Education in Mena does not meet workplace requirements

Education imparted in the Mena region often does not meet the workplace requirements, according to a Mena education report released by Al Masah Capital.

The findings suggest that education education system in the region, to a large extent, fails to impart the right skills required for a modern workplace. As a result, employers (particularly in GCC) prefer to hire foreigner’s vis-à-vis nationals. Foreign employees are considered to be proficient in terms of productivity as well as accept lower salaries.

Quoting a World Bank report, Education for Employment: Realizing Arab Youth Potential, researchers at Markaz highlight the disconnect between education and workplace requirements. This is largely because factors such as ill-equipped classrooms, untrained teachers and outdated curriculums. Furthermore, the report highlights three main areas for private sector participation – vocational education and training, university education and work readiness programmes that can help improve the system.

The report points out that the region has over 100,000 K-12 schools of which the maximum number are located in Egypt (37%), Saudi Arabia (22%), Algeria (19%), Morocco (8%), and Jordan (5%).

“However, despite having a number of schools, the lack of availability of good schooling ails the education system in the region. PISA results from the OECD (which surveys 15-year-olds on knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society) ranked the UAE at 42nd position, followed by Jordan (55), Tunisia (56) and Qatar (61). Establishment of new world-class schools and/or renovation of existing ones with the help of private equity could be pursued to improve the infrastructure and curriculum,” says the report.

Availability of quality teachers is another key concern. The figure in the report show that the region has 17 students for every one teacher (a pupil-teacher ratio of 17:1) compared to the world average of 24:1. Yet, the knowledge level and skill set among students in the region is far lower compared to the counterparts in the developed countries. One key reason for this is the poor quality of teachers in the region. Moreover, the demand for teachers is expected to go up. A UNESCO report titled Teachers and Educational Quality: Monitoring Global Needs estimates that the Arab world, mainly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and the UAE, would need an additional 450,000 teachers by 2015.

“Good teachers are essential in an education system as they are the ones who impart knowledge and values to the future generation. However, countries in the MENA face an acute shortage of teachers. Therefore, those hired to serve as teachers are often not adequately qualified for the position. The result is lower knowledge level and skill sets among students in the MENA region,” the report points out.

“Mena students score lower on Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS4) compared to the average score in developing/developed regions,” it adds further.

The report also focuses on poor quality course curriculum. “The quality of primary education in the MENA region is still below the standards in developed nations such as the UK. A consultancy firm McKinsey and Co recently reported that the majority of schools in the UAE rank between ‘poor’ to ‘fair’ by international standards. Data from World Economic Forum (WEF) suggests that countries like Libya, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria particularly need to improve their quality of education at the primary level. These countries could learn from Qatar, which now ranks among the top five nations globally in terms of quality of primary education.”

Despite the pitfalls, education is high on growth agenda of governments in the region. “Providing access and imparting quality education is among the top priorities of governments in the region. Significant budgetary allocations for education and related activities undertaken by various governments for several years emphasize the importance given to the sector. Data from the World Bank indicates that public spending on education (as a % of government expenditure) in the MENA stands at 18.6% compared to the world’s average of 14.2%.

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