Op-Ed by Maria Wehbe, Staff Writer

March 3rd, 2021

Educational development revolves around the enhancement of teaching and learning practices, supporting the improvement of high-quality student learning experiences, and helping institutions function as student-centered communities. Basically, it’s about the continuous professional and academic growth within the education sector. Indeed, it is a sub-discipline of higher education research and practice, yet what it stands for applies to the entire educational system as a whole. Every country should strive to achieve educational development, yet the task is not as easy as it sounds and so many sub-factors that hinder the process come into play. While some countries maintain a good reputation in rendering educational development effective, other countries haven’t been quite as lucky – and this is where the MENA region comes to mind. 

 The extent to which primary school age children are excluded from education in the MENA region has reached a breaking point. In 2012, approximately 4.3 million children within this age group did not have access to education. This represents 9% of that age group’s population that year. Surprisingly, this number is mainly due to the high number of out-of-school children in one country, Sudan: “Of all children of primary school age who are not in school in the 20 countries in the MENA region, nearly two in three live in Sudan”.

These numbers are still significant today as the situation hasn’t really improved, rendering proper education out of reach for so many students. 

According to UNICEF, one in every five children in the MENA region are out of school. This is prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that further strained the reputation of the educational system of the area, leaving almost 100 million studentsout-of-school. This comes as a result of the inability to transfer online due to a lack of infrastructure in many of the countries: the lack of access to internet connection, hardware, online platforms, especially not knowing how to properly use them. 

The MENA region is putting students’ future at risk, as the rising prevalence of chaos and crises is very evident. In fact, more than 8850 education facilities have been attacked and demolished in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya, which left them incapable of hosting the students within these premises. To give a more specific example, the 4th of August Beirut Port Explosion shook the entire country, affecting approximately 163 public and private schools, impacting over 70 000 students and 7600 teachers. As well, around 20 Technical and Vocational Education and Training Schools were damaged, affecting around 7300 students, according to UNICEF. 

 However, the problem goes beyond the school grounds: it is also embedded in the quality of education. According to the Arab Youth Survey in 2017, “Two-thirds of youth in the Levant feel that the education system is not preparing them for their future.” Now, this problem is not solely based in the MENA region, however is a bigger cause for concern there for one simple reason: due to the conflicts, wars and crises, these students need to secure their future, as a lot of them end up fleeing their country, fearing for their lives. 

In fact, over 5.6 million Syrians have fled their country since 2011 because of the ongoing Syrian Civil War. For the children that aren’t able to leave the country for various reasons, it is important to look at the number of registered students and the damage done to the school buildings as a result of the war. In 2019, two in five schools in Syria had been impaired or destroyed, which is one of the reasons why over two million children, over a third of the country’s child population, were out of school and 1.3 million children were at risk of dropping out. Youth employment is very common in this area as well, since students have no choice but to partake in the work field while pursuing their education. However, there is a mismatch between the skills being taught within these institutions and the labor market requirements. Where does this leave the students? They need to work to continue pursuing their studies, yet the educational system is not preparing them for work; ironic, isn’t it? 

Not only is the quality of education a cause for concern, but also the question of who has the right to receive the education to begin with. In fact, gender inequalities are very common in this region when it comes to access to education, mainly due to the rising conflicts and crises. Adolescent girls are 1.5 times more likely to be out of school in lower secondary education. This can be immediately related to gender-based violence and the high rates of child marriage in the region. As a fact, there are about 650 million child brides worldwide and the MENA region is home to nearly 40 million of them. Thus, high unemployment rates for female youth were persistent, whereby two out of five women in North Africa and more than one third in the Arab region are left unemployed. 

To date, the education sector in this region still suffers and falls greatly behind those of the more developed countries. In fact, according to the Arab Sustainable Development Report done in 2020 by the UNESCWA, under the SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) 4, around 16 million children in the Arab region still do not attend school. In addition, less than 40% of students finish upper secondary school. These numbers are quite significant, whereby the different conflicts and mayhems that surface in the region take a drastic toll on the attainability of high-quality education and being able to receive education to begin with. Not only do they play a role, but also it goes back to the way the education sector is designed in that area in the first place. It is hard to implement high-quality education, yet the state of the sector in itself also requires foundational improvement and renovations to begin with. The main challenges that the sector faces are, but not limited to: outdated teaching and learning methods, lack of infrastructure, inequitable access to resources and materials, etc. 

With the education sector being highly affected in the MENA region, there still is a glimpse of hope left. Solutions can be implemented in order to properly attain educational development. A very big contributor in enhancing the sector is the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which is a multi-stakeholder partnership with UNICEF and funding platform that aims to reinforce education systems in developing countries, so that more children have access to education. Its principles clearly state what it stands and vouches for, some of the main ones being: viewing education as a public good, a human right and an enabler of other rights, achieving gender equality, improving development effectiveness, securing learning, equity and inclusion, etc. 

As well, the GPE works with several Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that play a big role in shaping education policies and monitoring programs, and some examples are the Global Campaign for Education and Education International. This collaboration strengthens national and global linkages, leading to higher-quality and effective education worldwide, and not only in a couple of countries. Donors are also a major part of this initiative’s success, as they provide financial assistance to help these struggling countries design and implement their education strategies, some of which are Australia, Belgium, Canada, the United States of America, Germany and so on. 

As well, the SDG 4 is to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Now, it is true that it is easier said than done, yet there are many ways to reinforce this goal and make it progress even further: it is important to rethink the role and value of education in order to reach a change. In other words, education is a very important factor that contributes to social change, so it is important to go further than simply building individual capabilities. Also, it is extremely imperative to invest and continuously reform the educational systems all across the region. This can be done by updating the curricula, using teaching and learning methods that encourage critical thinking and problem-solving, reforming the assessment methods and so on. Yet, one of the most important factors that are not merely talked about enough is the importance of data collection. Indeed, we should aim to improve our data collection methods to facilitate the process of retrieving previous records. Improving the data collection methods would “enhance the capacity to measure the quality of education”. Data is evident and should therefore be upheld in order to keep track of either the progress or regression of the education sector, especially in the MENA region. 

The educational sector in the MENA region is suffering and is in immense need of reforms and amendments. Yet, this does not mean that educational development is unattainable. Many initiatives are already breaking through and doing right by these children and young adolescents that are not asking for much: they’re asking for their basic human right to learn. Education should be a right, not a privilege, and this must become the new standard in the MENA region.