Educational Challenges in Saudi Arabia – Arabic Translation

التحديات التعليمية في المملكة العربية السعودية

 

بقلم ماتيلدا ريبيتي

ترجمة رويفة الريامية

أهمية التعليم

لكل فرد الحق في التعليم، إذ يُعد حجر الزاوية في تقدم البشرية. كان الإغريق القدماء، الذين ابتكروا مفهوم “الپايديا” (Paideia)، وهو التكوين الشامل للشاب (pais)، والرومان الذين ترجموا هذا المفهوم لاحقًا إلى “الإنسانية” (humanitas)، على دراية بالفعل بأهمية التعليم. في الواقع، أوضح شيشرون نفسه مضمون هذا المفهوم الأخير من خلال الربط الأساسي بين الشغف بالمعرفة والارتقاء بالطبيعة البشرية (Nybakken, O. E., 1939).

على مر العصور، شهد الحق في التعليم عددًا من التغيرات قبل أن يصل إلى صيغته الحالية في المادة 26 من الإعلان العالمي لحقوق الإنسان. وقد اعترفت المجتمعات الحديثة الآن بطبيعته العالمية والمتاحة والإلزامية، على الأقل في مراحله الأولى، وهو ما يعد ذا أهمية أساسية عند وضعه في سياق الثقافة المعاصرة. 

نبذة عن تاريخ النظام التعليمي في السعودية

Saudi students study in the Prince Salman Library at the King Saud University in Riyadh. Photo by Tribes of the World.

أدركت المملكة العربية السعودية، كما ورد في خطة النمو “رؤية السعودية 2030″، أهمية التعليم، وتصدرت دول منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا في هذا المجال.

لفهم هذه الخطة الابتكارية، من الضروري استعراض أبرز ملامح الخلفية التاريخية والسياسية. ترتكز الهوية السعودية على ثلاثة عناصر رئيسية: الإسلام، القبلية، وتجارة النفط (Ochsenwald, W. L., 2019). وبالنسبة للتعليم، فإن العنصر الديني هو الأكثر أهمية. فالمملكة العربية السعودية دولة ثيوقراطية سنية إسلامية، ولا يُمكن الحصول على الجنسية السعودية إلا لمن يعتنق الدين الإسلامي (وكالة وزارة الداخلية للأحوال المدنية، 1954).

الداعم الأكبر للعلاقة الوثيقة بين الدين والدولة هو النظام التعليمي، الذي تم تنظيمه منذ القرن السابع عبر مؤسسات مختلفة مرتبطة بالمجال الديني. من أبرز الأمثلة على ذلك “الكتاتيب”، وهي مدارس ابتدائية يُعلّم فيها الشباب السعوديون مبادئ القرآن الكريم (Esposito, John L., ed., 2003). وعلى مر القرون، وخصوصًا تحت الحكم العثماني، خضعت المدارس وأساليب التعليم للعديد من التغيرات، والتي بلغت ذروتها أخيرًا في العصور الحديثة إلى مركزية شاملة للنظام التعليمي، بإشراف المديرية الحكومية للتعليم (Rugh, W. A., 2002).

عائدات تجارة النفط لعبت دورًا أساسيًا في تمويل المشاريع التعليمية الحكومية. خاصة في أواخر السبعينيات، حيث قادت الدولة سلسلة من خطط التنمية التي أسفرت عن زيادة هائلة في نسبة الالتحاق بالمدارس بنسبة 192% في المرحلة الابتدائية، 375% في المرحلة المتوسطة، و712% في المرحلة الثانوية (Anon, 2020).

حاليًا، وفي إطار رؤية السعودية 2030، يشهد قطاع التعليم موجة جديدة من الاستثمارات تهدف إلى تزويد الطلاب السعوديين بالأدوات اللازمة لمواجهة “وظائف المستقبل” (Vision 2030, 2022). فعلى أرض الواقع، أدت النفقات العامة الكبيرة (17.5% من إجمالي 1.1 تريليون ريال سعودي في عام 2019) إلى بناء 719 مدرسة جديدة وبرنامج كبير لإعادة تدريب موظفي المدارس (تقرير ميزانية السعودية، 2018).

وقد بلغت عملية التحديث ذروتها في إنشاء نظام تعليمي واسع يتكون من شبكة من مراكز التعليم العامة مفصولة حسب الجنس ومقسمة إلى ثلاث مستويات أساسية: الابتدائية (ست سنوات)، المتوسطة (ثلاث سنوات)، والثانوية (ثلاث سنوات) (Barry, A., 2019).

اتاحة التعليم

من حيث اتاحة التعليم، يمكن القول إن النظام التعليمي في السعودية متقدم إلى حد كبير. بالنظر إلى المناطق الثلاث ذات أدنى مؤشر تنمية بشرية في البلاد (0.855 HDI)، وهي جنوب نجران، عسير، وجازان، يلاحظ أن نسبة المدارس إلى عدد السكان أكثر ملاءمة مقارنة بمنطقة الرياض الأكثر ازدهارًا في المملكة (Subnational HDI, 2023).

في الواقع، بينما تحتوي المحافظات الجنوبية على مدرسة لكل 600 مواطن تقريبًا، فإن العاصمة المكتظة بالسكان، على الرغم من أنها تضم 38.9% من المؤسسات التعليمية في السعودية، تسجل نسبة مدرسة واحدة لكل 1392 مواطنًا (تقرير التعليم في السعودية، 2021).

عامل آخر محدد لإمكانية الوصول هو القدرة على تحمل التكاليف؛ المدارس الحكومية مجانية لجميع السكان. ومع ذلك، فإن وجود العديد من المدارس الدولية الخاصة وسمعتها الرفيعة قد يؤدي إلى تقويض المساواة في الحصول على أفضل تعليم بسبب التمييز الاقتصادي (Anon, 2020). ومع ذلك، يُشار إلى أن النظام العام، بفضل مركزيته المذكورة أعلاه، هو الأكثر ترددًا من قِبل السكان، وبالتالي يُعد هذا مشكلة طفيفة (تقرير التعليم في السعودية، 2021).

بشكل عام، يمكن القول إن النظام التعليمي في السعودية يتمتع بقدر جيد من إمكانية الوصول، كما يتضح من نمو عدد الطلاب بأكثر من 6 نقاط مئوية في أربع سنوات فقط (تقرير التعليم في السعودية، 2021).

طلاب الأسر ذات الدخل المحدود

ومع ذلك، لا تعني العدالة الشكلية بالضرورة العدالة الفعلية؛ فعلى الرغم من أن النظام التعليمي يبدو متاحًا لجميع المواطنين من مختلف الفئات الاقتصادية، تشير الدراسات إلى أن الطلاب من الأسر ذات الدخل المحدود لا يتمتعون بنفس الامتيازات.

تشير البيانات إلى أن نسبة الطلاب دون سن الخامسة عشرة الذين يأتون من خلفيات اقتصادية ضعيفة والذين أعادوا سنة دراسية تبلغ 24.2%، مقارنة بمتوسط 20.3% في دول منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية (OECD).

وعلى النقيض من ذلك، بلغت نسبة الطلاب من الفئات الاقتصادية الميسورة الذين اضطروا لإعادة سنة دراسية 3.3% فقط، مقارنة بـ 5.0% في دول منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية. هذه البيانات تسلط الضوء على مدى الفجوة الكبيرة في فرص التعليم في السعودية، حيث تفصل 20.9 نقطة مئوية بين الطلاب المحرومين والطلاب الميسورين، مقارنة بمتوسط 15.3% في دول منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية.

تشير مؤشرات أخرى ذات صلة إلى نسبة الطلاب إلى المعلمين في المدارس التي تضم طلابًا من خلفيات اجتماعية واقتصادية ضعيفة أو قوية. هنا أيضًا، تُقاس معدلات التفاوت بشكل مقلق عند مقارنتها بمتوسط منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية، مما يُفسر الأداء الضعيف للطلاب المحرومين في كل من الرياضيات والعلوم الإنسانية (Education GPS، 2018).

في ضوء ما سبق، من الواضح أن المملكة لا تزال بحاجة إلى اتخاذ العديد من الخطوات لتحقيق المساواة التعليمية الكاملة، حتى يتمكن كل فرد من الاستمتاع الكامل بحقه في التعليم.

تعليم المرأة

ميزة أخرى يجب أخذها في الاعتبار هي الفصل بين الجنسين، والذي ليس عائقًا بحد ذاته أمام الاستفادة من الخدمات التعليمية، ولكنه قد يكون في بعض الحالات ذريعة لتقديم تعليم أقل جودة لجنس معين، وغالبًا ما يكون الجنس الأنثوي. ومع ذلك، فإن البيانات تعكس واقعًا مختلفًا: في المملكة العربية السعودية، تتبع الطالبات نفس المناهج الدراسية ويتم اختبارهن في نفس المجالات، ويتفوقن على الطلاب الذكور في جميع المجالات التي تم فحصها، بما في ذلك الرياضيات والعلوم والمواد الدراسية الأخرى (Abdourahmane، B، 2021).

