Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

emained encumbered by the prevailingeducational cultures in these countries.Apart from smatterings of importedliterature on desirable systems and preferredpractices, modern and innovative ideas oneducation remain alien to the prevailingcultures. The wheels of educational reformthus become mired down, hampering theachievement of saturation in quantitativegoals and obstructing tangible progresstowards the realisation of qualitative goals(Naila al-Sellini, Rafi‘a Ghubash and Fathial-Zayyat, background papers for thisReport, in Arabic).CONCLUSIONEducational systems occupy a crucialplace in the formation of knowledgecapital in modern societies, which havebecome dependent more on “scientific”knowledge than on inherited “traditional”knowledge for the pursuit of their interestsand advancement of their welfare. Expertsagree that the ability to understand theway things work and approach themwith a minimum degree of intelligence,the ability to manage one’s personal,health, financial, and other affairs, and theability to participate effectively in society,economically, socially, politically, culturally,and environmentally are contingent uponpossessing a well-rounded basketful ofbasic knowledge. This can only be acquiredby attending educational institutions for aperiod of no less than nine or ten years.While half the Arab countries haveattained enrolment rates approaching thesaturation point for the present generationof children, the other half continue to lagbehind. Simultaneously, available indicatorsdemonstrate that the quantitative inroadsachieved remain unaccompanied bycorresponding qualitative inroads. Theperformance of Arab students, fromcountries that have universalised basiceducation to countries that are still troubledby elitism at this phase, rarely rivals that oftheir counterparts elsewhere in the world.In addition, the problem of children outof school remains rampant and severelyplagues about a third of the Arab countries,jeopardising their prospects for enteringthe knowledge society with any degree ofconfidence in the foreseeable future.Meanwhile, it is sufficient to note thatthe formal education of a huge percentageof youth–over 40 per cent in sevenArab countries–does not extend beyondthe level of basic education, hamperingthese countries’ ability to engage in theknowledge economy, which requirestheoretical and technical knowledgethat can be acquired only in educationalphases higher than basic education. Buteven among the numbers that do crossthe threshold beyond the basic level, theknowledge capital they acquire may satisfytheir personal intellectual propensitieswhile not necessarily coinciding with therequirements a society bent on making thetransition to the knowledge economy. This isan economy that is heavily dependent uponspecialised sciences, modern technologies,and the information and communicationsrevolution, as well as upon openness to thelatest advances in knowledge, sustained andconstructive interaction between countriesand societies, and intensive networkingbetween individuals and institutions.Yet, while at least some higher educationinstitutions in Arab countries do notprevent some of their most outstandingtalents from excelling, Arab societies brimwith fine minds and gifted individuals whodo not have the opportunities to growand fulfil their potential. The absenceof such opportunities forms an obstacleto generating a critical mass of highlyqualified human capital with the power tocreate, innovate, and renew and the skillsand competencies it takes to steer theprocesses of sustained development thatArab societies so desperately need.With regard to adults, since thebeginning of contemporary modernism inthe last quarter of the twentieth century,the education systems in most Arabcountries have largely failed to create thecohesive, homogeneous, and highly skilledhuman knowledge capital needed to formthe knowledge society and to participateThe performanceof Arab students,from countries thathave universalisedbasic education tocountries that arestill troubled byelitism at this phase,rarely rivals that oftheir counterpartselsewhere inthe worldArab societies brimwith fine minds andgifted individualswho do not havethe opportunitiesto grow and fulfiltheir potentialEDUCATION AND THE FORMATION OF KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL131