Humane predicament

Christian Bode, secretary-general of the German Academic Exchange Service, tells Rania Gaafar about the virtues of Humboldtian education, university reforms and the German University in Cairo

---

Inaugurated by Christian Bode at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) headquarters in Zamalek, the annual meeting of board of trustees of the German University in Cairo (GUC) last week was attended by Egyptian dignitaries as well as the German ambassador to Egypt Martin Kobler, Peter Frankenberg, minister of science and research in Baden- Wèrttemberg and the DAAD Cairo office director Alexander Haridi, in whose office Bode discussed education and cultural exchange after the event. It is nearly midnight by the time Haridi manages to make his way through a throng of journalists and GUC lecturers to introduce me to Bode, and in relative quiet make our way across the garden to the reception hall of East Germany's former embassy -- DAAD's present headquarters. It was in 1960 that DAAD opened its Cairo branch with the object of giving Egyptian students graduate and undergraduate grants and scholarships to study in Germany. The very atmosphere of the room, with a separate table set aside for refreshments, seems to reflect DAAD's tradition of quiet focus and attention to individual talent. It is the personal development of students that lies at the heart of DAAD's philosophy, and though his job of promoting international students remains a largely financial and procedural business, Haridi manages to direct the Cairo office in a strikingly personal way.

Soon enough I am comfortably seated opposite Bode -- intent on discussing both the function and wider implications of importing a German university model into Egypt. Bode is optimistic and dynamic right from the get-go, however cautiously he describes the GUC experiment -- "an open heart surgery", as risky as it is bold. As more and more young Arabs seek their fortunes in the West, especially in these times of global strife, he says, universities are impacted too, bearing the brunt of cultural and social, not to mention political transformations in the region. It is partly through GUC, he believes, that a high standard of education could be established and maintained in Egypt, hopefully in the Humboldtian tripartite sense (the main goal of education remains the individual student and his/her personal development in theory and practice alike). He stresses the need for freedom and independence in academia, something he feels is available in German universities; at the same time he fears that the Bachelor and Master study programmes to be undertaken in Egypt might undermine Germany's reputation in the arts, introducing a system that relies solely on grades and attendance, like school. Still, a German university will provide a stimulating and affordable study environment with much freedom. But the decision that students must pay for their education has already been made. Germany is one of Europe's leading countries in the field, Bode goes on to say, with a high some 240,000 international students -- a number that has doubled in the last six years. Yet the Arab World remains underrepresented, a situation exacerbated even further by 9/11, after which the (admittedly still large) number of Arab students applying for scholarships suddenly declining.

The majority of international students come from Asia and Eastern Europe, however: it should hardly come as a surprise that Germany's industrial sector has supported 26 professorships in the Shanghai German University -- where, unlike the GUC, teaching is undertaken in German; Shanghai represents a future labour market, Bode elaborates, for education, he insists, is no longer an intellectual pursuit. It is above all business. And his own ambition is to integrate financial support for international students into the wider, more secure economic framework of Germany's foreign economy (but to do so without tightening DAAD's fist). And it is all conceived of with a beady eye on the future: "We should not wait for industry to support us financially, we must take things into our own hands." Which industry, he goes on, "relies rather too heavily on short-term investment interests and prompt exploitation". Now, he says with a mixture of pride and anticipation, it is the GUC that might lead the way for other German universities abroad, "an Egyptian private university with German know-how -- an Egyptianised curriculum and German initiative".

Education is increasingly globalised and this requires both structure and creative space, Bode says. The Bachelor and Masters programmes are intended primarily to provide for those students who choose not to stay in academia. Studying in Germany has long been regarded as a bohemian adventure for students of the humanities although Bode is all too aware of problems in Germany's current postgraduate system. Within the last few years international postgraduate study programmes have helped doctoral candidates to structure their curriculum and finish their studies within three years. Now study programmes at universities in Germany are adapting to the Anglo- American system: "Structuring the system is like paving the way for those who are part of it and seeking to stay on track; but it also means that there is less space for those who want to step out of line, swinging right or left. We have to maintain a creative niche in which a small core of creative intellectuals can devote themselves to the pursuit of science. And scientists need to decide for themselves how they want to undertake research, they must not be made to bow to the ideas of bureaucrats." Yet the postgraduate situation remains uncertain: "We have for too long cultivated a kind of academic serfdom, which doctorate candidates suffered from in variety of ways, both personal and professional. In former times professors served as patrons, exploiting their students but looking after them at the same time. But the kind of dependency we have now is problematic because it is biased -- when students pay for their education they become 'clients' -- I really dislike this term -- and so in a position to be more critical of the 'service' they receive."

GUC is even further complicated, however: with study programmes unlike those of its partner universities in Ulm and Stuttgart, GUC is a doubly experimental venture -- posing challenges for Egyptians and Germans alike. "We don't have anything comparable to the GUC's BA programme for 17-year- old students in Germany," Bode says. "The success of GUC or of any high-standard university -- consider Harvard, for example -- depends in the end on its ability to draw in the very best students. I think this remains the secret of the success of any institution. It's half the battle: put very good students in a class with good lectures, and success is almost guaranteed." Yet the German academic ideal of students developing a capacity for personal and collective responsibility -- what Bode calls "the well brought up student" -- may be at odds with the new system. It is in this sense, Bode mentions, that "commercialism of any kind has always been regarded by German academia as a potentially evil force. Sometimes German academics feel they need to be in debt in order to have financial integrity. I just do not think this is necessary, or justified..."

Tests, interviews and online questionnaires are in the process of being developed to select future international students in an attempt to control numbers. And Bode recognises that difficulties peculiar to Arabs must be taken into account. "Dialectics" being a key word, it seems right to prod Bode's deepest concerns: will students accustomed to the Anglo-American system, in Egypt for example, find the do-it-yourself framework of German higher education a problem? They will not receive guidance from supervisors, for example; to some extent they will be forced to alter their methodology -- setting their own deadlines, for example. Bode nods, hinting at the changes that await the German system itself, following the Bologna Declaration, the event at which Germany agreed to reform the German university system in the framework of European universities adjusting to one another -- to make up a common European University System with more transparency and mobility in the nature of research and qualifications to reckon with global competition. Quality remains the driving force behind GUC too, but Bode insists that a curriculum comprising 38 hours a week leaves little room for personal development. "I had to earn my living while studying, so I remember spending 15 hours per week working and the other 15 taking classes, and I really think that it is important for reasons of personal maturity to become financially independent," he supplies.

With federalism and cultural decentralisation at the core of German cultural as well as academic life, Germany, Bode believes, is a more attractive destination for international students than England or the United States. "Since the 19th century, Germany has committed itself to philology as well as cultural and philosophical studies. We have an outstanding reputation in the humanities, and in the field of engineering Germany is the best place to study worldwide." Studying at the heart of Europe, moreover, students are within easy reach of six to seven European countries. Studying at GUC does not hold the same attractions as studying in Germany, however; and differences in the social and cultural environment are obvious enough for Bode to concede that the Egyptian curriculum should indeed be different. He agrees that limitations in available disciplines -- no arts programmes are available as yet -- constitute a problem in themselves but feels that existing subjects could be absorbed into the system first. "A real university definitely must include humanities, but GUC was built at breakneck speed. Only Shanghai can be compared to it. GUC resembles a workshop where plans and ideas are continuously in motion... So I wouldn't recommend the introduction of humanities at present, because the intercultural problems arising from subjects such as history, philosophy and law are still too precarious to be dealt with at present in Egypt." All in all, he concludes, considering the time constraints, what GUC has achieved is remarkable.