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The Middle East and North Africa
Vocational and tertiary education
At 30 per cent on average, the illiteracy rate is still high in the Middle East and North Africa. In recent years progress has been made in ensuring that more girls have access to education, but girls and women still account for a small percentage of the school role at primary schools and for an even smaller percentage at secondary and tertiary level.
Youth unemployment in Arab countries is almost twice as high as the global average. Many of these unemployed adolescents and young adults are poorly trained, and thus cannot find employment. The potential they represent is not harnessed and their individual right to develop freely is severely limited.
The fifth Arab Human Development Report (2009) comes to the conclusion that the countries in the region must modernise their education sector if they are to make the most of their opportunities in the global and regional economy.
German development cooperation is helping develop vocational training in line with the demands of the labour market and is promoting Arab-German university twinning arrangements.
Vocational education
Germany is active in almost every country in the region in the field of vocational training. The aim is to establish a comprehensive cooperative form of vocational training that introduces elements of the dual system into national education systems. This means that the government and private businesses share responsibility for vocational training.
To date the cooperative approach to vocational training has been seen primarily in medium-sized and large industry. In future vocational training programmes are also to be offered for small and micro enterprises and in the informal sector. To ensure that the programmes have a positive impact on the number of jobs available, they are to be combined with other measures, such as helping businesses access microloans and providing career guidance services.
Special offers are to be developed for unemployed young people without qualifications and for girls and women. In selected key areas of the economy, such as energy and water, new training places are to emerge.
University twinning arrangements
Cooperation between Germany and the tertiary education sector in the Middle East and North Africa focuses on promoting certain courses of study.
The bicultural masters degree courses promoted by the Federal Republic of Germany are intended to increase the number of specialists and managers available in the region. For instance, 'reform managers' are to be trained on both sides, who will be responsible for handing measures planned within the scope of German cooperation in the region.
The first German-Arab course on integrated water resources management was launched in 2007. Other courses, on economic transition and energy management took in their first intakes of students in autumn 2009. An education management course is at the preparatory stage.
The courses of study generate partnerships and thus an exchange of knowledge between German and Arab universities, which benefits both sides.
