Education for Women and Girls

What does it mean to have an education?It is a human right and an essential tool for achieving

equality as it ensures that girls grow up with knowledge of the world, ability for critical thinking and practical skills to achieve their full potential. [1]

It plays a key part in improving women’s well-being and her social and economic opportunities.

StatisticsEducation in the Middle East is a luxury and unavailable to many. [2]Most girls are prevented from attending school by custom, lack of

resources, and oppression. [2]The result:

Too many people can neither read nor take advantage of opportunities that come with education. [2]

According to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, across the broader Middle East and North Africa, more than seventy-five million women and more than forty-five million men are illiterate. [2]

Recent Developments

More Recent Developments Education has been a prime area of progress for women in

the region and is an important avenue for their overall advancement toward equality.

Over the past 10 years, women in all MENA countries except Yemen have made gains in access to education, literacy, university enrollment, and the variety of subjects open to study.

In several countries, women have a university enrollment rate higher than that of men. There has also been an increase in the availability of vocational training schools and business colleges for female students. [5]

Recent Developments in MENAMENA countries have reached almost full primary

education enrollment and increased enrollment in secondary schools almost threefold between 1970 and 2003 and fivefold at the higher education level.

Gender-parity for basic education is virtually complete. Although the region started from relatively low levels of gender parity, indexes for secondary and higher education aren't significantly different from Latin America and East Asia.

Illiteracy rates have been halved in the past 20 years and the absolute difference between male and female adult literacy rates has declined rapidly. [4]

KUWAITKuwaiti women are more educated

than their male counterparts, making up almost 70% of the

student body at Kuwait University.

Scholarships enable women to continue their studies in higher

education and many as a result hold PhDs making Kuwaiti women one of

the most education in the Arab world. [3]

Progress In Saudi Arabia, women have very limited choices in education and

employment, but with more women graduating from universities and willing to work, the kingdom has made some progress.

Although women are still encouraged to study traditionally female disciplines, in many countries women's numbers have increased in the fields of science and engineering.

Progress is visible in the Gulf states, where women are joining new professions in substantial numbers and more are going abroad on government scholarships.

In Kuwait, women who want to study in traditionally male fields, such as engineering, they must achieve a higher grade-point average for admission than men.

In Oman, women students often have to postpone university study for one year, yet this limitation is not required of men. [5]

Challenges RemainMany women are still excluded from education, and

many more are enrolled in school but are not learning enough to prepare them for 21st-century job markets.

As women's educational attainment in MENA countries has increased, more women have moved into the job market.

But women's participation in the labor force is still low. [6]

What Needs to be Done

Improving the quality of education, providing more vocational training, developing job-creating programs, and removing obstacles to women's entrepreneurship can help alleviate

the high rates of female unemployment. [6]

Sources1. Nargund, G. (2003). Education of Girls. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from

http://www.iheu.org/node/12902. http://www.voanews.com/uspolicy/archive/2005-06/2005-06-06-voa1.cfm 3. Maalouf, E. (2008, March 6). Young Arab. Message posted to

http://www.humanemergencemiddleeast.org/young-arabs-blog/ 4. The World Bank (2008). Globalization Requires Education Reforms in Middle East and

North Africa, Report Says. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from http://go.worldbank.org/M5REJDI670

5. Nazir, S. (2005). Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Retrieved April 26, 2009, from http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=384&key=4&parent=1&report=56

6. MENA Policy Briefs, Population Reference Bureau (2009). Empowering Women, Developing Society: Female Education in the Middle East and North Africa. Retrieved on April 27, 2009, from http://www.comminit.com/en/node/209692/303