يبدو أن هذه النتائج تدعم الفرضية القائلة بأن الفصل بين الذكور والإناث، وخاصة في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا، يسمح للطالبات بالتعبير عن قدراتهن الفكرية بحرية أكبر دون ضغوط اجتماعية مرتبطة بالعلاقة بين الجنسين (Eisenkopf, Hessami, Fischbacher, & Ursprung, 2015).

مثال على ذلك هو اختيار المواد الدراسية؛ إذ وُجد أن الطالبات في المدارس الخاصة بالإناث يشعرن بارتياح أكبر عند اختيار مواد العلوم، حتى وإن كانت تُعتبر عادة “مواضيع خاصة بالذكور” (Sanford, K., & Blair, H., 2013).

في ضوء ذلك، يمكن استنتاج أن نظام الفصل بين الجنسين لا يشكل عائقًا أمام تعليم الشابات السعوديات، بل على العكس من ذلك، يسهم في تعزيز فرصهن التعليمية.

علاوة على ذلك، يتم الإبلاغ عن معدلات الالتحاق في المؤسسات التعليمية الابتدائية والثانوية على أنها متشابهة تقريبًا بين الرجال والنساء (Abdourahmane، B، 2021)، وفي عام 2018، كانت نسبة 66% من خريجي العلوم الطبيعية والرياضيات والإحصاء من النساء (OECD، 2019).

ومع ذلك، فإن القضية الحقيقية بالنسبة للمرأة السعودية تظهر بمجرد إتمام دراستها. معدل البطالة بين النساء يبلغ 21.5%، مقارنة بـ 3.5% بين الرجال (بيانات البنك الدولي، 2013). وفقًا لما أوردته منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية، لا تزال النساء أقل احتمالًا للعمل على الرغم من تحسين المساواة بين الجنسين في مستويات التعليم العالي، وذلك بسبب “العقبات التنظيمية في مجتمع محافظ”، إلى جانب التمييز المستمر ضد النساء والنظام التعليمي الموجه حسب الجنس (Alfarran، A.، Pyke، J.، & Stanton، P.، 2018). وعلى الرغم من أن النظام التعليمي لا يمنع النساء من الحصول على تعليم كافٍ، إلا أنه يحد جزئيًا من قدرتهن على استخدام المعرفة التي اكتسبنها في سوق العمل. في هذا السياق، ينبغي قراءة بيانات إمكانية الوصول إلى النظام التعليمي للنساء جنبًا إلى جنب مع بيانات سوق العمل، للحصول على صورة أكثر اكتمالًا لنقاطه الحرجة.

Saudi Ambassador Visits His Children at ASIS. Photo by Lwi932.

الجودة

تؤدي هذه النواقص إلى نتائج أكاديمية أقل نسبياً مقارنة بمؤشرات منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية. فقد سجل الطلاب السعوديون متوسطًا أقل بمقدار 100 نقطة من نظرائهم في دول المنظمة في اختبارات القراءة والرياضيات والعلوم. ومع ذلك، تشير تقارير برنامج التقييم الدولي للطلاب (PISA) إلى أن المتوسط لدول منظمة التعاون الاقتصادي والتنمية يصل إلى 500، مع قيم تتراوح بين 400 و600. لذلك، يمكن القول إن المملكة العربية السعودية تقع ضمن نطاق جيد من الإنجازات.

استنادًا إلى ما سبق، يمكن الاستنتاج بأن النظام السعودي، على الرغم من عدم خلوه من القضايا الحرجة، يتمتع بجودة عامة كافية تؤدي إلى تحضير أكاديمي وثقافي جيد للطلاب.

في الختام، واجهت المملكة العربية السعودية العديد من التحديات في قطاع التعليم في العقود الأخيرة. ومع ذلك، أظهرت الحكومة التزامًا ثابتًا بتحسين جودة التعليم وتوفير الفرص التعليمية لمواطنيها. إن توسيع المدارس العامة وتأسيس جامعات جديدة هي بعض من الخطوات الإيجابية التي اتخذتها البلاد. على الرغم من ذلك، لا تزال هناك بعض القضايا التي تحتاج إلى حل، مثل عدم المساواة بين الجنسين والحاجة إلى تطوير نظام تعليمي أكثر عدلاً من حيث الفرص الاقتصادية. لذلك، من الضروري أن تعطي السلطات الحكومية أولوية قصوى لهذه القضية: التعليم هو حق إنساني أساسي، وفقط من خلال التعليم الجيد والشامل والعادل ستتمكن المجتمع السعودي من التقدم والازدهار.

 

المراجع

Educational Challenges in the Republic of Haiti

Written by Alexandra Drugescu-Radulescu

The situation in Haiti conveys the systematic and deep-rooted relationship between colonialism and the development of a state. Haiti is considered the poorest state in the western hemisphere, a fact which has a tremendous impact on access to education. The lack of economic development can be traced back to Haiti’s colonial times. The former French Colony liberated itself from its empire in 1791, being the first state to achieve independence from a modern colonial power. Regardless, the Republic of Haiti was forced after achieving its independence to pay the French state for war compensation, leading to a national debt that was finally paid in 1947[1]. Given the newly established state’s focus on paying its former colonizer, power imbalances remained alive, leading to an inability to further itself economically.  Neocolonial patterns are still prevalent in today’s Haitian society, particularly relevant being the educational system created based on the French model.

Haiti Flag. Photo by abdallahh

Haiti’s history of slavery and revolution can explain the lacking mechanisms in the educational system. An outstanding number of the population lives below the poverty line (60%),[2]  leading to the inability of a plethora of families to support their child’s education. Furthermore, the Haitian state lacks the necessary financial means to create appropriate educational infrastructure, such as employing staff and building institutions. The absence of resources led to mass privatization of the educational sector, with 85% of schools being private[3], funded by public figures, NGOs, and various corporations. Privatization further hinders access to education, given that most families cannot afford tuition fees. In the following article, I will further expand on the challenges children face in the Republic of Haiti, trying to unravel the main causes of said issues.

            According to the Haitian Constitution, education is free and mandatory. The educational system is divided into the following stages[4]:

  • Primary  (6-12 year-olds)
  • Lower Secondary (12-15 year-olds)
  • Secondary (15-18 year-olds)

Poverty

Haitian children. Photo by Alex Proimos.

8 August 2012, 01:26; Source Flickr; Author Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia

The dire economic situation in Haiti leads to two main issues: the government does not have enough funding to invest in infrastructure, and a majority of families cannot afford to keep their children in school, especially given that most educational institutions operate in the private sphere.

            According to UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell’s declaration last month, half of Haiti’s population needs humanitarian assistance, including three million children[5]. Such assistance is needed in order to decrease the rate of food insecurity in the country, as well as to protect vulnerable categories, including children, in areas controlled by armed groups[6]. Almost a quarter of Haitian children suffer from malnourishment[7], a factor that strongly influences their ability to grow harmoniously and finish their education. Catherine Russell states that the present situation of Haiti represents a mix of political turmoil, effects of natural disasters, and various health care crises, including the most recent cholera outbreak[8]. Due to the ongoing food insecurity in the country, education remains low on the priorities list, with families doing their best to help their youngsters to survive.

            The lack of educational facilities represents another repercussion of the dire economic situation in Haiti. Haiti ranks 177th out of 186 in the world for government spending on education[9], and at the moment, it does not have a plan for increasing the budget for education.  The issue further increased by various natural disasters, such as the 2010 earthquake, that destroyed the infrastructure of a significant number of schools in the past. 

Privatization of education and enrollment rates

Students from “République du Chili”, a school in Haiti. Photo by One Laptop per Child.

Education in Haiti is primarily private, with only 15% of schools being state-funded[10].

This comes as a surprise, given that the right to free education has been inscribed ever since the first Haitian constitution. Regardless of how small they are, the enrolment fees represent an impediment for many families trying to provide their children with the necessary education. On average, each family pays around 130 USD[11] per year to keep a single child in school, a sum that can represent a financial burden given that Haiti’s gross national income per capita was 1610 USD in 2022[12]. The average fertility rate is almost three children per woman[13], a fact that further hinders the capacity of parents to pay enrolment fees to private institutions. Furthermore, the education system relies on donations from various agencies, some of the most relevant being the World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO, and the Caribbean Development Bank.

            The Haitian government implemented a system of wavering tuition fees for students living in poverty, with funds being given to schools through state subsidies. Unfortunately, despite high hopes of reaching all children in public schools and around 70% of children in private institutions, the program stopped financing 1st and 2nd graders in 2015.[14]

            Unfortunately, attendance rates are relatively low, especially after primary school, a phenomenon that could result from tuition fees. According to UNESCO, the primary school attendance rate is 86%, decreasing significantly to 28% for lower secondary schools and 21% for upper secondary schools[15]. Even more concerning is that the rate of compilation of primary school is only 54%[16]. The above data result in a dangerously low literacy rate, with only 60.7% of the population being able to read and write.[17] This decreases people’s ability to get employed and escape an ongoing cycle of poverty.

            Therefore, access to education is constrained by the financial means of the families of the province. This is an actual impediment to ensuring that every child has the right to free education, a fact proven by the low completion rates in all stages of schooling. This is unfortunate, given that education represents one of the only ways the government can increase citizens’ living standards by ensuring that every child has an increased chance of escaping a vicious cycle of poverty caused by hundreds of years of colonial and neo-colonial ties and practices.

