 22 lecturers, six of them Ph.D. holders, five master-degrees holders, and the rest are university graduates.
On the other hand, the University has provided free dormitory in the current academic year 2018 – 2019, for students who come from the countryside, as they find difficulties to secure proper housing, and weren’t able to complete their study in the university.
The small size of the building
Kobani University suffers from the small capacity of its building, which is considered as temporary, where foundation-stone was laid for constructing a university building in the village of “Mazra’et Sofiyan”, 10-km southern Kobani, in April 2018 at a cost up to $7 million, as for a first phase to accommodate about five thousand students, but it hasn’t been finished yet.
The co-chair of the educational institution confirmed that the university administration made a census about the students’ numbers, in which to study the process of accommodating all the students during the next academic year, according to students’ wishes and grades in during secondary level, those who will receive high school certificates in Kobani and Tal-Abyad areas, where they were estimated of about 600-700 students.
Some other high school certificates’ holders inside the Autonomous Administration territories move the areas of Kobani to the University of Rojava in Al-Jazira region, an administrative division of Hasakah and Qamishli, to continue their education in the faculties of Engineering and Medicine.
The Lack of Scientific Laboratories
The University of Kobani depends on both, international and Arabic references in its educational curricula, especially in the Faculty of Basic Sciences, yet, it suffers from the lack of laboratories for scientific sections, however, the laboratory in the Physics Department was ready, where nine scientific experiments were carried out within the laboratory during the academic year of 2018-2019, while the Chemistry Department still suffer the lack of equipment and materials, where some scientific experiments have been made.
The university administration cooperates with the Education Board in the Euphrates District to provide job opportunities for graduates in the schools according to their specializations.
Walid Al-Ali, an engineer and lecturer, mechanical power engineering, and physics teacher, stated that they depend on the Syrian universities’ curriculum and some other foreign references for teaching students in the university, pointing out that the students’ educational level was low at the beginning of the academic year, but by the end of the year they have remarkably improved.
Mr. Al-Ali added that the second-year students are now much better in terms of response and reaction to the curriculum, despite being stopped from the learning process for a while, pointing out that the capacity of the university building is small, and there is a problem in Practical Department because of the lack of laboratories, tools, and equipment in the university.
Al-Ali gives two lectures per week in the university for each academic year, the first and second year, on General Physics and Physics Mechanics depending on the curricula of Aleppo University and some other foreign references.
The Lecturers use the Latin language in teaching scientific terminology, in addition to using the Arabic and Kurdish languages to explain subjects and curriculum for the students.
Students’ Hopes
Sherazad Hassani 20 years old, a first-year student and high school certificate holder in the Autonomous Administration schools, said that by his willing, has decided to study at the University of Kobani, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, hoping that the University could open a faculty for medicine and engineering within their branches, in order to pave the way to fulfil students’ wishes in the upcoming years.
Hassani added that the first-year curriculum includes a set of materials aimed at setting the students’ minds back to academic studies atmosphere, especially for some students who had cut off their education process because of the crisis in Syria, pointing out that the building of the university is very small because it’s new, nevertheless, the quality of the information delivered in several languages to the students, creates a strong incentive for students, as he demanded the administration to provide laboratories for sections of Physics and Chemistry.
Hassani explained that at the beginning of their enrolment in the university, students had faced some difficulties regarding the receiving and understanding of information, as the scientific level of students had fallen back over the past years, but over time, the educational aspect of students has developed and they became more understanding of the information given by lecturers.
Avin Sheikho 19 years old, who comes from the village of Seftek, 10-km to west of Kobani, to study Chemistry, said that she wanted to study in the Faculty of Pharmacy, but she was forced to study Chemistry because of the lack of a suitable department for her, hoping to continue her education process in the Faculty of Pharmacy in case of an opening of such department in the near future.
Sheikho stated that she benefits from free university dormitory, and free transportation, which eased her studying process at the university, pointing out that she could overcome the difficulties of the first semester over time.
Regarding the assessment system at the university, Sheikho explained that it’s a beneficial system for students, where a system of one exam at the end of studying year, may affect the students negatively, while the weekly written and oral assessment system gives students the right to obtain more grades according to their levels during the full academic year.