Education and Employability

Education is an important enabler of a knowledge society. With the exception of Yemen where the literacy rates are low, the other four countries register 80% enrolment rates and 90% literacy rates on average^[1]. International institutions monitoring education in developing countries have recognised the important efforts accomplished by Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen to increase school enrolment and reduce illiteracy. However, these countries face important challenges when it comes to the adequacy between education, the development of skills and employability requirements.

As highlighted in the Arab Human Development Report, the quality of education programs in the Arab countries, the quality of higher education, and the quality of skills developed are important issues the Arab World needs to tackle for the development of a knowledge economy^[2]. The region has the largest proportion of Youth (12-24 years old) and the highest level of youth unemployment in the world^[3]. This reality is very much reflected in the five countries identified in this project. Whether through the transformation of the education curriculum, or the development of professional programs, or the integration of ICT based learning and skills development, the governments of these five countries have embarked on comprehensive reforms. But more needs to be done in order to improve the employability prospects of the work force.

It is important here not to confuse employment, which refers to having a job, and employability, which refers to being employed. Specifically, employability is defined as “ the capability to gain employment, maintain employment and obtain [new] employment if required”^[4]. As such, employability is very much linked to the knowledge and skills an individual can acquire.There are important links as well between the education curriculum, the development and accreditation of knowledge, and well-adapted skills to the needs of the labour market. As noted by the partners who participated in IDRC’s Damascus exploratory workshop back June 2005, there is an important number of graduates including ICT graduates in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan or Palestine, yet these graduates are unable to join the labour market. The 2003 Arab Human Development Report, discussing the quality of higher education in ICTs in the Arab World, including the five countries in this project, highlighted the weaknesses of the programs. In its latest evaluation of the REACH initiative, The Information Technology Association of Jordan (int@j) noted that more efforts are required to make sure that IT education and training programs in the country meet the requirements of the marketplace and open equal opportunities for both men and women. “Poor articulation between the education and employment systems”^[5] is affecting employability perspectives.

Research under this thematic area will seek to better understand the linkages between ICT enhanced education and employability. For instance, there is a need to evaluate and better understand whether the reforms undertaken in the five countries to introduce IT learning within the curriculum are adequate and are having an impact on skills development.More needs to be known with regards to the reasons of youth and women unemployment within the ICT sector, as well as the quality of ICT higher education offered in the five countries and its articulation with the labour market. Another area of interest as well would look into best practices and models for the development of entrepreneurship skills and the establishment of projects leading to the creation of small ICT enterprises in the five identified countries.

Women participation

The Economic and political participation of women in the Arab region is one of the lowest in the world.The region is lagging behind in terms of number of women in the labor force as well as in political life^[6].A lot has been accomplished however in terms of women’s well being. Over the past 10 years the countries in the region have allocated on average 5.3% of their GDP to education (the highest in the world) and 2.9% to health^[7]. As a result, other than Yemen, lagging behind, the other four countries in this project have reduced the gender gaps in education and health^[8].

These results in education and health did not translate into the same positive outcomes in terms of women participation in the economy and in public life. For instance, though Jordan is among the top five Middle Eastern countries when it comes to gender parity in literacy, it has very low female labor force participation (24%). When it comes to indicators of women economic participation, Jordan ranks lower than other lower-middle-income countries^[9]. The country scores low as well in terms of women political participation. These indicators for Jordan are very much on par with those of the four other countries highlighted for the purpose of this project^[10]. Though there have been some efforts to reduce this discrepancy through for example the instauration of quotas for the presence of women in public office or in the administration of public services such as in Jordan or Yemen, these policies did not necessarily engender higher participation in the economy overall or in elected office. The jobs created are mainly in the public sector (Health, education and state administration) and women participation in the private sector remains low. For example in Yemen, women account for 28% of the private sector workforce with 78% working in agriculture and gazing^[11].

There are some positive signs however in the ICT field as a few reforms were undertaken to integrate women into the ICT sector.Women seem to participate more in the ICT sector comparatively to other sectors and seem to be empowered through the use of ICTs. For instance, 34% of the total ICT work force of Syria is female^[13]. In Jordan, 28% of the total ICT labor force is female and women account for 30% of ICT degree graduates^[14].The Jordanian government was very successful to offer ICT training to women in rural areas thanks to the knowledge stations developed across the country. This policy has had positive effects on developing women’s skills. Accordingly, 30% of women trained in the use of a PC have used their skills to create their own business^[15].

These indicators are not available for all countries however to see whether ICTs have offered new possibilities for women in Palestine, Lebanon or Yemen. There is a need to better understand whether ICTs are contributing to women’s social and economic participation as well as the role of women in developing the use of ICTs in their communities being through community access centres or cybercafes or other means. There is a need as well to better understand women’s profile in the ICT sector, their competencies and their career development as well as the difficulties they encounter to enter the ICT job market in the five countries. More needs to be done to evaluate the policies that were put together in the five countries to encourage women access to the job market in the ICT field.

Governance

By Governance we refer to the promotion of a free space that would allow all actors within a society whether individuals, civil society organizations, private sector or other institutions to participate freely in decision making processes. Free discussion, the exchange of ideas, and debate are key to the promotion of a knowledge-based society. As highlighted in the Arab Human Development Report^[16], removing restrictions on freedom, promoting transparency in administrative procedures and the rule of law are essential for knowledge production, creativity and innovation. These questions related to governance have been on the centre stage of discussions dealing with the development of the Middle East. Whether at the recent G8 Summits, or the World Economic Forums on the Middle East, these concerns have been debated among leaders from the region and outside the region.

