Are Private University Equally Productive Opposed to Public Universities in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Case Study Example

Are Private Equally Productive In Research Opposed To Public Universities In Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia (KSA)? Introduction Although historically, Saudi Arabia lacks in major evidences of educational development being in deficiency of Universities, in the recent decade, the nation has evolved as one of the major educational hubs for both national and international students. In the current day context, there are several universities and colleges established, which attracts domestic as well as international students. The historical need of educational development in Saudi Arabia is evident from the first university of the nation, i.e. King Saud University, which was established in 1957 (King Saud University, 2015). This suggests that prior to 1957, there has been no opportunity for higher education within the nation. Nevertheless, in the current day scenario, there are several private and public universities and colleges established in the nation. It is important to note that in the initial phase of educational development in Saudi Arabia, public or government universities and colleges were mostly established (Ministry of Education, 2015). These universities have been considered as highly effective in providing quality education to its students. This quality education in public universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia has attracted considerable number of students comprising both international and domestic pupils. Owing to such educational development, several private entities in the last few decades established some of the universities and colleges. However, quality education delivered by the private universities in the nation is still uncertain (Ministry of Education, 2015). Nevertheless, the objective of the current study is to determine the research productiveness of private universities in Saudi Arabia in comparison to the public universities. Analysis and Discussion Public Sector Universities in Saudi Arabia Observably, in the current day context, there are 27 public sector universities in Saudi Arabia. King Saud University, which is a public university, is considered as the leading education institute in Saudi Arabia. This university has been the oldest in the nation, which was founded on 1957. This university has nearly 5,000 administrative staff members and over 51,000 enrolled students, which signifies its vastness. Through its journey, the university has developed its vision of “Global leadership and excellence in building a knowledge society”. It is also worth mentioning that the university was previously known as Riyadh University (King Saud University, 2015). Another top university of the nation is the King Abdulaziz University. This is also a public university, which is located in the city of Makkah. The success of the university is evident from its significant number of doctoral students, which is above 900. Moreover, the university also has over 40,000 and 2,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Besides this, the university has over 2,300 administrative staff members (King Abdulaziz University, 2014). The productivity in research in the university is also evident from the several academic awards that it has received. This includes the appreciation from Commission for Academic Accreditation of Engineering and Technology, Vocational Education Council Commission, Geological Society, United Nations Development Programme, European Organization for Dental Education, and US Commission for the Blood Bank, among several other organizations. The university has made major contributions in enriching its research practices. This includes the departments of Water Research Center, Medical Research Center, Osteoporosis Research, Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research, and Islamic Economics Institute, among several others (Ministry of Education, 2015; King Abdulaziz University, 2014). King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals is another public sector university, which is also considered among the top educational institutes in Saudi Arabia. The university was established in 1963, however, during that period it was known as College of Petroleum and Minerals. It was further renamed in 1975 as University of Petroleum and Minerals, which eventually changed to its current name in the year 1986. In the current day context, this public sector university has over 800 staff members for more than 7,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate students (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, n.d.). This university provides productive research in several subjects related to basic science, engineering and applied engineering, environmental design and community development among others. Moreover, in order to conduct effective research studies, the university has franchised several research institutes. These include the Centre for Communications & Information Technology Research, Centre for Environment & Water, Center for Petroleum & Minerals, among others. Furthermore, the university also conducts excellence in research in Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals, Nanotechnology, Corrosion, and renewable energy (Ministry of Education, 2015; King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, n.d.). King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is another example of a leading educational institute in Saudi Arabia, which is also a public sector university. The university was established in 2009 and has over 1200 postgraduate students. However, it does not host any graduate programme at the current scenario (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, 2015). Although the university is a comparatively new set up, it has made some of the major contributions in research. These include the research centers for Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials, Desert Agriculture, Solar and Photovoltaics Engineering, Water Desalination and Reuse, and Computational Bioscience, among several others. Moreover, in order to gain excellence in its research process, the university has obtained