Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

FIGURE 3-2: 19Basic knowledge capital formation opportunities for childrenin Arab countries against per capita GDP100Knowledge capital formation opportunities for children(percentage of possible maximum)9080706050403020EgyptSyriaIraqYemenMauritaniaComorosSudanDjiboutiAlgeriaJordanLebanonMoroccoTunisiaLibyaOmanSaudi ArabiaBahrain R 2 =0.4552QatarUAE R 2 =0.6398Kuwait0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000Per capita share of GDP in dollarsApart from Arabiclanguage and maths,the knowledge capitalthat Arab countriesimpart to thosewho have enrolledin or completedbasic educationvaries, in terms ofquantity at leastQUALITATIVE INDICATORSTime allocated to school subjects inbasic educationA study on the time allocated to schoolsubjects in basic education 20 in Arabcountries during the last decade showsconsiderable variation between thesecountries in the ratios of class timeallotted to religious education andforeign language instruction, a moderatevariation in the class time dedicated toscience and technology, social studies,the arts, and physical education, andgeneral conformity in the amounts oftime allotted to Arabic language 21 andmaths instruction. It follows that, apartfrom Arabic language and maths, theknowledge capital that Arab countriessought to impart to those who haveenrolled in or completed basic educationduring this period varies, in terms ofquantity at least.The average ratio of class time allottedto Arabic language instruction (28.5 percent at the primary level and 26.4 percent in total basic school education) issomewhat lower than the internationalaverage for the time allotted to instructionin the mother tongue (up to approximately32 per cent in primary school education)(International Association for theEvaluation of Educational Achievement,2003). Classes allotted to Islamic religiousinstruction average about 12 per cent ofthe total in the Arab region as a whole, incontrast to the global rate of about 5 percent among countries whose educationalcurricula feature religious educationinstruction (Majallat Mustaqbaliyyat,in Arabic, 2003). The quota for Islamicreligious instruction reaches 28 per centin Saudi Arabia, which is followed byYemen (20 per cent), Sudan (18 per cent),and Oman (17 per cent). In Tunisia andAlgeria, the time ratio for Islamic religiousinstruction is around the global average.104 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009