Impact of Natural Disasters (e.g. 2010 Earthquake)

A poor neighbourhood shows the damage after an earthquake measuring 7 plus on the Richter scale rocked Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 2010. Photo by UN Photo/Logan Abassi United Nations Development Programme

Haiti is geographically located in an area prone to hydro-meteorological and geophysical hazards, which can have a catastrophic impact on infrastructure of all kinds. This is particularly dangerous given the lack of state funds to potentially repair the damage provoked by natural disasters.

The state of schools became even more precarious once a massive earthquake in 2010 took place, with 82% of schools, public and private, in the affected regions being damaged or destroyed[18]. To put things into perspective, the event was considered at the time the most significant national disaster registered in the Western Hemisphere[19], its repercussions are being felt to this day. Haiti received a significant amount of international assistance, with the international community donating almost 10 billion US $ for rebuilding[20], along with a massive influx of NGOs involved in various domains, from education to fair governance.

A similar scenario occurred in August of 2021, when a magnitude of 7.2 earthquake affected roughly 340,000 and destroyed or damaged 1250 schools, according to UNICEF data.[21] What is even more worrisome is that six months after the catastrophe, 4 out of 5 damaged schools were not rebuilt[22]. This led to two scenarios: either children were forced to study in spaces that endangered their health and physical well-being, in buildings not entirely safe for use, or they had to put their studies on hold until the rebuilding of their educational institution. Regardless of the scenario, children were discouraged from continuing their studies, even more so than by the ever-present tuition fees.

As presented above, the educational system is lacking in many areas, leading to a dangerous situation for the development of many children in the Caribbean state. The reality of Haiti is a complex one; the colonial past of the country still has a significant impact on the level of development of the country. There is no fixed solution for today’s issues in Haitian society, but acknowledging the influence of colonialism represents a first step towards creating a more targeted action plan for Haiti. As presented above, the educational system is lacking in many areas, leading to a dangerous situation for the development of many children in the Caribbean state.

References

  1. 10 Years of School Reconstruction in Haiti: What Did We Achieve? (2022, January 20). Enfoque Educación. https://blogs.iadb.org/educacion/en/aid/
  2. caldesign. (2015). Facts About Haiti – Schools for Haiti. Schools for Haiti. https://schoolsforhaiti.com/facts-about-haiti/
  3. countrymeters.info. (2019). Live Haiti population (2019) — Countrymeters. Countrymeters.info. https://countrymeters.info/en/Haiti
  4. Dropping out of school: An unwelcomed trend in Haiti. (2020, October 26). IIEP-UNESCO. https://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/dropping-out-school-unwelcomed-trend-haiti-13528
  5. Haiti (HTI) – Demographics, Health & Infant Mortality. (n.d.). UNICEF DATA. Retrieved July 24, 2023, from https://data.unicef.org/country/hti/#education
  6. Haiti – fertility rate 2019. (n.d.). Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/576437/fertility-rate-in-haiti/
  7. Haiti | FINANCING FOR EQUITY | Education Profiles. (n.d.). Education-Profiles.org. Retrieved July 24, 2023, from https://education-profiles.org/latin-america-and-the-caribbean/haiti/~financing-for-equity
  8. Haiti Education System. (n.d.). www.scholaro.com. https://www.scholaro.com/db/countries/Haiti/Education-System
  9. Haiti: Six months after the earthquake, more than 4 out of 5 schools destroyed or damaged are yet to be rebuilt. (2022, February 14). www.unicef.org. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/haiti-six-months-after-earthquake-more-4-out-5-schools-destroyed-or-damaged-are-yet
  10. Humanitarian Action for Children Haiti TO BE REACHED 2.7 million people 7. (2019). https://www.unicef.org/media/132191/file/2023-HAC-Haiti.pdf
  11. Kwok, T. C. (2016, March 11). Continued Challenges in Rebuilding Haiti. E-International Relations. http://www.e-ir.info/2016/03/11/continued-challenges-in-rebuilding-haiti/
  12. National income per capita Haiti 2019. (n.d.). Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1070168/gross-national-income-per-capita-haiti/
  13. Rosalsky, G. (2021, October 5). “The Greatest Heist In History”: How Haiti Was Forced To Pay Reparations For Freedom. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/10/05/1042518732/-the-greatest-heist-in-history-how-haiti-was-forced-to-pay-reparations-for-freed
  14. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell’s remarks at the ECOSOC Special Session on Haiti – “Saving Lives: Addressing the urgent food security needs of Haiti.” (n.d.). Www.unicef.org. Retrieved July 24, 2023, from https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russells-remarks-ecosoc-special-session-haiti

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/10/05/1042518732/-the-greatest-heist-in-history-how-haiti-was-forced-to-pay-reparations-for-freed

[2] https://www.unicef.org/media/132191/file/2023-HAC-Haiti.pdf

[3] https://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/dropping-out-school-unwelcomed-trend-haiti-13528

[4] https://www.scholaro.com/db/countries/Haiti/Education-system

[5] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russells-remarks-ecosoc-special-session-haiti

[6] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russells-remarks-ecosoc-special-session-haiti

[7] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russells-remarks-ecosoc-special-session-haiti

[8] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-executive-director-catherine-russells-remarks-ecosoc-special-session-haiti

[9] https://schoolsforhaiti.com/facts-about-haiti/

[10] https://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/dropping-out-school-unwelcomed-trend-haiti-13528

[11] https://education-profiles.org/latin-america-and-the-caribbean/haiti/~financing-for-equity

[12] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1070168/gross-national-income-per-capita-haiti/

[13] https://www.statista.com/statistics/576437/fertility-rate-in-haiti/

[14] https://education-profiles.org/latin-america-and-the-caribbean/haiti/~financing-for-equity

[15] https://data.unicef.org/country/hti/#education

[16] https://data.unicef.org/country/hti/#education

[17] https://countrymeters.info/en/Haiti

[18] https://blogs.iadb.org/educacion/en/aid/

[19] http://www.e-ir.info/2016/03/11/continued-challenges-in-rebuilding-haiti/

[20] http://www.e-ir.info/2016/03/11/continued-challenges-in-rebuilding-haiti/

[21] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/haiti-six-months-after-earthquake-more-4-out-5-schools-destroyed-or-damaged-are-yet

[22] https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/haiti-six-months-after-earthquake-more-4-out-5-schools-destroyed-or-damaged-are-yet

More than half of all refugee children are out of school

Written by Isaac Kuugaayeng

Education is a basic human right and tool that can transform individuals’ lives and yield more significant societal change. Education empowers, enlightens, and gives protection. Maybe not everyone is fond of the traditional schooling system of their own country, but no one can deny the power of learning – and this is what we should stand for. So, useful or not, knowledge should still be easier to access. Those who want to learn should be able to do so, especially in this era of digitalization, where many valuable teaching and learning tools can now be stored and accessed on the internet. The developed world can boast about parents waking their younger kids, preparing and taking them to daycare. Older kids and teenagers eagerly enter through the gates of their educational institutions in their parents’ cars or their school buses with beaming smiles on their faces.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, school is where refugees are offered a second opportunity. Failure to make this opportunity available to refugees will be an absolute denial of the chance to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills, which will be a springboard for their future development. Pathetic enough, it appears education is only a privilege in some parts of the world. The situation is worse in conflict areas where the conditions for providing education are incredibly challenging. There are 75 million children living in places devastated by violence, which means that educational institutions are under attack, and students and teachers get hurt.  In many refugee camps, there is no daycare. There are no schools or other educational institutions, let alone universities. Some people in these parts do not even know that such establishments exist. The chances for learning are slim, and education is consistently dwindling now and then, with the illiteracy rate skyrocketing. According to the UN Refugee Agency report from August 2019, about 3.7 million refugee children do not attend school. The statistics from the UNHCR indicate that as of August of last year, only 24 % of refugee children were enrolled in secondary school, while scarcely 3 % attended university.

The gross decline in the drop out of school by refugee children could be a result of the lack of funding for refugee education. In many refugee camps, the basic infrastructure needed to support schooling are readily unavailable because of the lack of funding from central and local governments, private sector individuals, civil society organizations and NGOs, churches etc. 

Syrian refugee children attend a lesson in a UNICEF temporary classroom in northern Lebanon. Photo by Russell Watkins/DFID

Moreover, for many refugees, their survival is their principal concern. Focus on education will only be futile for some refugees because their minds are not mentally and psychologically psyched enough to take the academic burden that may set in when they enroll in schools. Hence, access to education is often overlooked and seen as a secondary matter, and its importance is degraded. The displacement of refugees usually lasts from 10 to 20 years. In a worst-case scenario, this can lead to a 20-year-old or older person without any education or the will to pursue it. It often shows that age is a massive barrier to pursuing education, especially elementary. The older people get, the less confidence they have in themselves regarding learning. Even in instances where these refugees defy the odds and make it a point to still go to school, the chances of going far and getting into university or college are so slim.

