Recent trends and developments in primary and secondary education in the Arab world

Abstract

j. Background The Arab world encompasses the states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, UAR, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Hadramouth, South Arabia, and the Trucial States. Varying widely in size of population and area as well as in numer? ous economic, political, social, and psychological aspects, the Arab states nevertheless exhibit a regional unity and cultural homogeneity, due mainly to a common language, religion, and a sense of partnership. The present population is between 105 and 110 million; 75% of it live in only six states (UAR, Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia); 20% inhabit urban areas while the rest, 80%, lives in rural and nomadic conditions. The total population in 1955 was 80 million, in 1960, 92 million, and in 1965, 105 million. The rate of increase lies between 2 and 3%, and is the highest in the UAR, with the exception of Kuwait and Qatar which due to immigration register growth rates of up to 10%. By 1980 the total population is expected to reach 160 million. Most of the Arab countries have obtained their political independence only recently: UARin 1922 (with reservations finally terminatedin 1954), Lebanon in 1943, Tunisia 1956, Algeria 1962. All have made tremendous progress in education subsequent to independence. In Egypt, for example, primary school enrolment rose from 380,000 in 1922 to 1,400,000 in 1952 while secondary school enrolment rose during that same period from 10,000 to 160,000. The Arab world recognizes education as a human right as well as a potent tool of political and economic development. Almost all of the constitutions of the Arab states stipulate as much. Due to the recentness of emancipation, the challenge and impact of the Western rate of progress, the population explosion, and the rising self awareness, all the Arab states are concentrating their energies on planned development. Training and education, clearly central to development, have hence increased in importance. Nevertheless, progress in education has not been smooth. The stubborn sources of conflict inherited from the recent past are many and cannot be analyzed here. Suffice it to point out that the present conflict patterns relate either to the transition from colonial status to independence or to the evolution from traditional to modern societal form.1)