EDUCATION

Going to school without learning is a lost opportunity. According to the UNDP, evidence demonstrates that school systems in the Arab world are generally of low productivity and quality. Basic skills are not being learned, a fact most clearly captured by international standardized tests, whose results reveal that the region is still below the expected level. In many places, particularly rural areas, schools are overcrowded and underequipped, teachers lack training and children leave school with low levels of literacy and numeracy.

Recent UIS statistics show that the Middle East and North Africa(MENA) has one of the highest rates of children and adolescents not learning enough to meet the minimum proficiency levels in reading during primary school. Furthermore, according to a recent UNICEF report, there are 15 million children currently out of school in the MENA, 3 million of which are refugees. Adding to the already low education outcomes for children in the MENA region, is the threat and disruption of violence and conflict.