As said by Gandhi, there is a need for greater investment in refugee education to ensure that children who are victims of such circumstances do not just have their future shattered but will get the chance to be educated and make meaningful contributions to society. This implies that educating refugee children does not result in any ‘instant’ benefit. It does not provide shelter, nor does it feed hungry mouths. But it brings hope and gives purpose, drawing these children toward a better and fulfilled future. In many countries, educating refugees is daunting as they are frequently stationed in parts where the countries in question struggle with educating their citizens. Still, some refugee camps offer basic schooling. It may not be of the most excellent quality, but it helps ignite interest in learning. Studying can provide a daily structure, which is of high importance in the misplaced life of a refugee child. Many of them are alone, not accompanied by their families, and learning in classes with other children provides foundations for further education and the comforting company of others.

It is important to note that not only is the inclusion of refugee children into the school system a critical issue, but also for the greater good of society. This suffices to say that the inclusion of refugee children into the school should not be limited to just some unofficial parallel schools, but rather the recognized national education system as this will give them a chance to follow a formal, recognized curriculum through pre-primary, primary and secondary school. This will provide them with the credentials that will allow them to pursue higher education or more technical training. Education gives children a sense of normality and teaches them about life outside of their current, vulnerable environment. One of the education briefs of the UNHCR stated that “Educated children and youth stand a greater chance of becoming adults who can participate effectively in civil society in all contexts.” Going to school allows easier integration into the new environment. The approach to educating refugees will be more impactful and rewarding than ever. Turkey, for instance, provides Turkish language training to help refugees integrate more quickly. Children feel more secure going to school if they at least understand the language basics. They can better follow the lessons and feel included and like they belong.

There have been more substantial improvements in the situation than years ago. However, there is still room for bettering the situation. We cannot anticipate any significant change if we do not strive to improve the world in every way possible. Governments across the globe can contribute to making the situation better. Private individuals, churches, and societies who wish to make the world a better place can also donate to many nonprofit organizations to make better the condition of refugee children and reduce the steep decline in the dropout. Also, there are a lot of people who leave their comfortable homes and nations in order to aid and educate young children who have probably never even seen a book in their lives, and such individuals deserve the support of the world in such a great course.

Sources:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/millions-are-still-out-of-school-this-is-the-worlds-plan-to-change-that/

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/29956/HighCostOfNotEducatingGirls.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y

https://www.unhcr.org/education.html

https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/refugee-education-crisis-more-half-worlds-school-age-refugee-children-do-not-get#:~:text=Contact%20Us-,Refugee%20education%20in%20crisis%3A%20More%20than%20half%20of%20the%20world’s,in%20a%20report%20released%20today

The Educational Crisis in Tigray: The Devastating Effects of Civil War in Northwestern Ethiopia

Written by Joan Vilalta

After enduring the hardships of the Covid-19 pandemic, which implied a range of socioeconomic challenges, including educational impoverishment due to the closure of schools, the Tigray territory in northwestern Ethiopia suffered yet another blow in November of 2020, when civil war struck the region. The consequences of the conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia’s National Defence Forces (ENDF), aided by the Eritrean military, represent one of the most devastating humanitarian crises in the world, piling on top of several longstanding crises in Ethiopia such as severe drought and acute famine. The consequences of this conflict are broad, including a critical situation regarding education. 

According to the latest UN OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) report on the matter, around 85% of the schools in Tigray have been partially or entirely damaged by the conflict, and some 411.000 school-age children are in dire need of essential services, which profoundly affects their educational development. The UN plans to cover the needs of 3.6 million affected children and almost 190.000 teachers by providing accelerated learning activities for those who have been out of school for more than three years and providing psychosocial and mental health support services and learning packages.[1]

The current conflict was prompted by a power struggle between the TPLF and the current Ethiopian president Abiy Ahmed. The TPLF ruled the country for over thirty years until Ahmed came to power in 2018 to dismantle the TPLF’s regime. As Ahmed became the president of the country, he managed to rearrange the political power while ostracizing the TPLF. Parallelly, Ahmed also managed to end the longstanding war with neighbouring Eritrea.

On the 4th of November 2020, the government accused the TPLF of attacking a military base near Mekelle and ordered a military intervention to address the situation while calling for the aid of Eritrean forces and Tigray’s neighbouring region’s militias. Since then, the scale of the conflict has grown exponentially, with both sides committing mass killings and other atrocities that have called the attention of the international community. Ethnic discrimination against Tigrayans has been speculated to be entangled with the motivations of this war. It should be considered that while the focus of the conflict was on Tigray, conflict consequences eventually extended to the neighbouring regions of Amhara and Afar.

In March 2022, the government agreed to an indefinite ceasefire, but the conflict resumed in August. Nevertheless, a permanent cessation of hostilities was agreed upon in November 2022. While at this moment, the situation seems to have calmed down, Ethiopia now faces the aftermath of a devastating conflict, which calls for accountability on both sides as well as amending the several crises stemming from the war, among them the educational crisis. 

One of the main reasons why the war on Tigray provoked an educational crisis was the military occupation of schools to use them as bases, accompanied by the plundering, pillaging, and looting of academic centres and the extensive structural damage suffered by the buildings. 

IDP families and children at Primaray School in Mekelle IDP center April 15, 2021. Photo by UNICEF Ethiopia.

There have been many examples of this on both sides of the conflict. For instance, the historical school of Atse Yohannes in Mekelle was used by the ENDF for half a year, Eritrean forces used a primary school in Basen, and the TPLF used an elementary school in Bissober. This, of course, prompted the closure of schools, impeding the attendance of teachers and students, and resulted in extensive damage to infrastructure and school material since the use of the school would make the school a likely confrontation scenario. In some cases, it even resulted in derogatory messages towards locals being painted on the school walls. 

According to several sources, around 2.8 million children missed out on education because of the war, and more than 2000 causalities have been reported regarding students and teachers. 

The death of teachers and principals also represents a problem since it has generated a shortage of school staff, especially in areas where access to such qualifications is reduced. Due to this shortage, teachers are now forced to have many students in each class, making monitoring students’ progress closely difficult.

Beyond the military use of schools, a range of problems regarding quality and access to education emerged from the war. Trauma and psychological duress have been rampant among students and teachers, negatively impacting their capacity to attain their learning objectives. 

Families’ financial losses provoked by the conflict, combined with extreme drought, famine, and health insecurity, have prompted students to stop learning activities to contribute to their family’s economy. Poverty has also hampered the recovery of damaged schools and the capacity to provide a salary for school staff. Teachers have also been more unable to perform their duties since they had to focus on surviving the situation.

The war on Tigray has generated an estimated 3.5 million internally displaced people, mostly women and children. Internally displaced students often found themselves in precarious situations and could not attend school. Students who moved to regions with different indigenous languages also found a barrier to school integration. In many cases, even to this day, internally displaced people and refugees from the war have sheltered themselves inside schools, the occupation of the space being an obstacle to resuming regular school activity.

According to research on the impact of armed violence on students’ educational attainment in Tigray, the school enrollment rates dropped dramatically due to conflict (almost a 10% decline in the studied areas), and educational wastage overall increased, with dropout and repetition rates at risk of rising. Moreover, the long-term impact of the educational crises is the potential lack of social capital and skills of future generations, rendering the communities of Tigray even more vulnerable.

While humanitarian aid is currently reaching the affected areas in northwestern Ethiopia, it should be noted that the mere reopening of schools without further consideration won’t be a fully effective solution. Facilities will need to be safely rebuilt, and students and teachers will have to deal with the traumatic experience of war and loss in the coming years. Tigray’s educational system was not built overnight, and recovery will not be quick either. Aid and resources such as school materials or teacher training will be crucial to restore the system.

Finally, it should be noted that this educational crisis was not entirely unavoidable. The occupation and looting of schools for military purposes are rarely justified under Ethiopian law. They can constitute a war crime and a human rights violation since it deprives children of access to education. More than that, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child has urged African countries to ban the use of schools for military purposes or to enact specific measures to discourage it. The African Union Peace and Security Council has also called upon African countries to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration, which contains concrete protection measures. In this sense, Broken Chalk encourages the Ethiopian authorities to support such mandates, to strengthen the law and its application to protect the educational system, as well as to provide the necessary aid sociopsychological and material to affected students and school staff during the coming years to ensure they can recover and strive for the development they deserve.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Assefa, Y., Tilwani, S. A., Moges, B. T., & Shah, M. A. (2022). The impact of armed violence on students’ educational attainment and the role of parents in resilience schooling and the education process. Heliyon, 8(12), e12192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12192

Cable News Network (CNN). (2022, November 11). Tigray conflict: Fast facts. CNN. Retrieved from: https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/11/world/tigray-war-fast-facts/index.html

Ethiopia Insight. (2022, August 14). Students’ learning in Tigray is being crippled by the war. Ethiopia Insight. Retrieved from: https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2022/08/14/students-learning-in-tigray-is-being-crippled-by-the-war/

Human Rights Watch. (2021, May 28). Ethiopia: Tigray schools occupied, looted. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from:  https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/05/28/ethiopia-tigray-schools-occupied-looted

Humanium. (2022, August 9). Ethnic cleansing and grave violations of children’s rights in Ethiopia’s Western Tigray region. Humanium. Retrieved from: https://www.humanium.org/en/ethnic-cleansing-and-grave-violations-of-childrens-rights-in-ethiopias-western-tigray-region/

Link Education. (2022, January 6). Impact of the Northern Ethiopian War on education. Link Education. Retrieved from: https://linkeducation.org.uk/impact-of-the-northern-ethiopian-war-on-education/

NPR. (2021, March 5). 9 things to know about the unfolding crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. NPR. Retrieved from: https://www.npr.org/2021/03/05/973624991/9-things-to-know-about-the-unfolding-crisis-in-ethiopias-tigray-region

[1] UN OCHA REPORT (https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/ethiopia/card/5TCJFYzqI4/)

Educational Challenges in Saudi Arabia

Written by Matilde Ribetti

The importance of education

Every individual has a right to education as it is the cornerstone of human progress. The ancient Greeks, who created the notion paideia, namely the holistic formation of the pais (young man) and the Romans, who eventually translated it into humanitas, were already aware of its significance. In fact, Cicero himself clarified the content of the latter concept by drawing a fundamental connection between the passion for knowledge and the elevation of human nature (Nybakken, O. E., 1939).