the support from Office of Competitive Research Funds (OCRF), Office of Competitive Research Funds (OCRF), and Postdoctoral Support and many more (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, 2015; Ministry of Education, 2015). King Khalid University is a public state university in Saudi Arabia, which is also among the top universities in the nation. The university was established in 1998 and is located in the Asir Province of the nation. The university has more than 1,500 postgraduate students and over 72,000 graduate students (King Khalid University, 2015). Although the university conducts limited researches, the quality is highly appreciating. The university conducts researches on scientific, social, and linguistic studies (King Khalid University, 2015). Another major public sector university in Saudi Arabia is the Umm al-Qura University. The university was established in 1981 and is located in Mecca Province of the nation (Umm Al-Qura University, 2015). This university has witnessed quality researches on several subjects, which include Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Social Sciences, Engineering and Islamic Architecture, Pharmacy, and others. The university also conducts researches on some of the other subjects such as Shari`ah and Islamic Studies, Arabic Language, and others (Ministry of Education, 2015; Umm Al-Qura University, 2015). Private Sector Universities in Saudi Arabia Among the private universities in Saudi Arabia, Alfaisal University is considered to be at the top and leading. The university was established in 2002 and currently, it has enrolled domestic and international students of over 1,500. It is considered as the single private university, which is ranked among the top universities in Saudi Arabia (Alfaisal University, 2015). The university provides quality researches on several departments of higher education including business, engineering, medicine, science, and general studies. In business, the university has major contributions to researches on Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Human Resource, and others. In engineering, the university has contributed on Architectural studies, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Software Engineering among several others. The university also has major contributions in medicine, which is evident from the vast research outcomes in Anatomy & Genetics, Physiological Sciences, Pathology, Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine, Biostatistics & Epidemiology, and Surgery, Obstetrics & Radiology among several others (Alfaisal University, 2015; Ministry of Education, 2015). Effat University is another significant private university in Saudi Arabia. The university was established in 1999 in Jeddah. This university has over 220 staff members providing services to over 1000 graduate students in the current phenomenon (Effat University, 2015). It is worth mentioning that although the quality of education in this university is considerable, it is arguable that the research quality of the university is not as appreciating. The university herein deals with several subjects, which includes business, science and humanities, engineering as well as architecture and design (Effat University, 2015). Another private university in Saudi Arabia is the Fahd bin Sultan University. The university was established in the year 2003. Although the university has major contribution in producing some of the quality students, its quality and quantity of research output is limited and hence, not highly appreciative as compared to other universities (Fahad Bin Sultan University, 2015). The university provides educational facilities on business and management, computing, engineering, science and humanities. The university also has the vision of enriching its research output and dealing with more subjects. However, in the current day context, the performance of this university is not as satisfying (Fahad Bin Sultan University, 2015; Ministry of Education, 2015). Another private university of Saudi Arabia is the University of Business and Technology (UBT). Although the university was previously been a college and was commonly known as College of Business Administration (CBA), the incredible performance of the college through providing quality educational outputs has upgraded it as the recognition of an university. The university was established in the 2000 and is located in Jeddah and Dahaban in Saudi Arabia. It is worth mentioning that the university solely focuses on business sector education or professional learning. The university has however not been competitively effective in contributing quality research outputs, due to its new up-gradation to a university, but it has the vision of providing quality research output in applied studies and Research and Development studies. In addition, it is also worth mentioning that the university also has the motto of providing job opportunities to the students through quality education. This has significantly attracted the students to get enrolled in the university (Ministry of Education, 2015; University of Business and Technology, n.d.). Comparative Analysis and Discussion From the data collected in the current study, it is eminent that majority of the private universities in Saudi Arabia were established during the last two decades. On the other hand, the public universities of the nation were mostly established since 1957 (King Saud University, 2015). Thus, it is ascertain that private universities has comparatively lesser time to establish itself as a reputed organization, which produces quality research outputs. Owing to the fact that public universities in Saudi Arabia has been existing for a longer period, it has better scope for producing higher number of research outputs. Thus, public sector universities in Saudi Arabia have been more productive in producing researches in comparison to the private universities (Ministry of Education, 2015). Moreover, it is also eminent from the current study that majority of the public universities in Saudi Arabia are among the list of top ranked educational institutes. On the other hand, among the private universities in the nation, none of them have been able to attain the reputation of top 5 universities. It