The Emancipation Gap in Arab Education
Oct 12, 2016 / Library
Discussion of education in the Arab world has focused only rarely on the role of schooling in changing social and political mores. This is unfortunate, because educated citizens of Arab countries tend to be much less emancipated politically and socially, on average, than their peers in other parts of the world. If Arab societies are ever to become...
Education Reform to Create Entrepreneurs
Oct 10, 2016 / Blog entry
The demographic clock is ticking on both sides of the Mediterranean – from an aging workforce on one end to a workforce surplus on the other. Yet whatever the demographic dynamics, the Mediterranean space is facing an incredible challenge: providing a safe, buoyant and prosperous future for its youth which would benefit its societies, their...
Q & A: New Initiatives for Education in the Middle East and North Africa, Including for Refugees
Oct 04, 2016 / Blog entry
In Part II of her interview, Safaa El Tayeb El-Kogali, World Bank Practice Manager for Education, explains the initiatives being take to improve all levels of public education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and how important it is for children to be able to go to school, especially when their countries are affected by conflict....
Q & A: The Importance of Early Childhood Development in the Middle East and North Africa
Oct 03, 2016 / Blog entry
With the school year starting in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), millions of children are busily preparing to resume their studies. Some, caught in conflict, may not be able to go to school at all; others may be joining schools in countries neighboring their own. At peace or in war, throughout MENA more emphasis is being placed on early...
[National Experts Meeting] An Innovation Barometer for the MENA Region
Sep 28, 2016 / Highlight
Innovation Barometer ”"لوحة مؤشرات الإبتكار for MENA Countries:
Following-up on the last innovation scoreboard workshop held in Amman in 2015, the 12 national experts (including Palestine, Iraq and Oman) and institutional partners of the program (ISESCO, ALECSO, ESCWA, UNESCO, AIDMA) met to finalize an Innovation Scoreboard for the MENA region...
Syrian Refugees: Gaziantep’s Social Support Program
Jul 07, 2016 / Blog entry
On 15 March 2011, Syria witnessed a movement of protests part of a larger Arab uprising. The scene soon turned into civil unrest. In consequence to intense civil war, a big migration wave, hit in 2011 neighboring countries, particularly Turkey continuously increasing till this date. The crisis in Syria is the biggest human tragedy since World War...
Benchmarking Governance as a Tool for Promoting Change
Universities Through the Looking Glass
The Paradox of Higher Education in MENA
Jun 30, 2016 / Blog entry
This blog originally appeared in Future Development.
Note: This is an English version of my keynote speech given at the recent MENA conference on “Paradigm Shifts in Tertiary Education” in Algiers on May 30-June 2.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) was the cradle of higher education. The three oldest, still-functioning...
[Workshop] Preventing Violence and Radicalization in Schools
Jun 30, 2016 / Highlight
Context / Rationale
Violence and radicalization in schools, especially at the high school level, is a relatively new phenomenon in Tunisia. This challenge needs to be tackled collectively and with more force in order to minimise its impacts and progressively reduce its magnitude.
The workshop intended to begin a process of capacity building of...
The Implications of Displaced Children Not Receiving an Adequate Education
Jun 09, 2016 / Blog entry
The Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, conducted an interview with Dr. Dawn Chatty, an Emeritus University Professor in Anthropology and Forced Migration and former director of the Refugee Studies Centre in the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford, UK, on the sidelines of the workshop about refugees’...
Governance: An Appropriate Response to the Challenges Facing Algerian Universities
Jun 07, 2016 / Blog entry
Algerian universities are in the midst of veritable transformation that is in line with the globalization of knowledge and higher education reform imperatives.
Indeed, the Licence, Master, Doctorat (LMD) system has ushered in a new philosophy and new teaching methods and practices, along with pedagogical practices (best practices).
Legislation...
Summer School on Sustainable Development Goals: Water as Key Development Factor in the Mediterranean
Jun 06, 2016 / Highlight
Context
In light of the economic, social and environmental challenges that have become key characters to planet Earth in the early 21st century, the North and South scientific and academic communities have a specific role to play through contributing to the global knowledge advancements and promotion of relevant research to achieve the...
