Strengthening Education in the Muslim World Country Profiles and ...

Bureau for Policy and Program CoordinationApril 2004

PN-ACW-877

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1Strengthening Education in the Muslim World

Country Profiles and Analysis

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Strengthening Education in the Muslim World:Summary of the Desk Study(PN-ACT-009)

This Issue Working Paper can be ordered from USAID’sDevelopment Experience Clearinghouse (DEC). To downloador order publications, go to www.dec.org and enter the document identification number in the search box. The DECmay also be contacted at 8403 Colesville Rd, Ste 210, SilverSpring, MD 20910; tel 301-562-0641; fax 301-588-7787;email [email protected].

Editorial, design, and production assistance was provided byIBI-International Business Initiatives, Arlington, VA, undercontract no. HFM-C-00-01-00143-00. For more information,contact IBI’s Publications and Graphics Support Project at703-525-2277 or [email protected].

Strengthening Education in the Muslim World

Country Profiles and Analysis

April 2004

Contents

Abbreviations and Acronyms v

Preface vii

Uzbekistan 1

Egypt 9

Morocco 17

Yemen 25

Bangladesh 31

Pakistan 43

Indonesia 55

Malaysia 65

Nigeria 73

Guinea, Mali, Senegal 81

Strengthening Education in the Muslim Worldv

Abbreviations and Acronyms

ADB Asian Development Bank

Afr. Dev. Bank African Development Bank

AusAID Australian Agency for International Development

BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee

CIDA Canadian International Development Agency

Comm. Sec. Commonwealth Secretariat

DANIDA Danish International Development Agency

DEO District Education Officer (Pakistan)

DFID Department for International Development (U.K.)

EU European Union

FINNIDA Finnish International Development Agency

FMG Federal Ministry of Education (Nigeria)

GNI Gross National Income

GTZ German Aid Agency—Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit

HDI Human Development Index

HuT Hizb-ut-Tahrir (Uzbekistan)

IAIN State Institute of Islamic Studies

ICG International Crisis Group

IESAB Islamic Education and Social Affairs Board (Nigeria)

IFES International Foundation for Election Systems

IMU Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

JBIC Japan Bank for International Cooperation

JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency

JUI Jamiet-e-Ulema-e-Islam (Pakistan)

LEAP Literacy Enhancement Assistance Project

MNE Ministry of National Education (Morocco)

NEP National Education Philosophy (Malaysia)

NWFP North West Frontier Province (Pakistan)

ppp purchasing power parity

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

RFA Request for Assistance (USAID)

SDF Social Development Fund (Yemen)

SIDA Swedish International Development Agency

SO Strategic Objective (USAID)

UBE Universal Basic Education (Nigeria)

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

Strengthening Education in the Muslim World vii

PrefaceTo advance USAID's understanding of how better to support the educational needs of the Muslim world,the Office of Development Evaluation and Information in USAID's Bureau for Policy and ProgramCoordination (PPC) undertook a three-month desk study to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of secularand Islamic educational systems in 12 Muslim countries. Its methodology was based on secondary researchand interviews with a small sample of experts. The major findings and conclusions of this study appeared inStrengthening Education in the Muslim World: Summary of the Desk Study (PN-ACT-009) by Sharon Benoliel.

The country profiles in this report are based on research and a preliminary report prepared by MattSeymour, Uzma Anzar, Nina Etyemezian, and Victor Farren. Revisions were made by Sharon Benoliel,Maxine Pitter Lunn, Emily Gosse, and Katie Croake. Revisions included correcting some inaccuracies foundin the country profiles in the preliminary report and providing additional information on Islamic schools.Time constraints and the desk study format limited the amount of data that could be collected and analyzed,the extent of revisions, and the comprehensiveness of citations. Nevertheless, the report contains informationand analyses that may be very useful to USAID field missions. For further information, [email protected].

Editorial, design, and production assistance was furnished by IBI-International Business Initiatives,Arlington, Va.

