RIYADH – An unprecedented surge in public expenditure on education reforms throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will continue in 2013, as spending takes bigger share of government budget. According to the latest data from the World Bank, public expenditure on education in the region stands at 18.6 percent of total government spending compared to the world average of 14.2 percent. In Saudi Arabia, the government appropriated SR204 billion ($54.4 billion) for education in its budget for 2013, from SR168 billion ($44.80 billion) in 2012, and SR150 billion ($40 billion) in 2011. Investment in human capital has become a top priority for the Saudi government, as spending on education has more than tripled since 2000. The budget includes plans to build 610 new schools in addition to the 3,200 already under construction. “This year promises to be an exciting time for the education sector throughout the region as governments allocate more resources for education reforms across the board. In anticipation of comprehensive reforms, we have adopted the theme ‘Smart Learning and Technological Advances in Education” and developed a program that will help various stakeholders to create and implement initiatives that will leverage technology to raise the quality of education in this part of the world,' said Matt Thompson, Project Director, F&E Group, organizers of the upcoming Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS), the region's leading educational exhibition to be held on March 5-7, 2013 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. GESS, along with the Global Education Forum (GEF), has received the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as well as the support of the UAE Ministry of Education. “GESS and GEF have both become an important platform for sharing global best practices in education reform as well as highlighting significant trends, specifically the technological advances, that have an impact on the development and future of teaching and learning in the region,” said Humaid Moh'd Al Qutami, who underscored the important role education plays in the continued progress of the UAE. The launch of the Smart Learning Initiative – part of the UAE Vision 2021 - will help shape a new learning environment in public schools in the Emirates, through the launch of ‘smart classes' that will provide every student with an electronic tablet and access to high speed 4G networks, Al Qutami said. “This will significantly advance the delivery and quality of instruction and learning in the public education sector in the UAE, and will be a key component in the UAE's drive to create a knowledge-based economy,” he added. Elsewhere in the region, Bahrain has increased its commitment to education through the National Project to Develop Education and Training and a focus on E-learning is a cornerstone of the Schools Improvements Project (SIP). In Kuwait, the Ministry of Education is focusing development efforts on reforming teaching methods and the national curriculum; and is likewise promoting the effective use of information and communications technology in the classroom. Massive budget increases are boosting education reforms in Oman, thanks to an $800 million budget increase for education last year whereas Qatar underscored its desire to improve quality of education when it made a huge allocation of $6.04 billion to its education budget last year, according to MEED. It spends about 4.1 percent of its GDP on education which is the highest in the region. The World Bank, in an earlier report on “New Challenges Facing the Education Sector in MENA”, further said that for a country or a region to be competitive, the education system must be capable of providing two types of services: First, it must be able to produce the broadest possible human capital base. If knowledge is increasingly recognized as key to competitiveness, it follows that, the more people have a fundamental level of instruction, the better. Second, if a country or region's “knowledge” endowment is to be ever elastic and growing, an individual's knowledge base must also continuously change and expand. The notion of lifelong learning has the potential of meeting these objectives, at least from a technical point of view. Lifelong learning involves: (i) a formal education that provides all individuals with opportunities to acquire a fundamental level of instruction, however defined within national contexts; (ii) multiple opportunities for individuals to continually renew their knowledge, skills, and competencies; and (iii) an institutional set-up to quickly and smoothly adapt and respond to the changing educational demands of individuals, firms, local and regional political actors, and the international environment (World Bank 2003). As a testament to the growing interest in education within and outside the sector, the 2012 edition of the exhibition saw a dramatic increase in visitors and increased footfall – attendance was up 20 percent from the previous show with 6,000 education professionals from over 60 countries attending. “GESS 2012 recorded its highest ever participation by exhibitors, with over 250 businesses and organizations from more than 30 countries,” Thompson said. Last year, GESS and GEF attracted 6,000 key decision makers and ministerial delegations from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. This includes a cross section of teachers, heads of department and heads of school as well as procurement managers, school owners and bursars. — SG
