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Women’s Education in Middle East and
North African Countries
In MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries, access to education has improved significantly over the last few decades. There are encouraging trends in women’s education. There have been increasing enrollments in primary education; more women are opting for higher education and university enrollments are on the rise.
Gender gaps have been bridged in most of the countries mainly due to the heavy public sector investments in education. These investments in female education are paying back well in this region. The ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education which was 81% in 1991 has gone up to 88% in 2000 and 90% in 2004, as we can see from the figure below.
There is also an increase in the number of girls who complete their education. The primary education completion rate has been almost similar between boys and girls i.e., 89% and 84% in 2004.
The average net enrollment ratio for primary education in MENA region is about 85% in 2005, but literacy rate varies among countries –68% in Yemen and 90% in Jordan. The literacy rate among women has risen from 35% to 48% over the last decade i.e. 2004 to 2005. It is still low compared to most of the developing nations, but there is a marked improvement over the past.
Progress has been significant at the higher level of education i.e. at University levels, where women exceed more than 50% of the total student population in 2005. Other than women pursuing degrees in arts and humanities, there are a number of students opting for medicine.
The interest in science and engineering however has been pretty low. For the purpose of encouraging interest in these fields, “The Arab network for women in Science and Technology” was launched in Bahrain in February, 2005. This was mainly aimed at providing an organizational structure for the same.
Except in Saudi Arabia, all other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states have at least one woman minister. With 65% of population under 25 years, Middle East has the fastest growing labor force in the world and women are holding responsible positions, unimaginable a decade ago.
Saudi Arabia which was regarded as a conservative nation until now made a landmark decision in 2005, allowing women to campaign and vote in elections.
Iran is facing a profound social change where the female students graduating from universities outnumber the male students. This is also reflected in the job market.
In May, 2006, Yemen ministry of education made an announcement to waive the primary school tuition fees for female students to encourage school enrollment among girls.
Source: World Bank
Employment: MENA was always considered a region where women were side stepped in development. However over the past few years, female education, which is vital to women’s economic participation, has improved to a great extent.
Moving from the lowest years of average schooling in the world in the 1960’s, governments in this region have been committed to the development of women’s education. With the help of dedicated resources and strategies, it has made significant progress.
As far as economic participation of women is concerned, the progress has not been impressive. In spite of the improved state of female education in the region, the participation of women in the labor force has been low. This has resulted in low per capita growth.
As can be seen from the figure below, the share of women in total labor force in MENA increased from 20% in 1980 to 28% in 2005. The fast growth was observed in the decade 1990-2000, where it grew from 23% to 26%, thereafter registering a moderate growth. Despite a high growth of 6% in GDP in 2004, unemployment is on the rise with women unevenly at risk. In Egypt, 6% of men versus 24% of women were unemployed in 2002.
The situation was more or less similar in countries like Syria and Iran. The region’s oil-based economy and use of capital-intensive technologies underpin the region’s gender roles; most organizations prefer male workers and preclude women from the labor force.
Women’s employment has been limited to socially acceptable occupations like teaching and medicine. In spite of the concrete improvement in education, there are still 65 mn adults who are unemployed and women account for two thirds of this number.
Education has a spillover effect also on the fertility rate and reproductive health care. It is a key determinant of a woman’s age at marriage and her age at the instance of her first conception.
Fertility rates vary among nations, averaging 2.5% in countries like Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and being as high as 6.2% in Yemen in 2005. Most women in the MENA region are aware of family planning methods. In Egypt, 69% of married women in the age group of 15-49, who had completed secondary school education, were found to be more aware of family planning methods than the 32% who had completed only primary level in 2000.
Conclusion: There is a need to improve the education system by ensuring equitable school access and retention and increasing the efficiency with which education services are delivered. The situation of gender discrimination is slowly changing in MENA region.
Women activists who hail from educated segments of society are demanding for women’s economic and social rights. The economic changes in many of these countries are creating a thrust for women to become more active outside their homes.
Women have formidable presence in universities, but to translate this investment in substantial returns to society, women’s share in labor force must rise. When they hold positions of responsibility and authority, their full potential will be utilized, paying attractive dividends to themselves and to society.
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