Sharon Benoliel

1. Uzbekistan

Strengthening Education in the Muslim World 1

Demographic Indicators

Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.8Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.1GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,360Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7

Education Indicators

PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

LiteracyAdult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Female adult literacy rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Male adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure. . . . . . . . . . . . 21.1Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure . . . . . . . . . –

Table 1.1. Uzbekistan Country Profile

2 PPC Issue Working Paper No. 1

Introduction

Of the 15 new countries that became inde-pendent from the Soviet Union in 1991,Uzbekistan has the third largest population

(25 million) and the fourth largest land area. About45 percent of the population is under 20.Ethnically, the country’s population is approximate-ly 80 percent Uzbek, 5.5 percent Russian, 5 percentTajik, 3 percent Kazakh, 2.5 percent Karakalpak,1.5 percent Tatar, and 2.5 percent “other.” Someethnic minorities live in enclave areas with native-language institutions such as schools. MostUzbeks—88 percent—are Muslim, primarily Sunni,while 9 percent are Eastern Orthodox.1

The Uzbek Government’s program to restructure aSoviet-era centralized education system is hamperedby declining budgets, crumbling infrastructure,teacher attrition, and declining public confidence.In 2001, there were 5.6 million students at the pri-mary level and 364,971 at the secondary level, butthese numbers are dropping.2 State investment ineducation as a percentage of the GDP is also drop-ping, though not as precipitously as in otherCentral Asian Republics.3

Public Education SystemThe education system in Uzbekistan is well devel-oped and accessible to all. The country’s literacyrate is nearly 100 percent and nine years of basiceducation is compulsory for both boys and girls.However, quality is definitely on the decline. Fewerchildren attend preprimary education than in theSoviet era due to fewer opportunities, changingfamily dynamics (resurgence of traditional genderroles), and economics (fewer state enterprises will-ing to finance preschools). Schooling in years10–12 is available at academic lycées (university-ori-ented high schools), technical colleges, and special-ized and vocational schools. The languages ofinstruction are Uzbek and Russian. For minorityschools, Uzbek and Russian are compulsory, inaddition to the minority language of the school. In1993, the law transferring written Uzbek to Latinscript came into effect; Latin script was introducedto all first graders during the 1996–97 academicyear.

CharacteristicsOne year after independence, the Government ofUzbekistan introduced new curricula and text-books, a new testing system, and new accreditationmethods for colleges and universities. TheEducation Act of 1992 also mandated compulsoryeducation for nine years. Although UNESCOnotes that the National Program of PersonnelTraining is working toward 12 years, other sourcessay the government has no plan to mandate morethan nine. In addition, a new emphasis was placedon courses in Uzbek history and culture andincreasing the supply of Uzbek language textbooksin many fields.

Recently, two new types of schools have been intro-duced in Uzbekistan: a three-year lyceum (or lycée)that prepares students for higher education and athree-year professional college. The college trainsstudents for professional careers in industry andservices, leaving open the possibility of furtherhigher education. The government has invested significant sums in building new specialized andvocational schools, though some claim this comesat the expense of basic education. An estimated 7million pupils will enroll in these new schools overthe next 10 years. In sharp contrast with the past,the European Union (EU) reports an unprecedent-ed 90 percent of these pupils will enroll in voca-tional education and training.4 Other sources feelthis is an overly optimistic projection, given realand perceived problems with modernizing thevocational education curricula.

ChallengesAccess. There are access challenges at all levels of thesystem. Old buildings are deteriorating and lackadequate sanitation, but money to upgrade them isin short supply. In 1992, about 8,500 schools inrural areas ran on double shifts because money tobuild new schools was not available.5 Traditionally,state-owned enterprises—not the education min-istries—funded preprimary schools. As state enter-prises privatized and cut back on such activities,enrollments dropped to one-half the 1990 level,with fewer and fewer opportunities for rural chil-dren.6 Moreover, even though there is universalbasic education coverage, the Ministry of Public


Education reports that some rural and poor childrenare dropping out of school in order to work andincrease family incomes.

Quality. The quality of public school education inUzbekistan has been declining. According to aUSAID education system assessment report,7 cur-riculum changes in Uzbekistan and other CentralAsian republics have failed to introduce new meth-ods of teaching and learning. The curriculumremains encyclopedic and information-based, allow-ing for few question-and-answer sessions. In fact, itis usually considered impolite for students to askquestions in class or interrupt their teachers. Theteaching-learning environment in most classroomstherefore fails to nurture a positive student attitudetoward learning. In addition, curriculum changeshave not been matched by needed changes inteacher training. The decline in educational qualityis also related to the decline in teachers’ status andsalaries.

