The road not traveled : education reform in the Middle East and North Africa - executive summary
Amos, Paul
The modern history of education reform in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a tale of ambition, accomplishment, falling short, and unfinished business. Along this path, the region has accomplished much: most children benefit from compulsory schooling, quite a few have opportunities to continue their formal education, and learning outcomes have improved. These achievements are impressive, particularly if one considers the starting point during the 1960s. Part one makes the case for education reform by tracing past investments in education, assessing their impact on development, and reviewing the state of readiness of the education systems to meet new challenges. Part two examines attempts to improve education systems in 14 MENA countries, using an analytical framework developed for this report. Part three focuses on the demand for labor (both domestic and external), and how regional labor market characteristics may be changed to maximize the rewards to investment in education to individuals and society. This report covers all levels of instruction, both formal and nonformal. The broad focus is justified on the grounds that the link between human capital and economic development depends on progress made by countries at all levels of education. The main conclusion of this report is that the education systems in the region need to follow a new path of reform. This new path has two features: the first is a new approach to education reform in which the focus is placed on incentives and public accountability, along with inputs to education systems; the other emphasizes closing the gap between the supply of educated individuals and both internal and external labor demand.
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