JEF in the Media

By: Samir Jarrar

Abstract: Education is knowledge, skills, and values needed to promote informed choices and sustainable development. Education is an indispensable asset to attain ideals of freedom, social justice and peace. Education is "one of the most effective tools for achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth and recovery, reducing poverty, hunger and child labor, improving health, incomes and livelihoods, for promoting peace, democracy and environmental awareness," as well as a driver "to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), " and the Education For All Goals (EFA). Education promotes citizenship and democratic participation; it is the foundation of social transformation. Formal education was the domain of religious orders and/ or the state. It was not until the late nineteenth century that mass public education took hold in the industrialized world. With the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), education was recognized as a right of every human being.

The spread of globalization, knowledge-driven economies, human rights-based development, changing demographic trends, and continued inequity in the allocation of national resources represented new challenges that led to a renewed focus on education systems. The question was whether or not these systems were ready to face all these challenges.

The paper discusses the effects of the financial crisis on education systems. It also outlines the current state of education in the Arab world. Finally, the paper suggests the need for a new education paradigm to meet changing needs.

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