Management. With support from the EU, USAID,the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and otherdonors, Uzbekistan is moving toward decentraliza-tion of the education system. However, funding atlocal levels remains problematic, with limitedopportunities to raise revenues. In principle, fiscaland curriculum management authority will resteventually with local education officials and headteachers of schools. In practice, however, Uzbekistanis still the least advanced of the Central Asianrepublics along this path. Additionally, decentraliza-tion raises the possibility for regional disparitiesbased on local economic conditions.

Policy Reforms. Over the years, the Government ofUzbekistan has placed a strong emphasis on reform-ing the educational sector through curriculum andtextbook revisions, improved and equitable access forrural and lower economic groups, and staff training.The introduction of new textbooks with specialemphasis on economics, language, and environmen-tal education demonstrates the government’s interestin preparing Uzbekistani youth for greater participa-tion in the global economy. The government alsoadopted a number of equity measures. It providesfree textbooks to all grade 1 children and textbook

leasing to help needy families cut costs. In addition,to improve the financial situation of teachers, thegovernment relieves them from paying utility bills.According to UNESCO’s “Education For All” coun-try reports, Uzbekistan is also committed to restruc-turing staff training system to align it with the coun-try’s social and economic development needs, the lat-est achievements in science, and new technologicaladvancements.8 To supplement the current educa-tion budget, the government also plans to developand launch certain fundraising mechanisms, such asencouraging foreign investment in the continuouseducation and staff training systems.

Donor Assistance The following donors have been implementing pro-grams to support Uzbekistan’s education sector.

■ The ADB has taken a lead role in supportingprimary and secondary education, and is pro-viding support for vocational and technical education.

■ The U.K. Government’s Department forInternational Development (DFID) invited theBritish Council to manage an academic partner-ship project that helps higher education institu-tions in Central Asia prepare their degree pro-grams to match the needs of the region’s emerg-ing new economies. Five of 16 partnerships arein Uzbekistan. The project has been running forabout five years. The followon project began inJanuary 2001, and focused on disseminating thematerials developed to a wider selection of high-er education institutions.9

■ The EU has also provided significant support tothe education sector, focusing on vocational andtechnical education.

■ The Japan International Cooperation Agency(JICA) has provided substantial sums for educa-tional exchanges and training programs.

■ The Korean Government has provided some aidto the Uzbek Government to improve teachereducation.

■ The five Central Asian countries are invited totake part in Swedish International DevelopmentAgency (SIDA)-financed regional training pro-


grams, including journalism and democracy, con-flict solution, water management, and seed pro-duction. With financing from SIDA, the SwedishInstitute is managing a scholarship program foracademic studies in Sweden for, among others,students from the Central Asian countries.10

■ UNESCO has done work in special education,training teachers to educate students aboutHIV/AIDS. UNESCO also held a regionalforum on distance education, hoping to engageUzbekistan in the future.

■ USAID announced a program supporting basiceducation in January 2003.

■ The World Bank is planning to support a dis-tance learning program.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Uzbekistan no longer has a commandeconomy. Although slowly and gradually moving inthe right direction, until 1998 the country had notdone much to improve education for employmentin a free market. Only recently, with support fromdonors under the decentralization programs, are col-leges and universities being encouraged to createpartnerships with local entrepreneurs to open jobopportunities for college graduates.11

Civic Participation. No information emerged in theliterature review indicating that the government’spublic school curriculum includes courses that pro-mote civic participation. However, some students

Table 1.2. Donor Assistance to Education in Uzbekistan

World Bank* ■ ■

USAID* ■ ■ ■

UNICEF

ADB* ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

EU ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNESCO* ■ ■ ■

CIDA

GTZ/KFW

JICA ■ ■

Korea ■

DFID ■ ■

SIDA* ■

Donor Level Focus Type of Educational Intervention

Prim

ary

Seco

ndar

y

Terti

ary

Acce

ss

Qua

lity

Teac

her t

rain

ing

Cur

ricul

a/te

xtbo

oks

Impr

oved

m

anag

emen

t sys

tem

Dec

entra

lizat

ion

Girl

s’ ed

ucat

ion

Dist

ance

lear

ning

Non

form

al e

duca

tion

Voca

tiona

l/tec

hnic

al

* Denotes active involvement in project or planned work

are being prepared for civic responsibilities throughtheir participation in civic education and democracybuilding programs implemented in Uzbekistan byseveral donors.

One example is described as follows:

In January 1998, the International Foundationfor Election Systems (IFES) formally opened anoffice in Tashkent. With funding provided by theUnited States Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID), this on-site presenceallowed IFES to serve as a dependable source ofinformation for the Central ElectionCommission, the Oliy Majlis (Parliament),NGOs, and others working in the areas of elec-toral sector reform and civic education. In July1999 IFES and its local NGO partner, the PublicEducation Center (PEC), conducted a 10-daySummer Democracy Camp in Syr-Darya for stu-dents representing all regions of Uzbekistan. Theproject promoted greater engagement in democra-cy building among the country’s young andfuture leaders, and encouraged these young lead-ers to take an active interest in the peaceful anddemocratic development of their country. Afterthe Camp, IFES continued to play an importantrole in the development of civil society inUzbekistan through civic and voter educationprojects. IFES was able to contribute to OSCE’sEducation for Women project by providing infor-mation on Civic and Voter Education and bypublishing and distributing a brochure onwomen’s rights for regional training sessions.12

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesThere is very limited reliable information availableabout Islamic schools in Uzbekistan: many sourcesare problematic because of data inconsistency orpolitical agendas. Generally, most Islamic schoolsappear to teach only religious subjects and aretherefore considered as a supplement to public orprivate secular schooling. Reportedly, there are twotypes of Islamic schooling in Uzbekistan: formaland informal.

The formal network includes madrasas that begin asKoranic education for children of primary schoolage and continue to include more specializedIslamic subjects for students of secondary schoolage. These schools are available to boys and girls,taught separately. There are also two higher educa-tion institutes that teach Islam: the Tashkent IslamicInstitute, which produces Islamic scholars who gen-erally become imams; and Tashkent IslamicUniversity, a secular institute that grants standarduniversity diplomas.13

In addition, loose networks of informal religiousstudy are reportedly organized and convened by reli-gious leaders within communities, notwithstandingthat religious education outside the formal networkis illegal. Amendments made to the law on religion,adopted in May 1999, outlawed private religiousteaching, including teaching in mosques, exceptwith the special permission of the muftiate. Theserestrictions were reportedly in response to govern-ment fears that imams were teaching Wahhabi ide-ologies or were sheltering Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT)activities. According to the International CrisisGroup (ICG):

In the absence of formal education in mosques, anold tradition of informal (and illegal) learning hasreemerged. This traditional form of learning,known as hujra, was widely practiced in Soviettimes, and came from an older tradition of familylearning of Islam. In some cases hujra groups areconducted by imams or by men who know theKoran well, sometimes with religious education.There are also women’s groups led by traditionalteachers of Islam, known as otin-oyi, or by wives ofimams. There are also hujra where children learnthe basic prayers and fragments from the Koran.14

Given the government’s concerns about the Islamicrevival taking place in Uzbekistan, most religiouseducation is provided in a subdued manner withlow visibility. In a similar vein, the sources of fund-ing for Islamic education in Uzbekistan are notclear. While some portion likely comes from thelocal community and expatriates, some analystsmaintain that funding is increasingly coming fromforeign sources, including the Gulf States.



TrendsThough the exact number of religious schools inUzbekistan is not available, several sources confirmthat it is on the rise. In a June 3, 1995 Los AngelesTimes article “Taking an Eager Step Back,” CarolWilliams reported: “In the three years sinceUzbekistan proclaimed independence from the shat-tered Soviet Union, 15,000 mosques and madrasas—segregated schools for religious education—have been built in Uzbekistan by foreign Islamicbenefactors.”15

Influences—SectsClose to 90 percent of Uzbekistan’s population isMuslim. During the Soviet era, the central govern-ment strictly regulated all religious practices, thoughsome people managed to practice their religion privately.

