Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

General secondary education andthe formation of knowledge capitalby youthArab countries have gone to great pains todevelop general and technical secondaryschool programmes and curricula, andthey have made some effort at streamingthis level of education (UNESCO, 2003,in Arabic). However, an analysis ofauthorised secondary school curricula inArab countries during the last decade of thetwentieth century 41 reveals that these fallconsiderably short of official aspirations inall but a few pioneering instances, such asBahrain and Oman. Countries influencedby the French educational system havedivided their general secondary educationinto three or four streams or tracks, whilethe remaining countries have adopted two–arts and sciences. Libya is the exceptionwith six. 42 One positive point to whichwe should draw attention is that curriculafor the science branches in most Arabcountries contain courses allocated to socialsciences and, similarly, most curricula forthe arts and humanities branches containsome science courses. As result, earlystreaming does not mean that those whochoose one branch will remain unexposedto the subject matter in the other, evenif the proportion of classes allocated tosocial studies in the science track is insome cases quite low. 43 Available data onsecondary education shows that the artstracks have higher intakes than the sciencetracks. When more than two tracks exist,as in Lebanon, Libya, and the countriesof the Maghreb, enrolment figures in thetracks that, according to some at least,may require more academic effort, suchas literature and basic sciences, decline infavour of social sciences and life sciences,which seem closer to the applied than tothe theoretical sciences. 44Several issues require attention in Arabsecondary school curricula. One is that inmany countries social studies are largelylimited to geography, with little or noattention accorded to sociology, economics,or even history. With regard to the latter,the tendency is to home in on certainhistorical eras and to pass over others. Wealso note the rare appearance of philosophyin Arab secondary school curricula, apartfrom those influenced by the Frenchsystem. 45 Good philosophy instructionat the secondary school level is ofunquestionable importance. It contributesto the refinement of the personalityof learners, hones their intellectualcompetencies, and expands their worldview, all of which are especially importantin adolescence, that especially crucial phasein an individual’s intellectual, psychological,and social development (UNESCO, 2007).Rare, too, is the inclusion in each trackof optional subjects, which give studentsappropriate opportunities to discoverand develop their own inclinations andabilities. Nor do curricula provide coursesaimed at developing self-study capacities,such as research, information analysis,and processing skills, or communicativeskills, life and community participationskills, and other such knowledge andknow-how that directly equip learners toparticipate intelligently and effectively inthe knowledge society. The absence ofcertain subjects from the curricula in thisphase undoubtedly reflects specific socialand ideological choices. However, it isalso the case that the low overall weeklyperiods and annual number of schoolhours in some countries 46 compared to theinternational norms makes it difficult tointroduce optional courses, independentlearning courses, and other such beneficialitems into this educational phase. 47Technical secondary education andthe formation of knowledge capitalby youthThe practice in technical secondaryeducation differs little from that in itsgeneral counterpart in that it places greateremphasis on the acquisition of the practicalskills needed for the performance of aspecialised vocation than on the formationof technicians capable of adjusting tochanging job requirements.Arab countries havegone to great pains todevelop general andtechnical secondaryschool programmesand curricula, andthey have madesome effort atstreaming this level ofeducation, but thesefall considerably shortof official aspirationsin all but a fewpioneering instancesIn many Arabcountries, socialstudies are largelylimited to geography,with little or noattention accorded tosociology, economics,or even historyand, in the latter,the tendency is tohome in on certainhistorical eras andto pass over othersEDUCATION AND THE FORMATION OF KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL111