The quality of education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

The quality of education is an issue in every region undergoing economic change, hence it is a universal issue. Where the quality of education is already low, the need to raise it is more urgent. In the Middle East and North Africa, data on educational quality are scarce. Nevertheless, available data would suggest that the quality of education is low. The cause of the problem, however, is not a scarcity of monetary resources but the inefficiency of managing the resources already allocated.Many of the regulations and traditions for managing educational systems in the Middle East and North Africa have their origin in the era of central economic planning. Changes are suggested in six areas. These include: an end to early vocational tracking; coherence in content between curriculum, examinations, textbooks and classroom teaching; a shift in textbook production away from state monopolies; a professionalized teaching force with higher salaries differentiated by mandatory re-licensing; creative financing and provision of higher education; and a significant improvement in education statistics and indicators of progress.