“The MENA region has not made the best use of its accumulated human capital, unemployment is high among graduates and the education system in the region is not fully equipped to produce graduates.” These are just two of the many damming conclusions made in a recent World Bank report, The Road Not Traveled: Education Reform in the Middle East and North Africa. The World Bank report also showed that right across the region the education system is in dire straits. The World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index, which incorporates the economic incentive regime, innovation, education and the information infrastructure, reveals that almost all the MENA countries fall below the middle range of the index. The highest scoring country in the MENA region was the UAE, which was below Chile and Estonia. The Gulf countries, helped along with a large current account, have recognized the urgency of their educational situation and have
