“Politicians who act as decision makers have to get their ideas from universities”

This week, Weekly speaks to Dr. Laeed Zaghlami, professor in Algiers University, Faculty of Information and Communication, who is in the country as an external examiner at the University of Mauritius. He gives us his impressions of the university and talks about the need to use the ideas generated there in a wider society.

You are here as an external examiner at the University of Mauritius. What are your impressions of the university as a whole?

First of all, I am grateful to Mauritius as well as the university and its staff for giving me the opportunity to serve as an external examiner for the last couple of years. This is the third time I have come as external examiner.

Have you noticed any progress since you started coming here?

It’s not up to me to talk about progress or regression. I know that the university has embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign to make itself known and to attract more students from abroad and it has been very successful. This is a small country and the University of Mauritius has 12,000 students which is great. The university also has a policy of being close to society.

How did you reach such a conclusion?

This is the impression I got going through dissertations. Some tackle social issues like transportation, drugs and media issues all of which are close to society. This is what makes the university close to the concerns of society.

Yes, but all this work stays inside the university. There is no public debate on these issues, is there?

The most pertinent thing is academic freedom. The university is supposed to be a fertile ground for exchanging ideas, offering the freedom of opinion and the ability to participate in debate freely. I would say the main aim of a university is to produce ideas and opinions.

What’s the point of coming up with ideas that stay inside the university?

This is another aspect, which is more political. The political system has to close the gap between university and society.

How?

Through debate, discussions, placements and exchanges between the university and other outside enterprises as a whole. It’s up to the university to contact people from political, economic and social institutions. All of them have to be aware that the university is a place for these exchanges to take place. A university cannot be an autarchy. It has to come up with ideas and these have to be put into practice within society. Politicians who act as decision makers have to get their ideas from universities. Academia and politicians should be complementary, not confrontational. We need the academic aspects. Nobody has a monopoly of knowledge.

There has been a lowering of the level to get into the university that has been the subject of criticism. Do you see that as a problem?

It’s too early for me to make such a judgement. What I will say is that we are living in a digital society and therefore the pedagogy has changed. Don’t expect the relation between teacher and student to be the same. Knowledge has been democratised through the internet which has revolutionised things. So the old methods of analysing quality won’t do. It will have to be done through something else. And, let’s face it, universities are squeezed by reduced government funds and they need to survive. The only way to do that is to attract students.

The impression one gets is that the university has more of an academic, rather than a practical focus. So many of the students who come out find it hard to secure employment. What do you suggest should be done to bridge that gap?

Universities have to adapt and are adapting to the changing world and its requirements.  Academic education is very important but it’s up to the university to find ways to mix academic learning with the practical training required by employers. This can be done through working with employers and organising work placements and training to strike a balance between theory and practice.

How does the University of Mauritius compare to other universities you have visited?

Mauritius is an emerging country so it cannot expect to have highly sophisticated universities. But from the standards I have seen here, I can tell you that the university is doing very well. I saw a video on research week which really proves that the students are interested in research related to practice in the field of chemistry, biology, agriculture and many other scientific fields. This is a great manifestation of closing the gap between the classroom and the field.

Do you get the impression from the essays you’ve looked at that the university is interested in carrying out research in areas of interest to society?

Absolutely. Yesterday I went through research done by two gentlemen; the metro project and transportation in general within the country.

What was the result of this research?

It highlighted the necessity of the metro and why people would want to use it and how citizens would shift from cars to the metro. The researchers also came up with survey results. So the university is getting interested in these questions of everyday life, researching issues and giving answers to decision makers. This is not the case in many other countries where politicians are not interested in the view of academics.

Are our politicians interested in these views?

I think since the University of Mauritius has taken this responsibility, it would seem that there is a new way of doing things and that decision makers need the input of experts to take a decision.

Are there any other aspects that you think the university can work on?

There are a lot of suggestions. We need social science in general as a big field and it needs to be strengthened by software and technical tools. We cannot just stick to the old ways. We need to introduce new elements like statistical software and not stick to narration. People want to see the data. Universities also have to make themselves seen on the internet and every topic must be addressed to bring the university at the heart of development. We are living in a knowledge society and knowledge is a driving force for development everywhere.

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