Arab world falling behind issue of science, the weekly journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, was devoted to research into ‘Ardi’ or Ardipithecus ramidus, a 4.4 million-year-old hominid species whose discovery deepens understanding of human evolution. These latest studies suggest, among other things, that rather than descending from a closely related species such as the chimpanzee, the hominid branch parted earlier than previously thought from the common ancestral tree.
In much of the Arab world, coverage of the research took a different spin. “American Scientists Debunk Darwin”, exclaimed the headline in al-Masry al-Youm, Egypt’s leading independent daily. “Ardi Refutes Darwin’s Theory”, chimed the website of al-Jazeera, the region’s most-watched television channel. Scores of comments from readers celebrated this news as a blow to Western materialism and a triumph for Islam. Two or three lonely readers wrote in to complain that the report had inaccurately presented the findings of the research.
The response to Ardi’s unearthing was not surprising. According to surveys, barely a third of Egyptian adults have ever heard of Charles Darwin and just 8 percent think there is any evidence to back his famous theory. The strength of religious belief among Arabs partly explains their reluctance to accept the facts of evolution. Until recent reforms, state primary schools in Saudi Arabia devoted 31 percent of classroom time to religion, compared with just 20 percent for mathematics and science.
Such choices carry a cost that goes beyond ignorance of Darwin. Arab countries now spend as much or more on education, as a share of GDP, than the world average. They have made great strides in eradicating illiteracy, boosting university enrolment and reducing gaps in education between the sexes. But the gap in the quality of education between Arabs and other people at a similar level of development is still frightening.
The most rigorous comparative study of education systems, a survey called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) that comes out every four years, revealed in its latest report (2007) that out of 48 countries tested, all 12 participating Arab countries fell below the average. More disturbingly, less than 1 percent of students aged 12-13 in ten Arab countries reached an advanced benchmark in science, compared with 32 percent in Singapore and 10 percent in the United States. Other comparative measures are equally alarming. A listing of the world’s top 500 universities, compiled annually by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, includes three South African and six Israeli universities, but not a single Arab one.
Well aware that their school systems are doing badly, Arab governments have been scrambling to improve. In an attempt to leapfrog the slow process of curriculum reform and teacher training, many have taken the easy route of encouraging private schools. In Qatar, for instance, the share of students in private education leapt from 30 percent to more than 60 percent between 1999 and 2006, according to the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). Syria has licensed some 20 private universities since 2001; 14 are up and running.
Not to be outdone, Saudi Arabia has launched King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), a city-sized institution with an endowment of $20 billion. Intended as an oasis of academic excellence, it enjoys an independent board and is the kingdom’s only co-educational institution. This augurs well for the Saudi elite, but one fancy new university will do little to lift the overall standard of Saudi education.
(Excerpted and adapted from The Economist)