Palestine: College of Technology at Al-Najah University nearing completion

The main academic building of the new College of Technology at Al-Najah University is nearing completion on a pleasant, wooded site on the outskirts of Nablus (West Bank). Phase I of the project, which included the planning, site preparation and construction of the three-story building, was concluded in March, 1998 with grants and donations from the Saudi Fund, the Arab Fund, the OPEC Fund, the Welfare Association, PECDAR (the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction), the Sheikh Zayed Al-Nahyan Foundation, private donors and the Scientific Foundation of Hisham Adeeb Hijjawi (SFOHAH), the initiator of the project.

The second phase of the project, consisting of interior finishing, electrical wiring, mechanical works, furnishing and equipping, is slated for completion in early fall of 1999. University officials plan to open the doors to the first students in October. The new College of Technology will become the ninth faculty at Al-Najah University, Palestine's largest institution of higher learning.

As the first post-secondary technical school in Northern Palestine, the new College will provide young people from that area with the opportunity to acquire the skills they need to secure steady employment in technical and engineering fields. It will also help Palestine meet its rapidly increasing demand for technical manpower, a phenomenon associated in part with the peace process and growing self-reliance.

The College plans to offer two and three-year academic and vocational training programs, plus state-of-the-art programs in various fields of modern engineering. Specifically, the mechanical and industrial technology programs will furnish training in automotive technology, manufacturing and welding as well as agricultural and industrial equipment technology. The College will also provide courses in electronics and electrical engineering, computer technology, industrial arts and drafting.

The curricula are designed to bridge the gap between professional and semi-professional training in order to increase the ranks of skilled technicians as rapidly as possible. The value of practical experience and experimentation will be strongly emphasized in all the programs, and a period of factory training is a graduation requirement. To ensure enough places for the necessary practical experience, a fully-equipped production line for consumer electronics will be established at the College. In addition to providing ample opportunities for hands-on training, it will serve as an income generating facility for the College.

Construction of the first post-secondary technical college in Northern Palestine was preceded by two decades of patient waiting and planning.

Eventually, the student body is expected to reach a total of 600 regular and 400 short-term students. Short programs are planned as a means of rehabilitating and retraining the existing work force, including former political prisoners and semi-handicapped persons.

With a total area of nearly 11,000 m2, the main building has space for classrooms, teachers' and administrators' offices, workshops, science laboratories, a library and recreational rooms. The site provided by Al-Najah University covers some 18,220 m² and offers ample space for the main building and the production line facility, which will occupy about 3,260 m². The remaining land will be landscaped for sports and recreation.

The construction of the College of Technology began in May 1996 and has progressed smoothly and rapidly. The ground-breaking ceremony, however, was preceded by nearly two decades of planning and waiting. The establishment of a technical college in Nablus was first proposed by SFOHAH in 1981, but realization of the idea was thwarted by the Israeli authorities until 1992.

SFOHAH is an independent, non-profit organization, endowed in 1981 by the late Hisham Adeeb Hijjawi, a Palestinian national, to promote science and technology throughout the Arab world. The Hijjawi Foundation's first major achievement was the establishment in 1984 of the Technical College at Yarmouk University in Jordan. In addition to extending grants in support of technology programs at Arab colleges and universities, SFOHAH awards annual prizes for projects in applied science, helps establish computer labs at universities in Palestine and Jordan, and supports scientific workshops and conferences. SFOHAH's top priority, however, has always been the founding of a technical college in Nablus. Now, that dream, pursued so untiringly, is becoming a reality.


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