Private Universities

Today I passed by the Ministry of higher education and asked about the list for private universities registered and functioning. To my surprise there was such a list available.
Up until two or three years ago there were only four universities: Damascus, Aleppo, Lattakia, and Homs. Now there are 8 more and still even more to come. Someone said recently that there are 16 private institutions functioning (all within the last 2 years almost) and 16 more are going to be agreed on… The shock is that the same source said that there are 360 applications awaiting reviews. Are we nuts?? There is not even such number in the United States, and Syria is not much bigger than one of its large states.
And here are the 8 I talked about:
1. Al-Kalamoon University جامعة القلمون الخاصة: located in Deir Attieh
2. Art and science Private University الجامعة الخاصة للعلوم والفنون: located in Aleppo
3. Ma'moun Private University for Science and Technology جامعة المأمون الخاصة للعلوم والتكنولوجيا: located in Qamishli
4. Unity Private University جامعة الاتحاد الخاصة: located in Manbej and Al-Raqqa
5. Al-Wadi Syian-German Private University جامعة الوادي السورية الالمانية الخاصة: located in Wadi Al-Nassara (officially Al-Nadara… stupid politicians stick their nose in everything)
6. Arabic-European Private University الجامعة العربية الأوروبية الخاصة: located in Gabageb عباغب in Dar'a (if any of you have heard of it before)
7. International Private Unviersity of Science and Technology الجامعة الدولية الخاصة للعلوم والتكنولوجيا: located in Umm Al-Koosur أم القصور in Dar'a
8. Syrian-International Private University الجامعة السورية الدولية الخاصة: in Al-Kessweh, Sihnaya
I am not sure what each of these teach, but most have some engineering branches, especially Architectural, in addition to computer sciences and languages, only Al-Kalamoon has Medicine.
Few notes have to be said about these universities. Firstly, none of these, as far as I know, have a completed university campus. Most are still undergoing building construction and servicing. For example Al-Wadi University is leasing a hotel or something like that awaiting completion of construction in the main land. Same thing applies to some parts of Al-Kalamoon. I don’t know about the others because I even don't know how to get there yet, not that I will. And anyway I doubt it is going to be different because there are like 4 or 5 universities that are opening this same year. And for those who don't know, construction in Syria takes forever (as long as stealing and postponing can be maintained).
The question that arises is: why should they start teaching if they don't have a proper place yet? And the answer is easy: Greed. This question in fact makes me want to comment on two things: money and teaching.
As far as money goes, there is lots of money going into these institutions. Costs are anything but affordable for the common people. Medicine in Al-Kalamoon is like 450,000 SP per year (~$9,000). Other specialties are not very much better, and there is almost nothing below 100,000 SP (~$2000) per year for "lower level" specialties. So imagine the elite-ness in these universities.
As far as teaching, with the sudden burst in private universities and institutions, more students means more teachers (with higher salaries). So it is not surprising to see teachers and professors giving up their duties in government public universities in search for better salaries, or even doing both. I am not sure how much are we equipped to handle all this all of a sudden and what curricula are they using!! But I hope at least it is not going to be in vain for all that money spent. I mean at least teaching should be of a higher scale than what we already have in our public universities. So if it is the same people giving lectures here and there what difference is achieved? And if it is someone new who have never given a lecture in his life is doing it (because even those who do rarely know how to give one), is it worth the risk of that spending?
Next, what is even worse is that those new universities are not recognized yet by the UNESCO and thus not globally recognized. Here comes the agony of trying to take the next step after graduation: all that money to stay in Syria? I think not, and I believe that those who enter have a higher ambition for themselves in the Gulf or some other place.
What is saddening is that grades needed to get into private universities are much lower than those for public ones (Medicine this year was 234/240… this is insane, they have to get tougher questions for 12th grade students). So in fact the only real qualification for you to get into private education is wealth. And this is the start of a new phenomenon of indirect discrimination in this country. It is a sad thing that they allow this to happen. There is not even an entry interview to assess suitability for the field requested because high grades and money do not make a good physician for example.

Now other sorts of education are the following:
1. Lateral education التعليم الموازي: or as my brother likes to call it "Legal bribing". Lateral education is the exact same education in public universities with the exception of registration fees (160,000 SP vs. 300 SP). Student numbers have remained stable, and the percentage of lateral education students is on the rise. So what this means in other words that those who barely made it to med school (for example) based on their grades are increasingly forced to pay more money (REALLY more money) to get into what they otherwise have gotten into without the money hassle. I am not sure what is the smart idea behind that, except to get more money into the pockets of I-don’t-know-who… and what is worse… I haven't seen much improvement in the education compared to 13 years ago when I started.
2. Virtual university الجامعة الافتراضية: I am not sure what goes in there. But I think it is learning through the internet. وقد يكون الموضوع أن تفترض وجود جامعة وتفترض أنك تدرس وثم تفترض أنك حصلت على شهادة.
3. Open education التعليم المفتوح: I am not sure again what they open here, but as far as I understand you attend one day a week in the university and then you get a degree in something from a foreign university.
4. Studying abroad: if cost is no problem, is probably the safest bet I would place (if it was up to me).

In short, it seems that our education system is moving towards being paid and expensive, as opposed to almost free and affordable. After ten years we will have a thousand educational institutions and a legion of students who are lost in what to do with their lives. Until we revolutionize education form grade one and orient people to what they can do and want to do, we will get nowhere.