New Challenges Facing the Education Sector in MENA

So far, we have argued that the impact on development of the considerable education progress recorded in the region has been less than expected in terms of economic growth, the promotion of equality, and reduction of poverty. How much of this outcome is the consequence of particular characteristics of the region’s education systems and how much is due to weak linkages between education and labor markets is difficult to discern. We nevertheless conclude that the continuing gap between education and development outcomes may lead policy makers to consider alternative paths of educational development in the future. Furthermore, the conditions under which education systems contribute to economic and social development have changed and this also argues for considering alternative paths of education development. The “road not traveled for education reform” in the MENA region also refers to the fact that education systems must now travel over new and relatively unexplored terrain. Education systems have a tendency to spawn a new set of challenges for every problem resolved. Once everyone is in school, we must ensure that they do not drop out. Once they remain seated, we must make sure that they learn something. Once they appear to be ready to learn, we must make sure that the material is useful for their future and ours. Thus, some aspects of the new terrain that education systems must cross have been shaped by the education system itself. In this context, MENA countries have succeeded in providing most eligible children with educational opportunities, thus narrowing gender, rural, and socioeconomic gaps in access to schooling. This has led to strains resulting from the maintenance costs of the established education apparatus; new demands for instruction at post-compulsory levels of education; and the consequent costs of ongoing inefficiencies: dropouts, low graduate employment, and ambivalent learning outcomes. Essentially, the question facing education authorities in many MENA countries is: What do we do now that we have almost reached education for all?