Jordan Times
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Kingdom Jordan leads MENA in education reform - report
By Linda Hindi
AMMAN - Jordan is poised to lead the Middle East and North Africa in education
reforms, according to a World Bank development report that was released
yesterday in Amman that ranked the Kingdom as the top performer among 14 MENA
countries.
But the report also cautioned that MENA schools are likely producing the wrong
mix of competencies since the region’s increased rates of education are not
translating to lower unemployment rates.
The study assessed past regional investments in education while reviewing its
impact on development. It found that the region, with Jordan at the forefront,
achieved impressive results considering that MENA only started investing in
human capital in the 1960s, with some of the lowest educational indicators in
the world.
However, the report said, the basic methods that were established to improve
education levels and decrease illiteracy rates must now be changed in order for
the human capital to be able to compete in the international labour market.
In a keynote address, World Bank senior vice president for external affairs,
Marwan Muasher, said: “The quality of education in the region has not kept up
with the needs of the economy; education systems do not support adequately the
development by girls and boys of analytical skills, problem solving skills,
critical thinking and innovation. It is time to pay greater attention to these
skills to reach, if not exceed, the level of attention given to illiteracy and
school enrolment.”
The in-depth study summarises that MENA education systems will subsequently need
different types of engineering measures, incentive structures and public
accountability mechanisms, as well as changes to the relationship between labour
markets and education.
The sixth regional development report was launched under the patronage of Her
Majesty Queen Rania and co-sponsored by the government and the World Bank.
On the Queen’s behalf, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair
Al-Ali stressed the importance of reforming education within the region as a
means to achieve sustainable development.
During her opening remarks Al-Ali outlined Jordan’s experience in reforming the
educational system through expanding student capabilities with focus on
analytical skills, team-based activity and computer literacy at every stage of
learning.
Included in the report was a composite index of education measures that tracked
achievements made in access, equity, quality and efficiency. Combining the four
indicators revealed that Jordan and Kuwait, which ranked second, were the “top
performers” while Djibouti, Yemen and Iraq were the lowest performers.
At the regional level, the report suggested that a “crowning achievement” has
been almost completely closing the gender gap. Also, illiteracy rates have been
halved in the past 20 years. But comparing with other regions, illiteracy
remains twice as high as in East Asia and Latin America.
Also, in more than half of the 14 countries assessed, approximately two-thirds
of students majored in the fields of social science and humanities rather than
in science and mathematics. This enrolment pattern is the opposite of that
observed in East Asia.
The report summary explains that current efforts for improvement are currently
focused on determining the right mix of “input” to reach a certain level of
enrolment and do not adequately address the behaviour of educators and students.
Incentive reforms are intended to address behaviour problems and deal with the
motivation of those involved in the education process. For example, public
financing could be tied to higher student examination scores and innovation,
thus ensuring accountability for performance.
Ensuring better accountability to the public can be approached by promoting a
more level playing field for all stakeholders to influence educational policy.
Meanwhile, World Bank officials stressed that per capita economic growth in the
region over the past 20 years has been relatively low despite improvements in
education. Research in the region supports that education is necessary but not
sufficient for economic growth, paradoxically higher economic growth
corresponded to low levels of education in the 1960s to 1970s.
A World Bank communications adviser to MENA, Karem Elsharkawy, told The Jordan
Times that, generally, the countries that have globalised the most are the
countries that have developed the fastest.
“Besides oil trade, the region’s share of global trade has steadily dropped over
30 years… thus an increase in global trade is essential for the region to handle
the large influx of youth and labour demand,” Elsharkawy said.
The region is characterised by its overwhelming youth majority, with around 60
per cent of populations under the age of 25.
As for reform, World Bank officials stressed during yesterday’s launch ceremony
that each country in the region would need to chart its own path for the new
reforms and, as a lender, the bank is in a transitional stage and is taking a
stronger role in recommendations for reform and technical support.
WB tailoring initiative to address 3 key sectors in region
By Linda Hindi
AMMAN - The World Bank is working on an “Arab Initiative” that will focus on
sustainable globalisation, women empowerment and opportunities for youth in the
region, according to a senior WB official.
Following yesterday’s launch of WB’s MENA Education Flagship Report, World Bank
Group’s Senior Vice President for External Affairs Marwan Muasher told The
Jordan Times that the development plan, which is still in the consultation
phase, will address challenges the Arab world is facing in relation to these
three sectors.
Muasher said the bank “is not reinventing the wheel”, but rather intensifying
efforts to tackle outstanding issues that are hindering economic progress.
In October last year, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said that Arab
countries have been “underserved” by his institution and that he wanted to
develop an initiative to get more involved in this part of the world.
In his speech to mark 100 days in the post, Zoellick said the bank would focus
on six goals including help for post-conflict states.
“Globalisation must be inclusive and sustainable if it is to help combat
grinding poverty around the world,” Zoellick said.
A clear outline has yet to be developed, according to Muasher, within a few
months. The WB would be “more comfortable to discuss the plan with a wider
audience”, he said.
The WB official, who has held senior positions in Jordan, added that the plan is
being developed in coordination with governments as well as nongovernmental and
civil society organisations serving in the region.
In addition, the WB is in talks with the Arab League to form a committee that
will focus on the project.
In the past, the WB used to make economic plans for the countries that receive
loans, but recently “our emphasis has been to offer technical support and advice
while plans will be developed by the countries involved”, Muasher noted.
During a keynote address at the yesterday’s launch ceremony, Muasher said the
reinvigorated engagement of the WB with the Arab world stems from “our
recognition of the critical role the Arab world plays in the international
development scene, and at the same time from our recognition that the Arab world
needs to close important remaining gaps with the rest of the world to fully
realise this role”.