by Awatef Abd El Rahman

This overview of the Arab world consists of three parts. The first gives a general qualitative evaluation of journalism/mass communication teaching. It also comprises a list of institutions where communication is taught in 18 Arab countries.

The second part is a survey of the textbooks used in schools of communication in select Arab countries. (A bibliography of these textbooks in Arabic has been compiled and translated into English, and is available).

The third part is once again qualitative. It is a candid exposition of the problems and shortcomings of communication education in the Arab world.

The author is Head of Department of Journalism, Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University. Her text was edited by Michael Traber.

Representatives of Arab mass media schools attended a series of seminars (Cairo 1976, Baghdad and Riyad 1977, Algeria 1989) in which problems of teaching and training in mass media were discussed. One of the recommendations of the 1989 seminar was to conduct an analytical survey on the state of communication education, including academic institutions and training centres. This survey is now an ongoing project of the Faculty of Mass Communication of Cairo University. Presented here are the preliminary results of this survey.

There are 30 institutions for journalism and communication education distributed in 17 Arab states. These schools differ in size, programmes and objectives. They may take the form of a faculty as in Cairo University, or of an independent institute as in Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan and Yemen. Others are a department within a faculty as in Egypt (universities of Al Azhar, Suhag and Zagazig), Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia (5 departments), Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Somalia, Mauritania and Libya. (See Table 1).

Journalism and communication are usually taught in courses of 3-4 years intramural studies, except in Yemen (Southern part of the unified state) and Mauritania (2 years only).

In Egypt the Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University, offers a post- graduate programme usually lasting 2 years for a Diploma and a preparatory year before starting the M.A. course. This is the only institution in the Arab world offering M.A. and Ph.D degrees.

The number of students varies from one institution to another. It may reach 1500 students as in Cairo University or only 25 as in the American University in Cairo or Beirut.

The curricula of the various academic institutions in the Arab world may be so ambitious as to include a great variety of courses on different areas of mass communication, such as press, TV, public relations and advertising (e.g. Cairo University), or, more realistically, offer only a limited number of subjects. The majority of schools have shifted from journalism study to a broader area, covering all media of communication. This has had an effect on the names of these institutions which now, with some exceptions, cover all mass media.

The system of teaching in almost all institutions is based on a general course of study in the first two years which then branches out for specialisation in any of the mass communication fields. The exceptions are the Tunisian and Algerian institutes, where the specialisation after general journalism study is not in any of the fields of mass communication, but either in mass communication theory or another field, like political science, sociology etc. The influence of the French school is obvious in both these institutes. The credit hour system prevailing in USA is applied in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, Lebanon and the American Universities in Cairo and Beirut.

The language of instruction in schools of journalism and mass communication in the Arab world is Arabic, except in the two American Universities in Cairo and Beirut, where they use English. Many graduates in mass communication from these Universities cannot use the Arabic language effectively. The case for Arabicization is an important issue in Tunisia and still more important in Algeria. But all efforts towards Arabicization have not been able to overcome a deep rooted colonial legacy. That is why French is still dominant in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.

Practical training takes three forms in the curricula of the Arabic institutions of mass communication and journalism:

Mass communication studies in the Arab world lack research activities which require close academic scrutiny. Particularly lacking is research on language of communication, assessment of readability, on the relationship between the media and the political, cultural and educational institutions. In addition applied and statistical research is needed about the role of mass communication in national development. While theoretical, comparative and historical studies are not as numerous as they should be, actual field studies are even scarcer. This is in part due to the absence of research centres and the lack of support from media establishments, which conduct their own research on topics of interest to them. There is also an absence of academic strategy for researchers in the Arab world. In spite of the important role which the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University plays, it has numerous problems, notably

Well equipped modern libraries in mass communication and journalism do not exist in the Arab world, except in the American Universities in Cairo and Beirut, at the Algewa Institute and the Faculty of Mass Communication of Cairo University. Most schools lack modern reference books and periodicals. They also have an enormous lack of non printed material, such as films, slides and tapes. The schools of mass communication in the West of the Arab world (Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, Libya) are deficient in even Arabic publications in their libraries, thus lacking the ability to follow up recent publications of mass media and journalism in the East of the Arab world. There is some kind of cultural disassociation between these two parts of the Arab world. It is hoped that the Arab Center for Documentary Information, which has been set up under the auspices of Unesco and the Faculty of Mass Communication of Cairo University may facilitate the availability of information needed by researchers for their theses and projects, eventually saving them much time and effort.

