Doha - The United Nations' top education official, Koichiri Matsuura, warned Tuesday that Arab nations were in danger of falling behind in education, with the illiteracy rate in Arab countries among the highest in the world. "Despite the efforts exerted by the Arab states to improve the education system in the region, more than six million children are not a part of the educational sphere," Matsuura told the Education for All regional conference in Doha.
He explained that the poor quality of education in Arab countries is caused by the irregular attendance of students and the wrong learning habits based more on memorization, rather than apprehension.
Matsuura, who is head of the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that 30 per cent of the Arab adults are illiterate.
Literacy rates vary in the Arab world. Less than 55 per cent of the Mauritanians, Moroccans and Yemenis are literate, compared with 90 per cent of the population in Jordan, Kuwait and Palestinan territories.
"This high illiteracy rate is an obstacle towards reform and development in the Arab world," he said.
Matsuura called for retraining teachers and stated that the number of primary teachers had increased by only 16 per cent since 2000, as against the 26 per cent increase needed by the Arab world in order to achieve the desired educational goals.
Concerning the number of uneducated Arab girls, Matsuura stated that three out of every five girls are not enrolled in schools, which he described as "the highest percentage of uneducated girls in the world.
"If education is really for all, then we must devote more care to meet the educational needs of the exceptional categories in the population," Matsuura said.
He called for intensifying the efforts to upgrade the educational standards in areas that witnessed wars and severe clashes.
"Children who were forced to leave their homes due to catastrophes and wars are the most negatively affected in the society. There is a lot to be done to help them enjoy their normal educational rights," Matsuura said.
The educational system in the Arab world is not sufficient enough to meet the economic and social needs of the society. Matsuura asserted that education plays a significant role in achieving social justice and stability.
On the other hand, head of the UNESCO bureau in Lebanon Abdul- Moneim Othman, said that since 1999, Arab states had increased spending by 4.7 per cent to improve education in the region.