Throughout the centuries, the right to education underwent a number of changes before landing at its current formulation in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Modern society has now recognized its universal, accessible, and mandatory nature, at least in its early phases, and this is of fundamental importance when contextualized in contemporary culture.

Brief history of the Saudi education system

Saudi students study in the Prince Salman Library at the King Saud University in Riyadh. Photo by Tribes of the World.

 

Saudi Arabia, as outlined in the Saudi Vision 2030 growth plan, has recognized this relevance and has been at the forefront among MENA countries in the field of education.

To be able to understand this plan of innovation, it is necessary to outline at least the most general features of the historical and political background.
The three identity lines constituting the core of Saudi society are Islam, tribalism, and oil trade (Ochsenwald, W. L., 2019). As far as education is concerned, of the three the most interesting element is certainly the religious one: Saudi Arabia is an Islam Sunnite theocratic state whose citizenship can only be obtained by professors of the Muslim religion (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ministry of Interior Ministerial Agency of Civil Affairs, 1954).

The greatest support of such a close link between religion and State is surely the educational system, which since the seventh century has been articulated in various institutions related to the religious sphere. The most prominent examples are the kataatiib, elementary schools where young Saudis are taught the principles of the Quran (Esposito, John L., ed., 2003). Over the centuries, particularly under Ottoman rule, schools and teaching methods underwent numerous changes, culminating in modern times in a radical centralization of the system, presided over by the Governmental Directorate of Education (Rugh, W. A., 2002).

Oil business revenues played a key role in financing government educational projects. Particularly, in the late 1970s’ the State championed a series of development plans resulting in the extraordinary increase in school enrollment by 192% at the elementary level, 375% at the intermediate level, and 712% at the secondary level (Anon, 2020).

Now, in the context of Saudi Vision 2030, the education sector is being swept up in a new wave of investment aimed at equipping Saudi students with the tools they need to tackle “the jobs of the future” (Vision 2030, 2022).   In concrete terms, the considerable public spending (17.5 percent SAR 1.1 trillion in 2019) has resulted in the construction of 719 new schools and in a substantial school staff re-training program (KSA budget report, 2018).

The entire modernization process has thus culminated in the establishment of a system that nowadays looks like this: the country is equipped with an extensive network of public education centers segregated by gender and divided into three basic levels, elementary (six years), intermediate (three years) and secondary (three years) (Barry, A., 2019).

Accessibility

In terms of accessibility, the system can be said to be quite advanced: looking at the three regions with the lowest human development index in the country (0.855 HDI), namely Sourth Narjiran, Asir and Jizan it can be noted that the ratio schools – population is even more favorable than in the Riyadh province, the most prosperous in the country (Subnational HDI, 2023).

In fact, while the southern provinces have about 1 school for every 600 citizens residing in the territory, the populous capital region, although home to 38.9 % of Saudi educational institutions, has a value of 1 to 1392 in terms of school-citizen ratio (Saudi Arabia Education Report, 2021).

Another determinant factor  of accessibility is affordability: government schools are free for the entire population. However, the presence of numerous international private schools and the renown associated with them risks undermining equality in achieving the best schooling, on the basis of economic discrimination (Anon, 2020). However, it is pointed out that the public system, by virtue of the aforementioned centralization, is the most frequented by the population and therefore this constitutes a minor problem (Saudi Arabia Education Report, 2021).

Overall, the Saudi education system can be said to enjoy good accessibility, as evidenced by the growth of the student population by more than 6 percentage points in just four years (Saudi Arabia Education Report, 2021).

For economically disadvantaged students

However, formal equity does not necessarily correspond to substantive equity: while on paper the school system is equally accessible to all citizens from all income brackets, studies show that, in essence, students from economically disadvantaged families do not enjoy the same privileges.

Data report that the percentage of students under the age of fifteen coming from disadvantaged economic backgrounds who repeated an academic year amounts to 24.2 percent, compared with an average of 20.3% reported in Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

In contrast, economically privileged students who found themselves having to repeat a year of their course of study amounted to only 3.3%, compared with 5.0% recorded in OECD countries.
These data highlight how the range of inequality regarding educational opportunities is eminently wide in KSA, where 20.9 percentage points divide disadvantaged students from privileged ones (compared with an average of 15.3 percent in OECD countries).

Other relevant indicators concern the student-teacher ratio among students in either socio- economically disadvantaged or advantaged schools. Here, too, the measured disparity rates are worryingly high when compared to the OECD average and motivate the poor performance of disadvantaged students in both mathematics and the humanities (Education GPS, 2018).

In light of the above, it is clear that the Kingdom still needs to take many steps to succeed in smoothing out the aforementioned differences so that every individual can fully enjoy his or her right to education.

For women

Another peculiarity to be taken into consideration is gender segregation, which in itself is not an obstacle to the use of educational services but may in some cases be a pretext for degrading education addressed to a gender, often the female one. Yet the data speak for themselves: in Saudi Arabia, female students follow the same curricular program and put to the test they outperform male students in all areas surveyed, including math, science, and curriculum subjects (Abdourahmane , B, 2021).

Such a result seems to support the hypothesis that, particularly in the MENA area, the division between males and females allows the latter to emancipate themselves more easily and express their intellectual qualities free from the social pressures related to the male-female relationship (Eisenkopf, Hessami, Fischbacher, & Ursprung, 2015).

The choice of curriculum subjects is a perfect example of this: in an all-female school it was found that female students felt more comfortable choosing science-oriented subjects, even though usually perceived as “boy stuff” (Sanford, K., & Blair, H., 2013).
In view of this, it can be inferred that the gender segregation system is not a detriment to the education of young Saudi women, quite the contrary.

Additionally, enrollment rates in primary and secondary educational institutions are reported to be almost the same for men and women (Abdourahmane , B, 2021) and in 2018, 66 percent of natural science, mathematics and statistics graduates were women (OECD, 2019).

However, the real issue for a Saudi woman arises once she completes her studies. The unemployment rate for women stands at 21.5 percent, compared to 3.5 percent for men (World Bank Data, 2013). As reported by the OECD women are still less likely to work despite improving gender equality in tertiary attainment levels due to the “regulatory barriers of a conservative society,” combined with endemic discrimination against women and a gendered educational system (Alfarran, A., Pyke, J., & Stanton, P., 2018). The latter, while it does not prevent women from obtaining an adequate education, it does in part prevent them from employing the knowledge they have acquired in the labor market.

In this respect, the data on the accessibility of the educational system for women should be read in conjunction with that on the labor market, so as to have a more complete picture of its critical points.

Saudi Ambassador Visits His Children at ASIS. Photo by Lwi932.

Quality

One of the methods used to assess the quality of a school system is to conceive it as a production system divided into inputs and outputs.
By inputs we mean the stimuli provided to students through curricular programs, methods, staff, and teaching materials, while outputs are student performances, not only in terms of academics, but also participation and long-term impact on society wise (OECD, 2000).

Looking at the case of the KSA, the first critical issue related to inputs provided by the system concerns schools whose principal reported that the school’s capacity to provide instruction is hindered to some extent or a lot by a lack of educational material, which amount to 44.4 percent against an average of 28.4 percent in OECD countries.

A similar figure is found in relation to the lack of teaching staff: 49.5 %of schools complain of such a shortage, compared with an average of 27.1% in OECD countries.

These shortcomes result in relatively lower academic outcomes than the OECD metric. Saudi students scored on average 100 points lower than their OECD peers in tests on reading, mathematics and science. However, it is indicated by PISA that the average for OECD countries amounts to 500, with values ranging from 400 to 600. Therefore, it can be said that KSA falls within a good range of achievement.

Based on the above, it can be concluded that in general the Saudi system, although not without critical issues, boasts an adequate overall quality resulting in fairly good academic preparation and cultural training of students.

In conclusion, Saudi Arabia has faced many challenges in the education sector in recent decades. However, the government has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to improving the quality of education and providing educational opportunities for its citizens. The expansion of public schools and the establishment of new universities are just some of the positive steps taken by the country. Despite this, there are still some issues to be resolved, such as gender inequality and the need to develop a more equal educational system in terms of economic opportunities. This is why it is necessary for government authorities to give absolute priority to the issue: education is a basic human right, and only through quality, inclusive and equitable education Saudi society will progress and prosper.