The five countries in this study acknowledge in their National ICT strategies the importance of transparency as well as the role different stakeholders can play including the civil society in the development of a knowledge economy. The Syrian National ICT Strategy states that a modern regulatory environment, a transparent legislative, and a judicial framework are important elements to create an enabling environment and promote the use of ICTs. The national strategy for Lebanon identifies among its main objectives, the improvement of the performance of public sector institutions, through transparency, efficiency and predictability. In its egovernment strategic plan, the Palestinian National Authority is talking about ``Governance Excellence``. The Authority would like to reinforce government accountability and visibility, develop and communicate roles, responsibilities, align government’s programs to address the needs of citizens, businesses and employees, and establish an e-law framework for government business. The overall strategy aims as well to increase citizen’s participation and empowerment through greater access and participation in government. In its ICT policy for higher education, Yemen highlights the need to strengthen governance in Higher education sector.  Jordan has started to implement an e-Government with the objective to reform and improve the delivery of its services to citizens. The Information and Technology Association of Jordan (int@j) is a very active stakeholder in monitoring the implementation of the REACH national strategy. Through its annual review, the association is able to evaluate the ICT environment in Jordan and to highlight the areas where government and other stakeholders’ intervention are needed.  

Other than Jordan, well ahead in its transparency and government reforms, the other countries are yet to go from intentions to actions.

Under this theme we do not limit ourselves to the question of institutional reforms through the use of ICTs, but we are also interested in issues of transparency in the decision making process, and to better understand how ICT strategies are being elaborated, implemented, monitored and evaluated in the five countries. We are interested as well in identifying best practices on how to engage the civil society and all other actors in the process of elaborating and implementing these strategies. Governance refers as well to improved citizens and government interactions. ICTs can help and offer an adequate interface between citizens and the government. We will therefore seek to better understand the impacts of e-Government services currently being implemented.

The consultative June 2005 workshop organized by IDRC, which brought together some partners and researchers in the ICT4D field from the region, has highlighted a need to build competences from the region to develop and analyze ICT4D indicators as a way to monitor and evaluate governance. Under this theme, the project will seek to better understand how indictors are being developed in the five countries, and to promote a network of researchers able to develop, interpret and analyze these indicators. As a way to encourage the participation of all actors in the knowledge society, the project will also look into issues of alternative ways of access to knowledge and information such as open access and creative commons.

Community and local development

An important proportion of the population in the five identified countries live in remote and rural areas. While in Lebanon and Jordan, the population tend to be concentrated in urban centers, bringing social and government services to rural districts becomes even more important to bridge the divide and reduce poverty.

Jordan has undertaken some noticeable efforts to promote the use of ICTs in local and remote communities who under ordinary circumstances would find it difficult to access information and other social services.   The objective is to bring government services closer to citizens, offer health and education programs and support training activities to promote employment and economic opportunities in these remote areas. In its national ICT policy, Lebanon stresses the importance of using ICTs to develop community projects and industries and to improve regional integration to reduce urban migration and promote employment. Empower communities and citizens by supporting virtual communities and local content is among the stated objectives as well. The National Knowledge Society initiative in Syria seeks to disseminate ICTs among communities in both urban and rural areas. Whether through the creation of community access centres and local community portals or through the promotion of Arabic content on the Internet particularly cultural, social, media, entertainment and educational, the initiative seeks to promote local and community development. Palestine, with assistance from the donor community, is looking at using ICTs to improve the quality of life of Palestinians in underserved communities through the development of ICT projects and by adapting municipal and village council services to the needs of local communities.  Yemen has initiated some ICT projects looking at increasing and expanding market opportunities for agricultural crops and livestock; the objective being to increase income opportunities in remote and underserved governorates. 

These examples highlighted above are an indication of the importance of community and local development to the five identified countries as they seek to build an inclusive knowledge society.  In this context, the ICT4D project in the Middle East will develop and promote best ICT tools and practices aiming at promoting the delivery of social services to communities and enhancing local development.  Under this theme, we will look for instance to better understand how municipal and local government services are being provided through the use of ICTs and whether these services are adapted to local languages, traditions and cultures. This is an area where more needs to be done to collect evidence in the five countries. For example, though several municipalities in Lebanon have created web sites several years ago, more needs to be done in order to better comprehend the competences that are available in these municipalities, and the deployed strategies to facilitate online services to citizens. These services could be targeted specifically to support agriculture, an important sector to both Syria and Yemen. ICT4D at IDRC has a long experience and knowledge in this regard.  The projects supported through ENRAP or KariaNet offer good lessons. It is not enough to connect villages or a centre of agriculture development to improve the livelihood of people. On the contrary, without adequate strategies and realistic objectives, the technology can have negative effects. The project will therefore seek to identify best practices and ICT tools that would promote the development of agriculture and local economies in the five identified countries.

In order to develop well-adapted electronic services, a community will need specific tools and knowledge. Though there are many developments in the localisation of ICTs, it remains difficult to find appropriate software, which could support the Arab language without a few transformations. In collaboration with ACACIA III, this project will seek to improve the localisation of services and tools in Arabic, mainly trough building the capacity and local competences in the five countries. This could be a way as well to develop the employability of young professionals whether, engineers, linguistics, translators, and artists in the region. By developing local content and by creating adapted local tools for content and service creation, the project aims to promote the social and economic development of local communities and of an inclusive knowledge society.