In spite of the different patterns, philosophies and organisational models of journalism education in Arab countries, they share one basic principle. They are all divided into three fields: Theory of mass communication, cultural studies and practical training.

But the main feature of Arab institutions of communication education is the diversity of political and ideological persuasions in these studies as well as in journalistic practices. In the light of this reality the institutions in the Arab world may be divided into five categories:

A questionnaire on textbooks in communication education was sent to 20 academic or professional institutions for mass communication in the Arab world. Only six institutions replied - from Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Qatar. On that basis we put together a preliminary list of 179 textbooks in communication education which are used in these countries. Of these, 35 were selected into an annotated bibliography which is attached as Appendix III.

The Egyptian list of textbooks is the main source for the majority of academic institutions of mass communication. Replies from Algeria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Syria mentioned that they were dependent on Egyptian textbooks, plus some foreign reference works. The institutions with an overtly Islamic approach, for example Al Azhar (Egypt) and the Islamic Faculty of Ibn Seoud, rely on Egyptian textbooks in addition to Islamic works. Foreign books are rarely used unless they are translated.

Many textbooks in specific areas of communication studies, like International Communication, Media and Development, Advertising, Mass Communication Theory and Research, are translated from American sources without acknowledgement. This seems to be a trend unique in the Arab world and would need to be studied in depth.

Some areas of mass communication, like History of Media, Development and Media, Media Law, are more likely to be treated by Arab authors in original works than others.

In the sample analyzed only 10 % of the books were translations; 90 % were authored books by Arab writers.

Tables 2 and 3 show that in practically all fields of communication studies, but least of all in Communication Theory, Arab authors provide the basic textbooks. Table 4 shows that two-thirds of the books in this sample were published after 1970, nearly 30 % even in the 1980s.

The Arab academic institutions and training centres suffer from a variety of problems. They range from shortage of staff and books, to inefficiency of programmes, to lack of coordination and academic dependency. These problems shall now be described in turn.

The most striking problem of schools of mass communication is the shortage of academic staff. This has had serious effects on the conditions for mass communication studies in Arab countries and bodes ill for the future of such studies.

Many institutions are compelled to resort to media practitioners for teaching. Or they recruit holders of Ph.D. degrees whose post-graduate studies were not directly related to mass communication, but were in fields like Arabic literature or sociology or history. Other institutions have recruited to their teaching staff persons holding "doctorate" degrees which most universities do not recognize.

Another effect of this shortage is that not less than one third of the teaching staff on the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo University are seconded to other institutions every year. The number of seconded staff members from the faculty in 1989-1990 was 17 out of 43 staff members. The number of teachers appointed on a part-time basis at Cairo University has reached 23 for a total student population of 1500.

Even Egypt, like other Arab countries, is now suffering from a shortage of qualified personnel in this field.

The negative effects of this situation can be summarized in two main points:

Textbooks are a major problem for both training centres and academic institutions. Translated books are few in number. Books in foreign languages are not read by the majority of students. In addition, these books are difficult to acquire because of distribution problems and the lack of hard currency in a number of countries.

The Arabic mass communication library has only modest resources of original and translated books. Teaching staff, already overloaded, have no time to write textbooks. For various reasons, most of them also hold additional part-time jobs or are seconded as part-timers to other institutions.

There is another, deeper problem than the time constraints of Arab communication scholars. It is the problem of terminology. Unless we achieve agreement on communication terminology and compile a comprehensive glossary, little progress can be made in the Arab world. Some individual and scattered efforts have been made in Arabicizing technical terms. The First Academic Seminar held in Cairo by the Arab Centre for Mass Communication Studies in November 1976 decided to set up a standing committee for communication terminology, coordinating its work with the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo and ALECSO'S specialized centre in Rabat. The Seminar also recommended that writing and translating in the field of mass communication should be encouraged, that funds be allocated, etc. But the problem of terminology has not yet been solved.