 

Bibliography

Educational challenges in Pakistan

Written by Sara Ahmed

 

Introduction

Education lays the foundation for political, social and economic development of any country.[1] As a developing country, Pakistan has faced many critical problems when it comes to education and has one of the world’s highest numbers of out-of-school children (OOSC). There are various factors responsible for the educational situation in Pakistan. This article explores some of the challenges that Pakistan faces when it comes to the educational sector.

The Pakistani educational system

The Pakistani educational system exists of public schools, private schools and madrassas. Madrassas are working as Islamic Seminaries; they are imparting Islamic education at graduation level and are often found in more rural areas of Pakistan. These different institutions all have different mediums of teaching, curricula, and also examination systems. This is a barrier in the countries education sector, because it has become a dividing force between the privileged and underprivileged people in the society, leading to economic disparity.[2]

Across all levels of education, the public sector remains the main provider for educational services in Pakistan. Except for the pre-primary level, total enrollment in public schools is almost double compared to private schools.[3] The majority of public schools in Pakistan are primary schools; only 20% are middle and secondary schools. Limited and uneven school access is one of the most daunting challenges for augmenting school enrollment and completion.

Image 1

As can be seen from Image 1, The United Nations Development Program mentioned that in 2020, 64% of the Pakistani youth lived in urban areas and 26% in rural areas. 70% of the Pakistani youth was literate, while 30% was illiterate in 2020. Furthermore, 39% of the youth was employed, while the majority (61%) was unemployed and only 4% looking for a job. Another issue is the access to internet. Only 15% of the youth had access to internet in 2020, while 85% did not. 48% of the youth did not even have a mobile phone. The latter was a huge issue during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan.

 

Another important issue is that of gender disparity. Throughout Pakistan’s educational system, there is a gender disparity between males and females. According to the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, Pakistan was ranked the second worst country in the world regarding gender inequality.[4] This is of most concern in more rural areas where access to education for girls is limited.

Out-of-school children (OOSC) and literacy rates

Another major problem that Pakistan faces is that it has one of the world highest numbers of OOSC. Estimated is that 22.8 million children between the age of 5-16 are not attending school; representing 44 per cent of the total population in this age group.[5] The disparities based on gender, socio-economic status and geography are significant. In Sindh for example, 52 per cent of the poorest children (of which 58 per cent are girls) are out of school. The figures are even higher in Balochistan, where 78 per cent of girls are out of school.[6]

Image 2.

On image 2, one can see the different stages of education; the number of children enrolled in the type of education and the number of out-of-school children in that stage.

The socio-economic disparities in Pakistan do not only exist between rural an urban regions, but also between the different provinces in Pakistan. This has an impact on educational outcomes, including gaps in access to education and overall education attainment. A good example is the literacy rate in Pakistan. In the bigger cities, such as Lahore and Islamabad and Karachi, the literacy rates are almost 75%. On the other hand, we have the tribal regions in Balochistan (Pakistan’s poorest and largest province) where the literacy rates can be as low as 9%.[7]

Quality of education

According to a report of UNESCO, the quality of educational institutions and teachers in Pakistan is very low. In remote parts of Pakistan, the availability of teachers is drastically lower.[8] There are also a lot of so called ‘ghost teachers’ that sap public payrolls by not showing up for work. While most of these problems are worse at the elementary level, where most of Pakistan’s students are enrolled, they have ripple effects for the entire education system and depress enrollment rates at all levels.

Furthermore, teachers are often not provided with the necessary equipment’s and training for the knowledge and skills. The main reason is the poor management, lack of finding and improper training standards. In addition to this, the curriculum is often outdated, resulting in a major lack of professional development.

Most students in Pakistan attend public schools. Public schools often do not contribute to a positive learning environment. The classrooms tend to be overcrowded, the electricity and air conditioning is not always working, insufficient use of playgrounds and libraries and most schools do not have commuting systems in place, which exacerbated female drop-out rates. Long home- to-school distances and poor transportation and communication facilities are among the important causes of dropout at the primary level in Pakistan. Poor children, especially girls who are not allowed to travel long distances alone, suffer the most as commuting costs and time increase.

In an interview with TCM Originals, Tariq Banury (a Pakistani educationist, professor and economist), opens up about the current struggles of the Pakistani educational system. He explains that a lot of students, after finishing their degree, do not have the basic skills they should possess. He blames the process in which professors are hired and the outdated curriculum. He continues to explain that professors and curriculum should not stand still, but should evolve with time and science available.[9]

Another major issue is the government’s annual spending on the educational field. Most of the United Nation’s agencies recommend countries to spend a minimum expenditure of 4% on education. Pakistan had only spent 1,77% of GDP on education in 2021-2022. In recent years, the highest percentage of GDP Pakistan has spent on education was in 2017-18, when education expenditures were raised to 2.12%. The usual argument given for lack of spending on education has always been and still is that Pakistan does not have the resources to increase the level of spending on the educational field.[10]

The effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 Pandemic also had its effect on Pakistan and its educational system. Because of COVID-19, Pakistan had to consider using online classes. However, many students, especially in rural areas, do not and did not have access to the Internet. Students who are on the lower ladder of the economical circle and students who live in rural areas had been greatly disadvantaged by this new learning method. Many students did not have access to a laptop or even internet. This has greatly impacted the lives of many students in Pakistan, who therefore could not access their education online.[11] This has also resulted in high drop-out rates across the various levels of education in Pakistan.[12]

Low-income families have been the hardest hit by the pandemic. High rates of poverty have put more burden on adolescent girls to stay at home to reduce schooling costs. Coupled with household chores and early marriage, many may never return to the classrooms.[13]  Pakistan was already struggling with high illiteracy rates, the Pandemic has made this situation even worse and has affected the learning of approximately 40 million students across Pakistan.[14]

Conclusion

Pakistan’s educational system has improved over the years, but still tends to rely too heavily on outdated teaching and examination methods. While great strides have been made in improving literacy and participation rates, the education system remains largely elitist with access to the best educational opportunities available only to the more affluent or well-connected students. Furthermore, the COVID-19 Pandemic has had a great impact on the lives of many students who could not access education at the time and increased the drop-out rates across all educational levels in Pakistan. Additionally, Pakistan does not spend the suggested minimum amount of 4% of GDP on education, the percentage is not even half of the suggested amount by the United Nations Bodies. Pakistan does have the intention to increase its annually spending on the educational field. Is this a feasible goal? Only time can tell. In the meantime, many students will still struggle to access the educational system of Pakistan.

 

 

References

 

[1] Iqbal Ahmad et al, ‘Critical analysis of the problems of education in Pakistan: possible solutions’, IJERE (3:2) June 2014, p 79.

[2] Robert Hunter, World Education Services: Education in Pakistan (2020), >https://wenr.wes.org/2020/02/education-in-pakistan< accessed on 5 March 2023.

[3] ADB Briefs, ‘Access Challenges to Education in Pakistan’ (2022), NO. 27, <https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/771091/adb-brief-207-access-challenges-education-pakistan.pdf< accessed on 6 March 2023.

[4] World Economic Forum, ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2016’ (2016) p 22.

[5] Unicef, ‘Education: giving every child the right to education’, <https://www.unicef.org/pakistan/education> accessed on 6 March 2023.

[6] Idem.

[7] Robert Hunter, World Education Services: Education in Pakistan (2020), >https://wenr.wes.org/2020/02/education-in-pakistan< accessed on 5 March 2023.

[8] Unicef, ‘Education: giving every child the right to education’, <https://www.unicef.org/pakistan/education> accessed on 6 March 2023.

[9] TCM Orginals, ‘Does Pakistan’s Higher Education System Need Reform? Educationist Tariq Banuri’ (2021), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPkv9hEIUJw.

[10] Sahiba Abid, ‘Education in Pakistan: problems, challenges and perspectives (2022) >https://www.pakistangulfeconomist.com/2022/08/29/education-in-pakistan-problems-challenges-and-perspectives/< accessed on 3 March 2023.

[11] Adnan Muhammad “Online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Students perspectives” (2020) Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 1 (2): 45–51.

[12] Rabea Malik, ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on education in Pakistan’ (2020), https://www.cambridge.org/partnership/research/challenges-and-opportunities-pakistan-education-systems-covid-19-response.

[13] Anooshay Abid, ‘How has COVID impacted Pakistans’s education system?’ (2021), https://www.dw.com/en/how-has-covid-impacted-pakistans-education-system/a-59264829.

[14] Idem.

Educational challenges in Namibia

Written by Kim Lothaller

Namibia, known to be the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, is a geographically large nation. This country, which borders South Africa, Angola, Botswana, and Zambia, also has a 1,500-kilometre south Atlantic coastline. Although, Namibia is quite vast, only approximately 2.53 million people live here. Sound economic management and political stability have reduced poverty levels and, in turn, has allowed Namibia to be recognised as an upper-middle-income country. Nonetheless, socioeconomic inequalities, heightened by the past apartheid government systems, remain quite high (1).

Currently, the education system in Namibia is structured into four different levels, including pre-primary (kindergarten), primary (grades 1 to 7), secondary (grades 8 to 12), and tertiary education. Education is compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 16 years old respectively. With roughly two million citizens, approximately 1500 schools exist in this country, with around 100 of these being privately owned (2). Since 2016, primary and secondary education in government-owned schools have been free. As school is only mandatory till the age of 16 (or Grade 10), once students successfully complete this grade they receive a Junior Secondary School Certificate.

