1. Interesting Stats
300 million people live in
MENA countries (~5-6% of
global population) (The
World Bank, 2013)
Distance education
technology used in
classrooms: 80%
laptops, 71% mobile
phones (eLearning
Africa, 2013)
40.2% of the Middle
Eastern population has
internet; an increase of
2640% since 2000.
15.6% of the African
population has internet;
an increase of 3600%
since 2000. (Internet
world stats, 2012)
UAE has the largest percentage of
social media use in the classroom
which is 78% with 19% of
computers provided by the school
(Bhatia, 2013)
2. MDDE 614: International Issues in Distance Education
Critical Issues
in Distance Education:
Middle East and
North Africa
(MENA)
Shaz Akhtar, Corrie Macdonald, Kyle Slinn,
Sandee Vincent, Tracey Woodburn
4. MDG 2015
Millenium Development Goals -Related to
Education
UNESCO (2015)
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
“Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full
course of primary schooling”
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower
women
“Eliminate gender disparity in primary and
secondary education preferably by 2005, and
at all levels by 2015.”
5. S.T.E.P. Model
The STEP model is used here to categorize
distance education (DE) issues in the Middle
East and North Africa (MENA).
STEP is an
acronym for:
Social
Technical
Economic
Political
6. Social Issues I
● Unrest and ethnic conflict
● Language and culture
● Individualist Style (Western Style) versus
Collective Style (non-Western)
● Traditional values for women
7. Social Issues II
● Access to money = Access to education
● Jobs and education
● Teachers & change
11. Summary
Many hurdles to overcome in order to improve
education in MENA countries:
● Regional and religious conflicts
● Socio Economic divide in populations
● Lack of technical infrastructure
12. Questions to Ponder
1) How can Open Educational Resources address some of
the barriers to education discussed in this presentation?
2) Part of the Arab Spring revolution has been attributed to
the fact that this region has the highest youth
unemployment rate in the world (nearly 25%) how can
distance education contribute increased youth
employment?
13. References I
Akkari, A. 2004. Education in the Middle East and North Africa: The Current
Situation and Future Challenges. International Education Journal, 5(2):
144–153.
Bouhlila, D. S. (2011). The quality of secondary education in the middle east
and north africa: What can we learn from TIMSS’ results? Compare: A
Journal of Comparative and International Education, 41(3), 327–352.
doi:10.1080/03057925.2010.539887
Calik, M. (2005). A cross-age study of the understanding of chemical solutions
and their components. International Education Journal, 30-41.
Caner, A. O. (2013). Higher education in Turkey: Subsidizing the rich or the
poor? Economics of Education Review, 75-92.
Chapman, D. W., & Miric, S. L. (2009). Education Quality in the Middle East.
International Review of Education, 55(4), 311–344.
doi:10.1007/s11159-009-9132-5
14. References II
Hamdan, A. (2005). Women and education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges and
achievements. International Educational Journal, 42-64.
Ibrahim, A. A. (2013). Teacher resistance to educational change in the United
Arab Emirates. International Journal of Research Studies in Education,
25-36. Internet world stats. (2012, June). Retrieved from
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
Lephalala, M.K & Makoe, M. (2012). The Impact of Socio-Cultural Issues for
African Students in the South African Distance Education Context. Journal
of Distance Education, 26(1)
OECD (2012), Education at a Glance 2012: OECD Indicators, OECD
Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2012-en
Shumacher, J. (2013). New Directions for Community Colleges. Spring 2013
(161),113-227. doi: 10.1002/cc.20052
15. References III
Wilkins, K. (2011). Higher education reform in the Arab World. Washington:
Brookings. Retrieved from
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2011/8/education%
20reform%20wilkins/08_education_reform_wilkins.pdf
16. Education Organizations in MENA
Education Research and Reform Efforts
Education Reform for the Knowledge Economy Program (ErfKE), Jordan,
½ billion dollars, supervised by the World Bank http://www.worldbank.
org/projects/P075829/education-reform-knowledge-economy-program?lang=en
Qatar Foundation, Qatar, promoting education and research partnerships in
the region, http://www.qf.org.qa/education
Distance Education Organizations
Arab Open University, campuses in Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, and Oman, associated with the Open University in the UK http:
//www.arabou.org.sa/