Tertiary Education: Improved Governance and Quality Leads to Better Competitiveness and Employability
MENA Tertiary Education Conference - Agenda
5th International MENA Tertiary Education Conference
Jun 03, 2016 / Highlight
Paradigm Shifts in Tertiary Education: Improved Governance and Quality for Competitiveness and Employability
Lead Organizations
Center for Mediterranean Integration, Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, The World Bank Group
Partners
The British Council, UNESCO, Associaion of Arab Universities, International Association...
Toward a Paradigm of Competitive Economies
May 30, 2016 / Blog entry
Research conducted on endogenous growth (Aghion and Howitt, 1992) was followed by the emergence of economies and, by extension, societies that are knowledge-based, which raised great hopes that a new model of economic and social development had been established. Various pieces of research, including by the World Bank,[1] have demonstrated...
A Different University Model!
May 27, 2016 / Blog entry
The integrated strategic project (Figure No. 1) that the Université Virtuelle de Tunis (UVT) has been conducting over the past few years is a special project. It stemmed from an in-depth analysis of the university’s situation and addresses its needs, taking account of the obstacles to its development. The project is also tailored to its specific...
University Governance Changing the Higher Education Paradigm in MENA
May 27, 2016 / Blog entry
When one first hears the words “University Governance”, many thoughts come to mind. Is it about governmental supervision or interventions into university’s business? Is it about how universities are managed? Does it parallel what corporates experience under “corporate governance”? Well, it does not involve any governmental overseeing but rather...
What are the Changes Needed to Ensure the Success of Higher Education Reform in Algeria?
May 26, 2016 / Blog entry
The reform of the License, Mastère, Doctorat (LMD) programs in Algeria’s higher education sector, a reform consistent with prevailing trends toward globalization, signals a new approach to management, governance and regulation of the institutions concerned. Indeed, the increased pedagogical autonomy of Algeria’s universities that resulted from...
Building on the Work of others Makes Sense, Especially in the MENA Higher Education Sector
May 26, 2016 / Blog entry
In the last two decades, the Higher Education context in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region witnessed remarkable changes in terms of increase in the number of institutions and of students’ enrollment, the establishment of regulatory bodies and measures, and the surfacing of serious challenges in terms of globalization,...
Ethical Issues in the Context of University Governance
May 25, 2016 / Blog entry
Algerian universities seem to have identified a vision, approach, and methodology with respect to the concept of governance, which is aimed at helping them gradually improve their management practices. While it is true that a university that strives for excellence must follow guidelines and standards, it must also adopt a mindset conducive to its...
5 Years After the Arab Spring, Were the Hopes of Tunisian Youth Ever Met?
May 17, 2016 / Blog entry
For so long, celebrating Tunisia usually went hand in hand with celebrating its youth. “Tunisian youth were rather the solution and not the problem” this was the slogan communicated throughout the Ben Ali tenure. The ousted president made youth-leveraging as his personal brand.
Over twenty years of branding and marketing to hide the ugly...
What Will It Take to Improve Competitiveness and Employability in the MENA?
May 08, 2016 / Blog entry
The last two decades have witnessed a strong push for more university autonomy around the globe, paired with a request for higher education institutions to be accountable not only to those directly involved– the academic community, students and their families – but also the wider public. As such, the topic of quality assurance has played a...
Young Tunisian Entrepreneurs Push to Change Attitudes to Jobs
Apr 27, 2016 / Blog entry
Five years after its political revolution, Tunisia’s government has acknowledged economic challenges, including a lack of foreign investment and a high unemployment rate. Many Tunisians call for a second revolution, this time for economic opportunities, including entrepreneurship and the employment it creates. Although being an entrepreneur in...
Building a University Governance Screening Card for MENA (and beyond)
University Governance Screening Card: Version 2 Launched in the Palestinian Territories
Apr 14, 2016 / Highlight
The World Bank and CMI organized the launch of the University Governance Screening (UGSC.V2.0) in the Palestinian Territories. The event convened members of the Higher Education Network, representatives from the Ministry of Higher education and local partner organizations. The UGSC.V2.0 is developed by the Higher Education Program to assess the...
Ensuring Quality Education for Young Syrian Refugees-A Mapping Exercise
The Mental and Educational Needs of Syrian Refugee Children
Educating Syrian Youth in Jordan: Holistic Approaches to Emergency Response
