NAJAF'S KUFA UNIVERSITY: DOORS WIDE OPEN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HILLAH 000161

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/25/2017
TAGS: PGOV OEXC SCUL SOCI IZ
SUBJECT: NAJAF'S KUFA UNIVERSITY: DOORS WIDE OPEN

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CLASSIFIED BY: Angus T. Simmons, PRT Team Leader, PRT Najaf,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (d),(g)



This is a PRT Reporting Cable


1. (C) SUMMARY: The President of Najaf's Kufa University (Kufa)
warmly welcomed the PRT delegation, including Team Leader and PD
officer, during a November 21 campus visit. President Razak
Al-Essa, who attained his PhD in the U.K., openly discussed his
Western-oriented education model with PRT Leader and stated that
he welcomes U.S. involvement in helping build Kufa into a
first-class institution. He specifically requested the PRT's
assistance in setting up a TOEFL English-testing center at Kufa,
acquiring English references and periodicals for the library,
and engaging his professors and students in exchange programs.
Dr. Razak was ready to welcome the PRT anywhere on the six
campuses, but PRT Leader had to decline his impromptu invitation
to visit the other campuses until its security teams can advance
the other sites. END SUMMARY

University Condition, Student Composition
--------------

2. (U) Kufa is one of Iraq's well-known universities, comprising
12 faculties and accommodating 10,600 students. Management at
Kufa expects a thirty percent increase in admissions to 4,100
students in 2008, due to a sharp increase in high school
commencement rate. According to Dr. Razak, whereas previously,
the commencement rate was only five percent nationwide, this
rate has increased to eighteen percent last year, and he expects
the rate to remain the same. He worried that Iraq would have a
total of 112,000 high school graduates next year, but only
90,000 university seats available for them. Najaf province
itself is experiencing a surge of thirty percent in high school
graduates.


3. (C) In order to accommodate the surge of graduating youth,
and "keep them off the streets", Dr. Razak's Committee opened a
Kufa "night school" last year, with the stipulation that the
student composition will be eighty percent from within Najaf
province, and twenty percent from out-of-state. This night
school will increase from 600 students to 1,200 students next
year. With the night school, Kufa university management has the
flexibility to make its own admissions decisions without taking
directives from the Ministry of Education. In addition, Dr.
Razak, with the coordination of several of his faculties, held a
soft opening of a polytechnic school in Najaf city, which
currently hosts 75 students, in accounting and finance courses.
Dr. Razak lamented that the bureaucratic Ministry of Education
was not amendable to Kufa's extension to vocational training and
is offering no budget to help defray the costs.


4. (U) Kufa owns several parcels of land totaling 2.5 million
square meters. Currently, three major buildings are under
construction to host six faculties on six campuses that are
within walking distance from one another; the auditorium in
which the PRT meeting took place was completed only six months
ago. It hosts academic as well as social activities, in
addition to religious 'hawza' events. The university also
successfully reclaimed a building that U.S. troops have used.
Kufa hosts an English website, www.kuiraq.com, demonstrating the
university's progressive nature.

Immediate Needs of the University
--------------

5. (C) Dr. Razak highlighted the recent popularity among
students of "English certificates." He insisted that Kufa
should be a Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) site in
South-Central, and asked the PRT to assist in this project. Dr.
Razak stated that he welcomes American or international proctors
on site during testing session. Students must travel to Baghdad
currently to take the TOEFL test, which can be both costly, and
dangerous. Secondly, Dr. Razak, along with the head of the
English department, pleaded for English books for the
department's library - especially references and periodicals.
The English department comprises four professors and six
lecturers; the department head is Ikhlas Ali, a female fluent in
English.


Longer-term Projects?
--------------

6. (C) Dr. Razak opined that before 2003, professors had no
motivation for professional training, but now his English
professors are eager to participate in U.S. visiting or exchange
scholar programs, or to hold videoconferences to "interact with
native speakers." Even among the students, Dr. Razak indicated
that resentment to studies in English has turned into enthusiasm
since 2003. He reacted supportively to the mentioning of
Fulbright and other ECA programs, stating that one medical
student and one professor are currently nominees of the IVLP

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program. When the PRT described a typical American Corner
setup, he welcomed that idea as well.


7. (U) Kufa's Head of Communication, Laith Kadhum, informed the
PRT that it was only six months ago that his staff set up
internet access on campus. One big improvement was the
provision to all staff members, including lecturers, internet
accounts; many students, however, were left without the
privilege. Kadlum lamented that his biggest hurdle is setting
up inter-connectivity among the six physically separate
campuses. Laying down fiber optics cable and other
infrastructure are very costly, costing an estimated USD1
million, for which he stated Kufa lacks the funds. For
immediate needs, he has requested funds from Baghdad for the
purchase of 250 computers.

Biography: Dr. Razak J. Al-Essa
--------------

8. (C) President Razak's open-mindedness and Western-orientation
was easily evident to his interlocutors; in addition, he enjoys
the friendship and support of Najaf's progressive governor.
During the meeting, the female students and professor present
held no reservation in voicing their frustration with issues of
gender inequality. Dr. Razak chimed in the discussion, and
opined his disagreement in a manner reminiscent of a
mentor-mentee relationship in any Western institution - all in
English. Dr. Razak, who became President of Kufa University in
2006, held the positions of Assistant Professor, Professor, and
head of the Chemistry department at Kufa since 1980. Born on
July 1, 1949, in Shamiyah, Diwaniya province, Dr. Razak attained
a BSc in Chemistry at Basrah University and a PhD in Chemistry
(Organometallic) at Liverpool University, U.K.
From 1978 to 1979, he was a visiting scholar to the University
of Western Ontario in Canada. Dr. Razak lives in Najaf and is
married.


9. (C) Comment: President Razak is ready to cooperate with any
educational activities to strengthen his institution. He told
PRT Leader in a subsequent phone call that he would welcome the
opportunity to have PRT ROL experts offer lectures to his law
school students either at Kufa or at the REO. Kufa's
Engineering Faculty will soon be housed in a 2006 ESF project.
The President also welcomed an offer to allow his agricultural
school students to attend REO agricultural conferences, and the
opportunity for his nursing school students to participate in
international exchanges. There appears to be considerable
opportunity for interaction with Kufa University which the PRT
will begin exploring - but carefully and with due consideration
- making sure no more is attempted than the traffic will bear.


10. (C) COMMENT Cont'd: Particularly interesting is President
Razak's interest in serving Najaf's reconstruction and
development needs by starting a polytechnic and a night school
division. At one point during the meeting, Dr. Razak lamented
that Kufa and other universities in the South Central region
have been neglected. He added positively, however, that the
Ministry of Education recently signed an agreement to promote
Kufa as the leading university - nationally. In any case, the
open-minded attitude that Kufa University's leadership, faculty,
and students expressed matches the aspirations of other
sophisticated Najafis the PRT had encountered, and the PRT
intends to support these aspirations as much as possible. END
COMMENT
SIMMONS