According to a 1999 Human Rights Watch report,

With independence in 1991 came the opportuni-ty for Muslims in Uzbekistan to practice freelyand openly in accordance with their beliefs.Mosques were built with community donationsand foreign aid, religious schools were opened,and young people began to learn more aboutIslam. Outside observers predicted a “Muslimrenaissance.”

The revival of Islamic adherence came in a varietyof forms not easily grouped together. Many citi-zens continued to follow a primarily secular path,adopting the Muslim appellation and identitywithout corresponding religious practice… Some,particularly younger Muslims, chose a stricterform of religious practice: they undertook reli-gious education and adopted religious dress andother obligations prescribed by a conservativeinterpretation of Islam. Still others saw Islam asthe basis for an alternative political system.16

Even though the government regulated religiousinstitutions, some communities opened their ownmosques with private and foreign funding, appoint-ed their own imams, and followed what the com-munity perceived to be appropriate religious practices.

In light of the radicalization of neighboringAfghanistan, the Uzbek Government viewed its ownIslamic revival as threatening. In 1992, the govern-ment banned the opposition party, the IslamicMovement of Uzbekistan (IMU) claiming it wasaffiliated with terrorism and later with an assassina-tion attempt against President Karimov.

The campaign against “unofficial” Islam began in1994–1995, with the harassment and arbitrarydetentions of men wearing beards and the “disap-pearance” of popular independent Muslim clerics,and intensified in 1997, with the closing ofmosques and a broader crackdown on Islamicleaders and other practicing Muslims not affiliatedwith officially sanctioned Islamic institutions. Themedia, under the thorough control of the govern-ment, stigmatized strictly observant Muslims asterrorists and fanatics. At least one universityclosed its Islamic studies department. Symbols ofreligious piety, including beards and headscarves,became signs of political partisanship.17

Currently, Uzbekistan officially embraces Sufism,the more mystical and less political form of Islamthat originated in Central Asia. As the governmentclamped down on unofficial religious movements,external influences—such as money from GulfStates and Saudi Arabia—countered the govern-ment’s actions by funding more religious schoolsand clandestine groups who want to practice a par-ticular version of Islam. Over the years, Wahhabismhas expanded in Uzbekistan, especially in theFerghana Valley.18

Affiliation with Radical GroupsAccording to a report from Human Rights Watch,extensive foreign funding is available from potential-ly violent Wahhabi sects in the Gulf for militants toopen clandestine religious schools, fund teachers,and purchase weapons.19 However, despite evidencedocumenting the existence of extremist Islamicgroups based in Uzbekistan, it is unclear if and towhat extent they are affiliated with the country’sreligious schools.

The possibility exists because at least two extremistIslamic groups—the IMU and the HuT—are native

1 Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, 2002.<http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uz.html>; World Bank, “Uzbekistan Country Brief, 2003.”<http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/eca/uzbekistan.nsf/>

2 UNESCO/ADB, Monitoring of Educational Reforms(Tashkent: UNESCO/ADB, 2001).

3 Open Society Institute, “Report on Central AsianRepublics.”

4 European Training Foundation, “Key Challenges forVocational Education and Training in Uzbekistan.”<http://www.etf.eu.int>

5 “Country Study and Guide: Uzbekistan,” March 1996.<http://reference.allrefer.com/country-guide-study/uzbekistan/>

6 Open Society Institute, op. cit.

7 Citation unavailable.

8 UNESCO, Education for All.

9 British Council, “Uzbekistan: Projects and Partnerships.”<http://www.britishcouncil.org/uzbekistan/education/projects.htm>

10 <www.sida.se/Sida/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=107>

11 European Training Foundation, “Projects.” <http://www.etf.eu.int/>

12 International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES),“Regional Activities: Uzbekistan.” <www.ifes.org/reg_activities/uzbekistan-reg-act.htm>

13 International Crisis Group (ICG), Central Asia: Islam andthe State (July 10, 2003), 8. <http://www.crisisweb.org//library/documents/report_archive/A401046_10072003.pdf>

14 Ibid., 8.

15 Carol Williams, “Taking an Eager Step Back,” Los AngelesTimes, June 3, 1995.

16 Human Rights Watch, “Uzbekistan—Class Dismissed:Discriminatory Expulsion of Muslim Students,” HumanRights Watch Report 11 (12D) (1999). <http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/uzbekistan/uzbek-02.htm>


to the region and have deep-pocketed fundingsources. Now headquartered in Tajikistan, the IMUoperates in all three Central Asian republics. Someof its operatives allegedly launched crossborderincursions into Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in 1999.The HuT, established in 1952 and based on theEgyptian branch of the “Muslim Brotherhood,”emerged in Central Asia in 1999.20 The FerghanaValley, straddling Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, andUzbekistan, has been a popular launching pad ofoperations for both the IMU and the HuT. Bothgroups have swelled their ranks with followers andcontributed to ethnic tensions.