Foreign language courses are included in all curricula of mass communication. The curricula in some cases include a mass communication course taught in a European language. But the number of hours allocated to European languages and to translation courses varies from one institution to another. There are serious defects in the European language teaching programmes in mass communication institutions. The mass media in the Arab world urgently need graduates who have mastered, besides Arabic, a European language and who are able to express themselves correctly in two languages.

As for Arabic, all curricula allocate compulsory hours for the study of Arabic language or Arabic literature. This indicates that the mastery of Arabic is a professional necessity. But the contents of Arabic language courses need reassessment, and co-ordination between these courses and the editing courses needs to take place.

Lack of co-ordination and co-operation between academic centres and institutions of training on both the national and regional level are a serious handicap in the Arab world.

On the national level, there is need for co-ordination between similar institutions. In Egypt, for example, Al-Azhar University has extablished a Department for Mass Communication and Assiut University a Journalism Department without any co-ordination between the two universities or Cairo University. In Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz University has founded a Department of Mass Communication and later the University of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud started an Institute for Islamic propagation, comprising a Department for Islamic Mass Communication. This also was done without any co-ordination with the University of Riyad which some years earlier started its Department of Mass Communication.

It is also essential to co-ordinate efforts between academic institutions and training centres. In Egypt, for example, there is no planned co-operation between the Faculty of Mass Communication and the Institute of Radio and Television and the National Institute for Arab Journalists.

There are several regional organizations which are concerned with co-ordination, such as the League of Arab States, the Union of Arab Universities, the Arab Journalists and Broadcasting Unions, the Arab News Agencies Union, and the Arab Centre for Mass Communication Studies on Population, Development and Reconstruction.

The most significant feature of communication dependence in the Arab world is academic dependence on institutions and faculties of mass communication in the West. This is probably the main reason for the conceptional shortcomings of mass media studies in the Arab world and its continued subjection to empiricism which still prevails.

There are two schools which dominate Arab mass media studies, namely, the American school whose influence increases steadily in the Arab East, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf countries and Sudan and which exercises a strong influence on Lebanon and Egypt. The second is the French school which has a marked influence over mass communication institutes in the Arab West (Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco).

Mass media curricula in Arab institutes lack a comprehensive perspective of the requirements and needs of the Arab home land. The training of teaching staff and post-graduate theses lack a philosophy which takes into account regional priorities. Curricula dependency is another problem. A third trend which has appeared in the 1970s connects mass communication with Islamic studies.

To be fair there is some research which is both authentic and relevant, like studies on the history of Arab journalism, mass media legislation in the Arab world, patterns of ownership, the Arab press and the Arab-Israeli conflict, the relation of the Arab press with the political authorities, the role of Arab journalism in national development, etc.

Translated books, especially from the USA, basically propagate their own mass media systems and advocate their curricula of studies. Their impact on mass media students and researchers is considerable. American mass media are engraved in the minds of Arab students. They appear the sole model worthy of study and pursuance. But with time, changing circumstances and organisational efforts, a new teaching and research agenda will emerge which is truly relevant to the region.

The development of teaching and study materials for communication education in the Arab world should receive a high priority in policy formation and planning. The reason is that communication education is strategically important for each and every aspect of communication development.

The education of media practitioners (education going beyond mere training) is an obvious case in point. How can their media work be relevant and effective unless it is based on solid insights derived from studies on how mass communication intersects with Arab culture? And how do we know unless a research programme is developed covering the region?

This leads to a second priority : coordination and cooperation. The educators of the main academic institutions devoted to communication education must meet regularly and devise a plan of action for research and the specialisation of institutions in the various fields of communication studies. A common terminology should be an additional goal of such meetings.

Thirdly, communication educators in the Arab world should now formulate concrete plans for a series of textbooks and educational materials which will serve the Arab region as a whole. Implementation of such a programme would presuppose sabbatical leaves for a number of persons in the teaching field to develop educational materials in Arabic. This, in turn, would presuppose a rapid increase in sponsorship of post-graduate students in communication to provide the staff resources needed at academic and professional institutions. Needless to say, they should be the brightest students coming from the humanities and social sciences.

Finally, there is the hope that communication studies and communication education may contribute to democracy and freedom, that they may be an additional instrument of Arab cohesion and unity and that they may synergise with Arab culture and serve the development of tens of thousands of Arab villages which have no television. Communication education may usher in a new era of cultural development which, as in the past, could make a significant contribution to the civilisation of the world at large.