Many of the Arab countries have been blessed with vast reserves of oil and natural gas that became the dominant engines of the economic change over the past century. That, of course, is the good news. The bad news is that oil and natural gas still constitute the commercial foundation of much of the Arab world. All attempts to achieve economic diversity have failed.
If oil and natural gas were excluded from the various economies of what we define as the Arab world, with its 350 million inhabitants, their cumulative gross domestic product would amount to less than that of Finland, a country with a population of little over 5 million. With the exception of a few isolated pockets, the Middle East has failed miserably at catching up with the economic growth seen in most other corners of the world. If it is to turn this around, reforming the educational system-including colleges and universities-should be one of the starting points.
Higher education in the Arab world is witnessing fast growth. The recent bold Arab academic expansion reflects a serious attempt by rulers and policymakers to enable their citizenry to catch up with the rest of the world. It is believed that the construction of new colleges and universities would speed up the developmental progress and change.
About 100 new colleges have been founded in the Arab world since the early 1990s. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have established over 40 universities alone during the same period. Mostly are private and the bulk are branches of or associated with American universities.
Arab universities have consistently produced graduates who have difficulty finding a place in the increasingly global economy. The last decade has seen an attempt to increase drastically the number of colleges in the Arab world. The latest has been the inauguration of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). This $12.5 billion institution is being viewed as the catalyst that will start a great educational reversal.
Yet, this massive investment – which will make KAUST, on day one, among the richest 10 universities in the world – is a drop in the bucket. Even if successful, KAUST will serve few lucky students while the majority of the Saudi and Arab youths will still be victims of a system that teaches students what to think instead of how to think.
Will this massive investment expenditure in higher education pay off? Or, is it just a quick fix to a much deeper and serious problem?
In reality, the poor educational system in the Arab world is rooted in poor elementary education systems that are entrenched in religious studies and weak in math, science, and foreign languages. Several international tests reflect the poor performance of Arab students: they consistently score among the worst globally. With poorly trained and underpaid teachers most of whom do not encourage critical thinking, these poor results are not surprising.
Although no one will doubt the commitment of Arab leaders to promote and advance education in the Arab world, change must take place at the ministries of education in Riyadh and elsewhere in Arab capitals. Reforming the elementary educational system to strengthen instruction in essential subjects will allow students to succeed and to be prepared for higher education. This is the reform that will train teachers to inspire and motivate students to think instead of the current system that advocates memorization.
Each additional hour of religion taught in Arab public schools is one less hour taught in math and science – an hour badly needed to prepare students to be globally competitive. Religion must be diluted in the curriculum and taught after school or on the weekend. Studying religion should not compromise the essential education required to succeed in school and beyond. Tackling the problem should start with the drastic revamping of the early childhood education. This will require bold leadership currently nowhere to be found.
As for higher education, very few successful models exist now in the Arab world. The American University of Beirut (AUB) continues to be a unique exception to the norm. It has proven to be resilient and progressive since it’s founding in 1866, weathering domestic and regional challenges. Yet, it never steered away from its core mission of preparing students to succeed globally by embracing critical thinking. AUB had the advantage of having a predominantly secular educational system to recruit students from.
Arab leaders should look to AUB as a model. No need to reinvent the wheel.
Raja Kamal is senior associate dean at the Harris School for Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.