Arab Educational Information Network

The study aimed at proposing guidelines for education planning at times of crises in Arab countries by making use of the lessons that can be learnt from COVID-19 pandemic. It did so through mapping out the approach of “Education Planning at Times of Crises”, analyzing the most important responses of countries facing the consequences of COVID-19 on education, concluding to what extent the responses of the Arab countries were able to provide good, equitable and inclusive education for all in the context of that pandemic, and then suggesting guidelines for education planning at times of crises. The descriptive approach was adopted to monitor the phenomenon in all its dimensions. Document analysis was used as the main tool of data collection to analyze reports of international organizations, research and studies on the most important responses of countries across the globe in general and Arab countries in particular in facing the consequences of COVID-19 on education. The study showed several results, the most important ones were as follows. While facing the consequences of COVID-19 on education, the responses of Arab countries were unable to provide good, equitable and inclusive education for all as desired. Perhaps this is due to the magnitude of the crisis on the one hand, in addition to the fact that education sector was not ready with plans that takes crises into account on the other hand. The responses did not show clearly that the Arab countries have emergency plans or any other plans to manage the emergent situation during and after crises, which means that the education sector is not flexible enough to adapt and respond to crises in a way that guarantees the preservation of its basic functions in the midst of a crisis, as well as the ability to recover and then rebuild a better form of education. The responses also showed weak attention to capacity building and development in education planning at times of crises. Besides, it turned out that measures and procedures sensitive to crises have not been integrated into the education sector plans in different countries, which means that there is no real existence of education planning at times of crises. The study ended up with proposing guidelines for education planning at times of crises in Arab countries with reference to the results that have been reached. (Published Abstract)