The crisis of Arab education

ever- present. Education cannot improve in the context of instability without focused spending on improvement.

Interestingly, Israel ranks fifth among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries for total expenditure on educational institutions as a percentage of GDP, and is home to the region’s top academic intuitions despite geopolitical circumstances.

In 2006, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement assessed the reading skills of students ages 9 and 10. It ranked the children of wealthy and middle- income Arabs among the worst performers worldwide. This reflected a serious regional issue with low reading levels, which has been exacerbated by language and digitization.

In an effort to educate students bilingually, cohort upon cohort leave school having failed to master English or Arabic. Efforts to master English alongside a reliance on Arabic dialects in school prohibit students from reaching a level of fluency in either subject. This has had particularly dire consequences for fluency in classical Arabic, taught as modern standard Arabic, which is often beyond reach of students.

In North Africa, this problem is compounded by a dogged attachment to the French language, which remains the principal mode of communication in the classroom. Despite the rise of English as an increasingly dominant language spoken by 2 billion people worldwide, governments insist on French ( speakers of which number 130 million) as the principal language of education.

This dedication to a language in decline is especially damaging given the advent of online education and communication. English accounts for 53 percent of online content, so schooling students in French not only restricts them from accessing online information, but limits their academic choices and vocational opportunities.

A solution often put forward to the education crisis in the Arab world is digital learning. Though helpful in increasing connectivity, access to information and preparing students for work in modern economies, Arab education requires a more holistic overhaul. In an era where the smartphone has led to an exponential decline in reading, digital tools must be harnessed to encourage learning, not distract from it.

There is no silver-bullet solution to education in the Arab world. Policymakers and education systems need to design and execute curricula that encourage critical thinking and knowledge creation. An old Arabic proverb warns that “lack of intelligence is the greatest poverty.” The region would do well to heed the wisdom of its forbears. Zaid M. Belbagi is a political commentator. He also acts as an adviser to private clients between London and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).