is the Alfaisal University, which arguably ranks within the list of top 10 universities in the nation in terms of producing overall quality education. However, it is also worth mentioning that besides Alfaisal University, the other private universities have extremely poor rankings. This signifies that the private universities in Saudi Arabia are not equally productive in producing quality education in comparison to the public or government universities of the nation (Ministry of Education, 2015). Besides the above arguments, which suggest that private universities in Saudi Arabia have not been equally productive in research in comparison to public universities, there are some more arguments in support of the same. In this regard, it is eminent from the current study that the public universities in Saudi Arabia have contributed in several fields of education. It has been effective in producing research outputs in wide variety of subjects. However, the private universities in Saudi Arabia have been able to produce researches of very limited subjects and topics in comparison to the public universities. Moreover, it is arguable from the data collected in the current study that private universities in Saudi Arabia are not effective in producing quality research outputs, especially when compared to the public universities of the nation (Ministry of Education, 2015). On the other hand, it is eminent that the research outputs of the public universities are mostly quality enriched and hence, the research outputs are highly appreciated. Thus, it is also eminent that the research outputs of the private universities in Saudi Arabia are not equally effective in producing quality research outputs in comparison to the public universities. Furthermore, it is also eminent that the quality research outputs produced by public sector universities have also led those entities to attain several academic awards and credentials. However, the number of credentials and awards received by private universities in the nation is comparatively less to that of the public universities in the nation (Ministry of Education, 2015). Recommendations In order to improve the research quality and productivity of the private universities in Saudi Arabia, it is important to draw particular recommendations. In this regard, it can be recommended that private universities must recruit highly skilled faculty members. This would significantly support in research development in those private universities. It is also recommended that at instances, where there is unavailability of skilled faculty members, the private universities should recruit from foreign nations. Besides, it is also worth mentioning that the private universities in Saudi Arabia also have opportunities for recruiting members as a visiting or guest faculty. In this regard, the private universities could recruit some of the highly skilled public university faculty members on their week off days. This presence of the skilled faculty members would certainly improve the quality of research studies produced by the private universities. It is also recommendable that the private sector universities should include a few more subjects in its research studies. It is thus notable from the current study that the private universities in Saudi Arabia have incorporated a comparatively lesser number of educational subjects, which has in turn largely discouraged students to enroll in those private universities. Thus, increasing the number of subjects in private universities would certainly encourage both domestic and international students and thereafter, enhance the quality performances of these educational institutions. This would eventually lead to the overall development of private universities in the nation. Hence, there would be hardly any difference in the research productivity between private and public universities in Saudi Arabia. Conclusion From the course of the study, it has been evidently observed that educational development in Saudi Arabia has started very lately, but gradually it has made significant leaps towards betterment within the sector. This is largely because of the effective research outputs obtained from public universities of the nation. The last two decades have also witnessed significant introduction of private universities within Saudi Arabia. However, it is notable from the study that the private universities have not quite been comparatively productive in producing quality research outputs. The number of research outputs of private universities has therefore been comparatively less. Besides, it is also eminent from the study that private universities are mostly ranked in bottom among the universities in Saudi Arabia. This also signifies the ineffectiveness of private universities in producing research outputs. However, in order to promote private universities in the nation, it is recommendable to such universities to recruit high skilled faculty members. Moreover, the universities should also introduce wide number of subjects that would considerably encourage students. Eventually, it would establish equal productiveness of private universities in Saudi Arabia as opposed to public universities in the nation. References Alfaisal University. (2015). Academics. Retrieved from http://www.alfaisal.edu/academics Effat University. (2015). Research. Retrieved from http://www.effatuniversity.edu.sa/Pages/Homepage.aspx Fahad Bin Sultan University. (2015). Home. Retrieved from http://www.fbsu.edu.sa/# King Abdulaziz University. (2014). Home. Retrieved from http://www.kau.edu.sa/Home.aspx King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. (2015). Research. Retrieved from http://www.kaust.edu.sa/ King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals. (n.d.) Research. Retrieved from http://www.kfupm.edu.sa/default.aspx King Khalid University. (2015). Home. Retrieved from http://www.kku.edu.sa/ King Saud University. (2015). Research. Retrieved from http://ksu.edu.sa/ Ministry of Education. (2015). Open data. Retrieved from http://he.moe.gov.sa/ar/default.aspx Umm Al-Qura University. (2015). About us. Retrieved from https://uqu.edu.sa/english/ University of Business and Technology. (n.d.). Academics. Retrieved from http://www.ubt.edu.sa/Academics Read More