Digital Yemen
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by Riam Dalati
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Sana’a University is home to Yemen’s largest communication program, boasting up to 150 students with majors in broadcasting, journalism and public relations. But despite its newly revamped TV and radio studios funded by the United Nations, many graduates will have trouble finding work in Yemen’s state dominated broadcasting industry.
“Half of my TV and radio students won’t be able to find a job,” says the dean of the university’s communications faculty, Ahmad Akabat.
Rather than offering opportunities for young minds, he says Yemen’s only two government-owned TV stations are swimming in red tape and bureaucratic incompetence.
“Employees are stacked over each other,” says Akabat, himself a former producer, director and training manager at Sana’a TV.
Former student Raed Abed, now with Al Jazeera, agrees with the sentiment, adding that cronyism plays a major role at the channels. “Some staff have been there since 1963,” he laments. “TV stations in Yemen have been left outside the 21st century.”
But Raed, who now heads the reporters’ bureau for Al Jazeera Sport, admits that his education at Sana’a was an important factor in his move to the Qatari pan-Arab broadcaster.
In Yemen, communication programs are also available at Aden University to the south and Al Hudaydah’s Fine Arts University on the Red Sea, but Sana’a University remains the largest and most advanced in the country. Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), students now have access to a completely refurbished radio and television studio.
The new radio facilities are outfitted with digital equipment and include a control room, recording booth and adjunct conference room for seminars. The TV studio, on the other hand, is fitted with two older Sony analogue cameras as well as two new digital handheld models that were provided by UNESCO. A digital TV mixer is on Akabat’s wish list. “Unfortunately our TV facilities are still lagging a bit behind, but we’re taking it step by step.”
Also on the horizon is a new curriculum—the third over the last three decades—being developed jointly with a non-governmental group from Denmark. The aim, according to dean Akabat, is to place new emphasis on hands-on training. However, due to a lack of experience among professors themselves, the communication program must employ technicians from Sana’a satellite television to operate its broadcast studios on a part-time basis. Akabat blames antiquated university policies for perpetuating a system where professors are often hired purely based on academic credentials.
“How can one teach production if he never produced a show?” he asks. “Field work is essential for any media teacher.”
Al Jazeera’s Abed, who interned at Aden TV during his studies, goes further: “Some professors stopped learning 10 years ago, the moment they got their degree.”
Akabat admits that his program has been slow to react to the changes in the industry, but he is optimistic about the new curriculum and fresh assistance from abroad. He is also calling for more professors to improve the student-teacher ratio
“Arab universities favor the theoretical side while European schools are more into the technical aspect of broadcasting,” he says.
All major courses in Sana’a University are molded after the University of Cairo and taught in Arabic. Yet students are required to enroll in advanced English courses during their four-year studies with a focus on media related material. Radio/TV courses include show production, TV technology, performance for TV, news editing and reporting.
Yemeni High school graduates are admitted to the program for a nominal fee if they score an 80 percent average or higher. Students that score a minimum of 75 percent can enroll for a yearly fee of 42,000 Yemeni Riyals ($230). Tuition for all other Arab nationals is priced at $900 per year.
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