Figure 1 Student taking examination in Namibia.

As stated and seen in the Constitution:

Children shall not be allowed to leave school until they have completed their primary education cycle or have attained the age of sixteen (16) years, whichever is the sooner, save in so far as this may be authorised by Act of Parliament on grounds of health or other considerations pertaining to the public interest (Constitution of the Republic of Namibia Article 20). (7)

Additionally, should students choose to continue their education, students will receive a Namibia Senior Secondary Education Certificate once Grade 12 has been successfully completed (4).

Despite primary school being compulsory and free, enrolment rates in Namibian school is only around 80%, with gender and regional differences existing. Additionally, the drop-out rate ranges between 1% and 10%, with these being particularly high in Grades 1, 5, and 10 (5). In a country bigger than Belgium and France put together, with great areas of desert, the proper authorities are struggling to provide quality education to hard-to-reach communities and, furthermore, ensure that children remain in the system. It has been found that there is a repetition rate of over 20% in Grade 5 and close to 50% of students in Grade 10 fail their exams (6).

Main Educational Problems in Namibia

Access to Education: 

Although primary school attendance rates have increased over the past years, getting an education in rural and outlying locations continues to be difficult. Many schools in these regions lack basic amenities like electricity and water, and students frequently have to travel great distances to get to school (6). Learners from these vulnerable communities often see high repetition rates (especially in Grades 1,5, and 8) and soaring drop-out rates (particularly after Grade 10, after school is compulsory anymore). Additionally, on average, only 1 out 100 learners living in rural Namibia graduate from Grade 12 (7).

Education Quality: 

Although the government has made investments to raise education standards in Namibia, this issue still exists. Several schools lack sufficient skilled instructors, instructional supplies, and fundamental infrastructure, which, as a result, has a severe effect on the standard of education that students receive (6). As a result, in all 13 defined educational regions, the majority of the learners are not able to reach the minimum standards in the English reading level. For example, at the overall national level, only 16.6% of the learners were able to reach the minimum level (learners who will barely survive the next year of schooling) in reading literacy, while only a 6.7% managed to reach the desirable level (learners who will definitely succeed the following academic year) (3).

Additionally, data continues to show that a lack of sufficient and adequate teaching and learning materials, sanitation, physical facilities, and other necessary conditions exist to allow a good teaching and learning environment. This disparity is even more obvious in former disadvantaged areas and regions. This data, however, seems to severely contradict the Namibian constitution and policy documents, specifically the ‘Towards Education for All’ document, which requires that:

To provide education for all, we must expand access to our education system. For that, we need not just have more schools but schools and other education programmes where learning is truly accessible to all Namibians (MEC, 1993:34,103) (3).

Inequality and High drop-out rates:

In Namibia, education disparity is a serious problem. Challenges remain in the access for pastoralists and nomadic groups, HIV/AIDS pandemic, and natural disasters. As a result, many kids, who often face financial difficulties, a lack of access to basic amenities as well as subpar academic results, often decide to leave school prematurely (8). When compared to their peers from more fortunate circumstances, students from underprivileged backgrounds frequently have less access to high-quality education (7). Additionally, ‘school under the tree’ is still very common in this country. This image truly symbolises the unequal distribution of facilities and resources amongst the urban and rural schools. For example, more than 47 000 primary school children are still taught under trees or in ‘traditional’ classrooms, with a large portion of these not having any basic services such as clean water, toilets, and electricity (3).

Quality and equity are important components and are well embodied in education policy documents and official reports. These documents and reports highlight the access expansions, access to high quality of education, and facilitation of economic growth and competitiveness.  The ‘Towards Education for All’ policy document in Namibia emphasises that a major hurdle for quality and equity in this country’s education system is the obvious inequitable distribution of resources amongst the different regions, which is linked to the history of Namibia (3). Additionally, this policy emphasises that:

Education for all does not simply mean more schools or more children in school. Nor does it mean that they simply start literacy classes or increase the number of places in programmes for out of school youth. Education for all requires that the government develop its system of education and training and how it organises it (MEC, 1993) (3).

EDUCATIONAL DIFFICULTIES RESULTING FROM THE EFFECTS OF COVID

Following the effects COVID-19 had on face-to-face teaching and learning time, nearly 90% of high school students in Namibia could not graduate at the end of 2022.  Out of the 38,000 students that wrote their final 2022 high school examinations, only around 5,000 of these managed to pass. Even though schools were not closed altogether during the of COVID, the significant loss of face-to-face teaching have led to the poor results seen in 2022. Out of the 198 school days planned learners were unable to master all the academic competencies needed to successfully progress to following grades. Additionally, during this time, the poor education infrastructure has become more obvious, with a shortage of classrooms, learning and teaching resources, as well as the absence of systematic support for teachers and learners at school levels. Furthermore, discipline amongst learners and teachers has slowly been declining and, as a result, weak monitoring and evaluation occurs at all levels of education (8).

Figure 2 Student sanitized her hand at a school in Windhoek, capital of Namibia (Photo by Ndalimpinga Iita/Xinhua)

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

  1. The World Bank. “Overview.” World Bank, 2016, www.worldbank.org/en/country/namibia/overview. Accessed 29 Mar. 2023.
  2. Shusko, Lisa. “The Successes and Challenges of the Namibian Education System.” Our Peace Corps Namibia Blog, 23 June 2015, shusko.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/the-successes-and-challenges-of-the-namibian-education-system/. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.
  3. Hailombe, O. (2011). Education Equity and Quality in Namibia: A case study of Mobile Schools in the Kunene Region. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/24256/Complete.pdf?sequence=10
  4. World Bank. Namibia Education Overview. 2020, www.worldbank.org/en/country/namibia/brief/namibia-education-overview. Accessed 31 Mar. 2023.
  5. ‌Wikan, G. (2008). Challenges in the primary education in Namibia. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://brage.inn.no/inn-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/133746/rapp07_2008.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y.
  6. Bellamy, C., & Sousa, G. (n.d.). Equitable access to Quality Education: Challenges in Namibia. Equitable Access to Quality Education: Challenges in Namibia | Capacity4dev. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://europa.eu/capacity4dev/articles/equitable-access-quality-education-challenges-namibia
  7. UNICEF. (2018, April 9). Improving school participation in Namibia. UNICEF Office of Innovation . Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.unicef.org/innovation/stories/digital-learning-platform-namibia

Education in Egypt: Addressing the Barriers to a Better Future

Exams in Egypt – Photo by Egyptian Center for Economic Social Rights

Written by N.Mohamed

Why is it important to educate our children? You have asked the same question before, whether now as a parent or when you were a child asking why should I go to school? Education opens the door to you, it helps you develop the skills needed to live. It widens your horizons and allows you to understand and respect your rights and your duties toward your society, your family, your home and the whole nation.

As an educated person, you become aware of your goals, career and the tools needed to improve your quality of life. We all faced challenges when we were at school and so did our parents, our challenges might not be the same as theirs and what will our children face will also differ from ours but the most important thing is to acknowledge these challenges and work on overcoming them.

The education system in Egypt consists of three phases for children in the age range of 4-14 years old. The first phase is kindergarten for 2 years followed by 6 years in primary then preparatory education for 3 years until secondary education which also lasts for 3 years before the student starts his/her university life.

Statistically and as published by Statista, This graph depicts the literacy rate in Egypt from 2006 to 2021. The literacy rate measures the percentage of people aged 15 and above who can read and write. In 2021, Egypt’s literacy rate was around 73.09 percent. Throughout this article, we will do our best to try and shed some light on the challenges that face education in Egypt, efforts done by the government to try and eradicate them and the image reflected by the local news in the country.

Quality of Education: This is affected by several factors such as the teaching styles considered rigid as it doesn’t encourage the student’s participation throughout the education process. The teacher/student ratio as the density of the pupils in class increased significantly in the past 5 years at the rate of 5.11 per cent between the school years 2015/16 and 2019/20. Adding to this, The infrastructure in some areas especially rural places are not fully prepared for the students. Some of them lack  functional water and sanitation facilities. In addition to what was mentioned above, Egypt now faces a shortage of staff in the educational field which is also considered an important challenge in the quality of education presented to the children.

On the other hand, although the private education sector might not have the same challenges as the public one however it is also of a very high cost that the average Egyptian citizen can’t afford so it is also considered a challenge.

To improve the quality of education and overcome these problems, UNICEF since 1992 is supporting the Ministry of education in Egypt in improving the education journey. This cooperation led to many projects that are helping the education process in Egypt to become better. For example, the Community-Based Education project which is by the help of UNICEF provides access to education to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children by adopting and scaling up a Community-based Education model.

Also, the government together with the ministry is working on a plan to take efficient decisions. As an example of this that was mentioned in a local newspaper in Egypt, a recent program was issued by the ministry to train 150 thousand teachers to be hired in the next five years as a means to decrease the shortage of staff and improve the teachers/student ratio. Also, in the past few years, the education system in Egypt and under the influence of Corona has transitioned to electronic education out of paper-based education. This will be discussed in more detail later in the article as this is also created a new challenge to education in Egypt that we need to highlight in more detail.

