Arab Educational Information Network

This paper addresses three major issues that impacted higher education in the Arab countries over the past two decades, namely: wider opportunities for joining institutes of higher education; matching outcomes of higher education to societal needs from a variety of perspectives; and adapting digital technologies to higher education. The above issues are discussed essentially with view to transforming the Arab countries into knowledge societies, including scientific research activities technological development and wider dissemination of their outcomes. The paper reviews enrollment rates in secondary and higher education in the Arab region and compared to other regions around the world. The approximate number of public and private higher education institutions is also linked to the percentage of the population in each of the Arab countries. The paper concludes that Arab higher education suffers weaknesses that are manifested in low enrollment rates in higher education in general, with particularly low enrollment rates in pure and applied science programs, life sciences, mathematics, compared to enrollment in the arts, the social sciences, law and business administration. The paper also finds that the Arab region suffers from a shortage of PhD holders who should be the mainstay of higher education and scientific research systems. The paper considers that retarded inadequate implementation of modern information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education in the Arab countries a major obstacle for future development of higher education and related services in various fields. It recommends that a qualitative leap is made by replacing existing practices with the aim of enhancing the quality of material published on higher education websites rather than the quantitative expansion of the web sites of Arab institutions higher education. through which innovation for development can be stimulated through specific initiatives and new approaches that include monitoring and evaluation mechanisms using appropriate indicators. (Author's abstract)