Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

40Accurate statistics are not available for the countries between brackets. However, the congruence of the datajustifies their appearance as shown.41As mentioned earlier, our purpose in analysing curricula data from the 1990s, which is to say before somecountries introduced curriculum reforms, was to gain insight into how the educational system was preparingthose who, today, stand at the threshold of their independent occupational and social careers. Few countrieshave upgraded their curricula since that time. Morocco and Oman are among those that have, but their reformsin this regard are too recent to judge in terms of efficacy.42The Libyan system requires specialization at a very early age, following the end of basic education. From thispoint, students are streamed at the secondary level of education into one of six branches, three in the artsand humanities (literature and media, social sciences, and economy) and three in the sciences (basic sciences,engineering, and life sciences). These streams feed into similar specialisations in tertiary education.43This analysis is based on the data on secondary educational tracks available in the World Data on Educationdata base, published by UNESCO International Bureau of Education, Geneva:http://www.ibe.unesco.org/Countries/WDE/2006/index.html.44For example, among the applicants for the terminal year of general secondary education in Lebanon in 2008,7.8 per cent applied to arts and humanities, 11.9 per cent to general sciences, 32.9 per cent to life sciences,and 47.4 per cent to social sciences and economy. In this context, it is important to note that the Confederationof British Industry recently (11 August 2008) sounded the alarm that only 7 per cent of British sixteen-year oldsopt for a triple science GCSE (secondary school programme) covering physics, chemistry and biology and thatsuch a low rate threatens the future of British industry. See, for example, the following web page (accessed on22 August 2008): http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/science/bright-kids-should-study-triple-science-$1235850.htm.45Interested readers may find it useful to examine the philosophy curricula adopted in Morocco and Lebanon.46See Statistical Annex, Table 21.47One can not help but be impressed by the great attention prominent French intellectuals and the Frenchgovernment itself, even at the presidential level, devote to the question of the knowledge that should be taught,in general and at the secondary educational level in particular. The subject is under constant debate, and theconcern also manifests itself in the attention accorded to it by periodicals, the numbers of intellectuals andeducators who contribute to the discussions, and the relevant web pages and forums on the internet. For furtherinformation see:- Bourdieu, Pierre et Gros, François (1989). “Rapport pour un enseignement de l’avenir.” (This report wasproduced by a special committee formed at the request of the French president with the purpose ofdelineating “the primary orientations for the gradual transition to educational content needed to keep pacewith the evolution of science and society.”- Domenach, Jean-Marie (1989). Ce Qu’il Faut Enseigner: pour un nouvel enseignement général dans lesecondaire, Éditions du Seuil, Paris.- Isambert-Jamati, Viviane (1990). Les Savoirs Scolaires. Enjeux Sociaux des Contenus d’Enseignement et deLeurs Réformes. Éditions Universitaires, Paris.- Morin, Edgar (1999). Les Sept Savoirs Nécessaires à l’Éducation du Futur. Éditions du Seuil/UNESCO, Paris.- Sciences Humaines, 2001.”Quels Savoirs Enseigner?” , Mensuel No. 121, Novembre 2001. Presses SorbonneNouvelle, Paris.48Morin, Edgar (1999). Les Sept Savoirs Nécessaires à l’Éducation du Futur, Editions du Seuil/UNESCO, Paris.49Tunisia has experienced a downturn in interest in the technical stream in recent years.50See Statistic Annex, Table 22. Djibouti has been excluded from this analysis because the total enrolment insecondary and tertiary education during this period is marginal.51By way of comparison, during the same period in Eastern European countries, for example, more than 70 percent of students followed the technical secondary school track (see Majallat Mustaqbaliyyat, March 2001, inArabic).52These countries are Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan.53Available data on some countries indicate an imbalance in the distribution of technical secondary studentsacross the major specialisations, these being business administration and information systems, industry,agriculture, tourism, and health and human services. The imbalance favours business administration and136 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009