CoI Office of Prevention’s work team recommended that the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research establish a strict and unified mechanism to ensure that private universities and colleges pay 3% of their total annual revenues and hold those who default accountable because any institutions have not paid for several years or paid 50% of the amounts they owe; and to coordinate with the General Tax Authority to find a mechanism for conducting tax accounting, this should not only be limited to collecting the taxes on the income of its employees, but also to include its revenues from its activities.
In its report sent to the Office of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the team – after several visits to the Ministry/ Office of Private Higher Education - stressed the importance of forming a committee of the Ministry to study the law of higher education no.25 for the year 2016 and identify the weaknesses and imbalances that lead to the opening of outlets for administrative corruption, develop standards to upgrade the level of universities and private colleges and work to classify them according to international standards so as to reach an optimal environment with solid outputs.
The report called to activate the oversight and supervision of the ministry and to form a committee of the Office of Private Higher Education to conduct field visits to universities and private colleges to limit the irregularities related to their institution, to set a time limit to adapt their situations, and to take legal action against institutions that accepted students or opened departments before their recognition which caused many students to be harmed, and suffered financial and moral losses, criminal complaints were filed against the those who made such violations and abuses.
It pointed out that there are legal gaps in the Law of Higher National Education No. (25) for the year 2016, which may lead to opening the doors for administrative corruption or lack of supervision or follow-up of these institutions in an optimal manner, which requires reconsideration and better treatment. It also highlighted the lack of paying attention to the population distribution when those colleges were established as there are (60) scientific institutions in Baghdad and the provinces, calling for determining the actual need for them according to feasibility studies; to contribute to the effect of quantitative and qualitative changes in the scientific, cultural and educational movement in society, and taking into account the capacity to pay students to admission to technical institutes; to prevent the disappearance of the central cadre, which is an important segment in the formation of institutions.
The report pointed out that some universities, colleges and institutes of higher studies have concluded agreements with Arab and foreign universities to open branches in Iraq, although the ministry does not recognize them, but they accept students and send them to complete their studies in their universities in those countries.