GovernanceIslamic schools and informal religious study groupsfall outside the government’s public education sys-tem. Government regulation of Islamic education isstrict, taking place through a special agency in theOffice of the Presidency or through the Ministry ofReligious Affairs.

Parental IncentivesIn free Uzbekistan, people could practice their reli-gion openly. This enthusiasm to practice and learnabout Islam is perhaps the most important precur-sor to the rise in the number of madrasas and reli-gious study groups.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentUzbekistan’s Islamic schools focus mostly on reli-gious topics. Secular and civic subjects are generallynot taught, although some entrepreneurial schoolsmay have begun offering such enrichment subjectsas computer skills or English.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsApart from some suggestion of Gulf-based fundingsources, no reliable information on donor workwith Islamic schools emerged from the literaturereview. ■


17 Ibid.

18 “Wahhabism” is used here as a customary term for all fun-damentalist sects in Central Asia, not necessarily those strictlyaligned with the Wahhabi sect. See Islamic Supreme Councilof America, Invitation to Uzbekistan, 2001. <http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/country_reports/CentralAsia/Uzbekistan2001-Report/default.htm>

19 Ibid.

20 Central Asia Caucasus Institute. “Is Hizb-ut-Tahrir GoingPublic in Its Struggle?” Central Asia Caucasus Analyst (JohnsHopkins University) (July 18, 2001). <http://www.uzland.uz/2001/july/24.htm#religion>


2. Egypt


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54.8GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,670Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.28Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.64


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.20Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.92Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.36Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90.00Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.02Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.93Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,895Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3

LiteracyAdult literacy rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56.9Female adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.9Male adult literacy rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67.8

FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.27Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure. . . . . . . . . . . . 14.9Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure . . . . . . . . . –

Table 2.1. Egypt Country Profile


Introduction

Egypt operates two parallel education systems:the secular system and the Al-Azhar (Islamic)system. Concerted efforts by the Government

of Egypt and donors have resulted in universal pri-mary education throughout the country. Educationis compulsory until grade 8. The net enrollmentratio of 67 percent at the secondary level is alsoimpressive. Nevertheless, overall adult illiteracyremains high—43 percent—and the rate for womenis even higher at 54 percent. Quality remains anissue at all educational levels.

Public Education SystemA Library of Congress Country Study summarizesthe history of education in modern Egypt:

Prior to the nineteenth century, the ulama [reli-gious leaders] and Coptic clergy controlledEgypt’s traditional education. The country’s mostimportant institutes were theological seminaries,but most mosques and churches—even in vil-lages—operated basic schools where boys couldlearn to read and write Arabic, to do simple arith-metic, and to memorize passages from the Koranor Bible. Muhammad Ali established the systemof modern secular education in the early nine-teenth century to provide technically trainedcadres for his civil administration and military.His grandson, Ismail, greatly expanded the systemby creating a network of public schools at the pri-mary, secondary, and higher levels. Ismail’s wifeset up the first school for girls in 1873. Between1882 and 1922, when the country was underBritish administration, state education did notexpand. However, numerous private schools,including Egypt’s first secular university, wereestablished. After direct British rule ended, Egyptadopted a new constitution that proclaimed thestate’s responsibility to ensure adequate primaryschools for all Egyptians. Nevertheless, educationgenerally remained accessible only to the elite. Atthe time of the 1952 Revolution, fewer than 50percent of all primary-school-age children attend-ed school, and the majority of the children whowere enrolled were boys. Nearly 75 percent of thepopulation over ten years of age was illiterate.

More than 90 percent of the females in this agegroup were illiterate.

