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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has emphasized education’s importance as a fundamental human right and a necessary element of development. Education encompasses the scope of social values, morality, tradition, religion, politics and history. It is the acquired body of knowledge that equips the emerging labour force with the necessary skills to ensure its active participation in economic development. The acquisition of literacy, arithmetic, and problem-solving skills improves the value and efficiency of labour. It creates a skilled and intellectually flexible labor force through training, expertise, and academic credentials. A professional working force enhances the quality of a nation's economic productivity and guarantees its suitability for global market competitiveness.. According to a recent research report by the United Nations Population Fund, countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Algeria have invested in family planning, healthcare, and education and have subsequently experienced more rapid economic development than the countries that were reluctant to invest in social development programs.
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A report by Strategic Foresight Group has mentioned the academic cost of conflict in the Middle East. After the 2003 US war in Iraq, there has been a deliberate targeting of educational establishments by militants. In 2007, 353 academics were assassinated. Almost 800,000 children are currently out of school, and over 3,000 academics have fled the country. Over 30% of children and 40% of university students stay at home due to fear, and paucity of schools near them.
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More importantly, educational systems in MENA do not strongly rely on the inculcation of cognitive problem-solving skills. They are rather encouraged to memorize answers to a limited number of problems in order to pass one exam after another. As a result, they are rewarded for being passive rather than active learners, and in the end graduate into a job-market that values creativity and problem-solving, partially explaining the staggering 25% youth unemployment rate in the Middle East, the highest of any region worldwide. The costs of youth exclusion, including youth unemployment, have been estimated to reach as high as US$53 billion in Egypt (17% of GDP) and US$1.5 billion in Jordan (7% of GDP).
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