July/August 1999 Volume 12, Issue 4 CONTENTS REGIONAL NEWS Africa (cover page) The Americas Asia-Pacific Caribbean E. Europe & NIS Middle East W. Europe PRACTICAL INFORMATION Education in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia RESEARCH Rebuilding the University of Pristina eWENR & WES INFO eWENR Index: Contains links to all eWENR issues that are currently available for viewing. Masthead: Learn more about eWENR and its editorial staff. Subscriptions: Don't miss future issues of eWENR. World Education Services: Learn more about the organization that brings you eWENR. Comments: eWENR's editor welcomes your comments. If you have story ideas, suggestions or feedback regarding eWENR, e-mail us with the details. WENR Archives: You can read WENR back issues from Summer 1995 through Fall 1996. WENR Article Index Through 1996: Features an index of all WENR articles through Fall 1996.

Regional News  Middle East  EGYPT The Fulbright Commission plans to launch its Pilot Pre-Doctoral Program this year in Egypt. For the first time in more than 30 years, the commission will award research grants to Egyptian students doing graduate work in the field of American studies. Recipients will be able to undertake course work related to their thesis topics for one or two semesters at an American university of their choice. They will also be expected to participate in workshops, clubs and lectures while studying in the United States. The following fields of specialization were emphasized in particular: anthropology, economics, environmental management, history, law, political science, public administration and sociology. Although competition for the grants was formidable, the commission selected only two applicants for this year’s program. — Fulbright Chronicle Spring 1999 ISRAEL Tel Aviv University is introducing a new track starting this fall that will allow some students to gain admission to the school’s humanities faculty without having to take the psychometric examination. This is the first institution to undertake such a radical decision in Israel. Two kinds of applicants will be eligible for the track: students who have a high matriculation exam average in the humanities, and people over 40 whose life experiences are considered valuable for humanities studies. According to Professor Marcelo Dascal, dean of the Lester and Sally Antin Faculty of Humanities, “The psychometric test, just like the Scholastic Aptitude Test in the U.S., doesn’t sufficiently stress the expertise and knowledge relevant to the faculty, such as expressive ability, logical understanding and a wider humanistic background. “The other point is that, because it is a barrier and requires money to prepare for, it bars certain people from being admitted,” he said. “It thereby impoverishes the human composition of the student body.” However, others suggest that diminishing numbers of applicants at the university is the real reason behind the proposal. “Once there were only universities,” explained Shem Levy, general manager of High Q, a company that prepares students for the psychometric exams. “Now there’s a much wider offering of opportunities for higher education. “The universities thought that the only people who would go to these other institutions were those they had rejected, but they were wrong. There are people who choose to do so.” Professor Dascal countered this by saying there has only been about a 10 percent drop in university applicants in recent years. — The Jerusalem Post online Jan. 28, 1999  RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS