Arab countries spend a lot of their income on education–as a share of GDP, as much or more than the world average–but the quality of their schooling leaves much to be desired. This week’s Economist describes as “frightening” the “gap in the quality of education between Arabs and other people at a similar level of development” while acknowledging that Arab countries “have made great strides in eradicating illiteracy, boosting university enrolment and reducing gaps in education between the sexes”.
According to surveys, barely a third of Egyptian adults have ever heard of Charles Darwin and just 8% think there is any evidence to back his famous theory. Teachers, who might be expected to know better, seem equally sceptical. In a survey of nine Egyptian state schools, where Darwin’s ideas do form part of the curriculum for 15-year-olds, not one of more than 30 science teachers interviewed believed them to be true. At a private university in the United Arab Emirates, only 15% of the faculty thought there was good evidence to support evolution.
The strength of religious belief among Arabs partly explains their reluctance to accept the facts of evolution. Until recent reforms, state primary schools in Saudi Arabia devoted 31% of classroom time to religion, compared with just 20% for mathematics and science.
“Education in the Arab world: Laggards trying to catch up”, The Economist, 17 October 2009.
Tags: religion