Dropout Rates in Education: Unicef defines dropout as follows “Children who are of educational age do not enrol in school or leave it without completing the educational stage in which they are studying, whether by their desire or as a result of other factors, as well as failure to attend regularly for a year or more.”

Most of the students in Egypt and as you can see in this graph were enrolled in general primary schooling during 2020/2021 about 13.4 million. On the contrary, you can see that a significantly lower number were enlisted in preparatory and general secondary education. This indicates that some students drop out and don’t continue their education after or even during the general primary phase.

The problem of dropouts is considered a major challenge to education. It has negative effects on the family, the society and the nation overall. In my opinion, increasing dropout rates are a consequence of the challenges mentioned in the quality of education however this is not the only factor.

Many studies have been performed to evaluate and understand the main reasons behind this challenge in the education process. These studies also provided general characteristics for the students who drop out of school and these characteristics are Children with limited mental abilities, Students with difficult economic conditions, Children who live in families suffering from social disintegration, Children who are competent but have problems with their teachers or colleagues, Children with special behaviour as a result of social and economic conditions that lead them to be aggressive towards their teachers and classmates.

By looking at data and statistics issued by the Ministry of Education and contained in the Annual Statistics Book 2021/2022. There are several indicators that we need to highlight to better understand this challenge and search for the possible causes. These causes can be summarised as follows:

1- Percentages of school dropouts: The percentage of school dropouts at the primary level in the period from 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 was about 0.2%, of whom 0.17% were girls and 0.23% were boys, compared to 0.25%, including 0.20% for girls, and 0.29% for boys in the period from 2018/2019 and 2019/2020.

The percentage of school dropouts in the preparatory stage in the period from 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 was about 0.87%, of whom 1.10% were girls and 0.66% were boys, compared to 1.73%, including 2.07% girls, and 1.40% boys in the period from 2018/ 2019 and 2019/2020.

Even though the dropout rates are declining and getting better but they still exist. But what we can notice from the graph that shows the dropout rates in the preparatory education phase, the percentage of girls dropping out is near twice that of boys. While it is quite the opposite in the primary education phase. This is an indication that due to social and economic needs, some families force children to work and leave their education so they can help with the income for the whole family. While in the preparatory stage, many families encourage the early marriage of the girls to get rid of their expenses and economic burdens.

This is a very important challenge and several reasons contribute to its increase and these causes are:

  • Economic factors are considered the primary cause of this phenomenon as the lack of the parent’s capability of providing for their children their needs force them to take such actions and harm their future.
  • Social factors reflect the family and the environment that the child lives in which plays an important role, for example some old social customs such as prioritizing boys’ education over girls and early marriage for girls.
  • Educational factors which are already mentioned in the quality of education part at the beginning of this article.

This makes us think, why is dropping out of school considered a challenge or a bad phenomenon that we try to eradicate? What is its impact on society? So to answer this question we will have to look at it from several axes.

  • Economic repercussions as the government spend money and this money is wasted on the students dropping out since the outcome that is expected can’t be achieved since the student is no longer being educated.
  • Educational implications: Education’s role in society is not just about teaching how to read, write and do simple maths. Its main goal is also to reform and impede the social change that is desirable for individuals.
  • Social repercussions: when a child is not in school and at this critical age is being left in the street he is being transformed into a dangerous version that may lead him to do crimes and acts of violence.

The government in Egypt is aware of this issue and is working on getting it to vanish at the soonest as I would like to highlight some of the efforts done by the government to help with this phenomenon eradicated.

  • The 2014 Constitution: Article 19 of the 2014 Constitution expands the right to free education mentioned in previous constitutions, as it states that education is a right for every citizen, and it aims to build the Egyptian character, preserve national identity, and instil the values ​​of citizenship, tolerance and non-discrimination, and the state is committed to.
  • Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 (Education Axis) which we will discuss in detail in the next part of the article.
  • The elaboration of a strategic plan to declare Egypt free of illiteracy by 2030.
  • Expanding the construction of public schools to reduce the density of classes.
  • An online tele-learning platform created by the General Authority for Adult Education during the coronavirus pandemic.

The transition from paper-based to technology-based education in Egypt:

Although the coronavirus pandemic was a disaster on all levels to the whole world, one can’t deny the impact it made on the countries both negative and positive. It was a tough time but at the same time, it was a great opportunity so everyone can stop and think about these questions. How can I keep going when everything around me, stops? How can I continue working/eating/learning/exercising and do everything just like nothing happened? How can I walk out of the pandemic a winner and not a loser?

These questions must have crossed your mind during the past 2 and a half years as the coronavirus and the lockdown was a blessing for some companies and economies for example the e-commerce field and it was not a blessing for others such as the retail stores that still don’t have online stores and depends only on the physical stores. This was also a start for education to move into a technology-based one since learning is essential and even during lockdowns or pandemics it’s important to continue the learning process as education and building the next generation is important for society and the country overall.

In Egypt, the e-learning process started as an execution of the government’s vision that by 2030 education should be of high and international standards and quality, should release a highly up-to-date and skilled member for the society and use technology to implement education and communication between both the teacher and the student. This has been seen by using tablets instead of paper books and using more advanced technologies to deliver the information by the teacher to the student. Although this is considered a huge step however it does create a lot of challenges for the teachers, parents and students which also creates a bigger challenge for the government and the ministry of education.

The system will eradicate the old education system’s ailments by turning the pupils from passive recipients into active participants in the educational process,” said Ahmed Khairy, a spokesman for Egypt’s Ministry of Education, “We are going for a total change of the educational process, instead of introducing minor changes,” he said.

Some local journals considered these challenges an indication of the failure of the whole experiment and some considered this as a challenge to the ministry and that we still need to work on this to consider this a fully successful transition. In any transition period, you see challenges and burdens and that is not considered a failure but opportunities to work on making this better. I will add a few examples below about the challenges that were created during this transition period for clarification.

  • So from the school side, the facilities in Egypt are not fully equipped and prepared for this transition yet as you can see many struggles when it comes to the network quality and the presence of fully trained technicians to deal with when the network is down.
  • The system itself still has a lot of errors that are causing stress to both teachers and students as an example of this is when for any reason the system stops while the student is having an exam there’s a high chance that the student won’t be able to recover his answers that he typed before the system stops or even restart the timer he can rewrite his answers once more.
  • Teachers are not trained or have the required access to control any challenge that the students may face as they’re using their tablets to do the exams.
  • Internet access is still not available in all educational facilities which make these facilities still depend on paper-based approaches with their students.
  • Parents also complained about the type of questions given to the students as it differs from one student to another which is not fair to all students
  • A local paper also mentioned that the same student took advantage of this to cheat on there which will not help provide an accurate evaluation of this experiment to better work on its negatives.

The general secondary exams, which are considered the most important exams in the life of an Egyptian student, are a major burden in this experiment. These exams serve as the sole means of determining a student’s university path. Because this is an important stage, the parents definitely expressed their concerns about implementing the technological approach, believing that it would seriously damage their children’s future and could be the reason that their children’s dreams were not achieved. Due to the importance of this in the life of an Egyptian student, the government extended it to all preuniversity years except general secondary exams. This year, students in this phase will take exams that consist of 85% MCQs and 15% essays. The correction process will be based on new tech to reduce the human factor (and thus reduce human errors during the correction process) and will rely on technology to correct the exams and provide the final grade. According to the Ministry of Education, the exams will be held in June 2023, so we will have to wait and see how things go this year in the hopes that the students will have a fair chance to achieve their dreams and choose the career path they want and prefer.

At the end of this article, I would like to say that it is essential that we emphasize the challenges we face in education, specifically because education is so crucial to shaping the future of the entire world. An educated individual who we assist today will be tomorrow’s doctor, engineer, worker, and every other significant human being who contributes to a better future for our children and ourselves. Investing in our children has always had a positive influence on society and our lives. We, everyone, want to see a better tomorrow, and we should all work together to make that happen. We must make sure that the next generation inherits a healthy environment.

References:

  • تحقيق عاجل.. سقوط منصة الامتحانات يجبر «التعليم» على العودة للنسخة الورقية – شبكة رصد الإخبارية. (2023, January 15). شبكة رصد الإخبارية. https://rassd.com/524531.htm
  • فشل التجربة الإلكترونية..«التعليم» تنسحب من الإشراف على امتحانات النقل الثانوي – شبكة رصد الإخبارية. (2023, February 22). شبكة رصد الإخبارية. https://rassd.com/526082.htm
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  • بعد انتهاء امتحان آخر العام لأولى ثانوى.. التجربة الإلكترونية تحت مجهر أولياء الأمور والطلاب: واجهتنا مشكلات فى التعامل مع السيستم.. ونطالب بتوحيد الأسئلة.. ومصادر مسئولة: فرق التطوير تسعى لإزالة المعوقات – اليوم السابع. (2019, June 1). اليوم السابع. https://www.youm7.com/story/2019/6/1/بعد-انتهاء-امتحان-آخر-العام-لأولى-ثانوى-التجربة-الإلكترونية-تحت/4267857
  • Cover Photo by aboodi vesakaran on Unsplash