15-02-2025
Iraq to amend rules for foreign university degrees recognition
Shafaq News/ Iraq's Parliament is scheduled to vote on Sunday on amendments to Law No. 20 of 2020 on the equivalency of Arab and foreign academic degrees.
The original law marked a significant shift in Iraq's higher education landscape, enabling thousands of Iraqi students to obtain bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees with streamlined certification procedures.
The revised law mandates that government institutions recognize an employee's foreign degree only if they obtained prior approval from their respective workplace before pursuing studies.
Additionally, the amendments propose reducing the residency requirement for a master's and PhD to one academic year, except for research-based programs, which will require six months of continuous or intermittent residency.
The member of the parliamentary education committee, MP Atheer Yassin, told Shafaq News that the previous law was passed under difficult global circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding, "We are now reviewing and amending key higher education laws to align with the country's current needs.'
The new amendments aim to uphold the credibility of higher degrees issued by foreign universities, Yassin said, explaininf, 'Some universities have turned into mere diploma mills, granting degrees without requiring student attendance in exchange for substantial fees.'
However, some Iraqi students and employees have voiced to Shafaq News that frustration over the new amendments, arguing that 'the government is imposing excessive restrictions on foreign degree recognition.' They added that 'the new amendment to the law imposes a lengthy residency period for students wishing to study abroad, which will consequently increase financial costs and expenses for students in their host countries.'
Earlier this year, Iraq's cultural attaché in Iran, Yasser Abdul-Zahra, reported that more than 80,000 Iraqi students are currently enrolled in Iranian universities, with 95% funding their education privately.