The Free Officers [who led the 1952 Revolution]dramatically expanded educational opportunities.They pledged to provide free education for all cit-izens and abolished all fees for public schools.They doubled the Ministry of Education’s budgetin one decade; government spending on educa-tion grew from less than 3 percent of the grossdomestic product in 1952–53 to more than 5percent by 1978. Expenditures on school con-struction increased 1,000 percent between 1952and 1976, and the total number of primaryschools doubled to 10,000.1

CharacteristicsEgypt’s secular education system is organized as follows2:

Preprimary, Elementary, and Preparatory. Preprimary,a new type of school, enrolled 328,142 students in1999. Elementary education, also known as “pri-mary,” covers the first five years of state-sponsoredschooling. “Preparatory” referred to three years ofpostprimary education when elementary educationconsisted of two stages—primary and preparatory.Now, for all practical purposes, they are combinedas a result of a 1984 law that extended the numberof years of compulsory education from five to eight.

General Secondary. This category covers three addi-tional years, dividing students between three-yeargeneral academic secondary schools and three- orfive-year vocational schools. While academic schoolsare the preferred placement, increasing numbers ofstudents are enrolling in vocational schools. At thebeginning of grade 10, academic school studentsmust choose whether they will study the arts or sciences through grade 11.

Higher Education. This category comprises universi-ties, which now contain teacher training collegesthat were once separate institutes.

ChallengesAccess. Egypt has done remarkably well at the basiceducation level: net enrollment ratios are about 92 percent. At the secondary level, net enrollment

rates are an impressive 67 percent. Despite theseimprovements, the regional disparity in educationalaccess is hampered by poverty, inappropriate alloca-tion of funds, and long distances between the centerand villages. Both boys and girls have lower enroll-ment rates in governorates such as Assyuit, Beni-Suef, and Minya.3 The gender gap is especially highat the secondary and tertiary level. The governmentand the donor community hope to bridge this gapwith a special focus on girls’ education in ongoingand new education reform projects.

Quality. The quality of primary education is declin-ing. The teacher-focused learning and authoritarianteaching styles that prevail in most Egyptian class-rooms promote passive learning. Thus, even thoughmore than 90 percent of primary school-aged chil-dren enroll in schools, the poor teaching-learningenvironment means that learning achievements arenot optimized. The quality problems are even morepronounced at the secondary level, where anincreasing number of students are entering. It isclear that Egypt will need a more sophisticated edu-cation system that produces students with criticalthinking skills and the ability to enter the competi-tive job market. Thus far, the increased investmentin the education sector has not translated into animproved quality of secondary education. Its inade-quacy is reflected in the shortcomings of the cur-

riculum and examination system and in deficientpedagogical skills.4 Another factor contributing topoor quality is that teachers must organize their les-sons according to national directives on lesson plan-ning instead of the learning needs of their students.In addition, strategies that incorporate good scienceand technology programs at the higher educationlevel are not yet in place.5

Management. During the past decade, the resourcesand attention devoted to the education sector havebeen impressive. Education expenditure rose from12 percent of the national budget in 1991 to about20 percent in 2001.6 Though expenditures haveincreased, the highly centralized nature of Egypt’smanagement of education presents an obstacle tomore effective utilization of funding. AlthoughEgypt has been trying to decentralize its schoolingauthority for decades, little independent responsibil-ity has devolved to district or regional officials. As aconsequence, management tends to be weak at thelocal level, and many administrative details arereferred back to central ministry offices. Programquality is particularly impervious to local changesbecause policy guidance and standard instructionalinputs all emanate from central institutions.

Policy reforms. Since 1991, the Government ofEgypt has given special emphasis to making schoolsavailable to rural populations. The 25.2 percentincrease in the number of secondary schools(preparatory level) between 1991 and 1998 isimpressive.7 Egypt has also invested heavily in edu-cational technology by providing computer labs,satellite computer learning centers, and distanceeducation through the internet. Under bilateralagreements with donors such as the World Bank,the Government of Egypt has committed to reformits educational structures by investing in the capaci-ty of education department employees and enhanc-ing sector planning and decisionmaking.

Donor AssistanceDuring the past 10 years, the World Bank andUSAID have been the most significant contributorsto education sector development in Egypt. Donorsand the government focused mainly on access andquality at the primary level and attained more than90 percent enrollment rates. The World Bank also


Table 2.2. Classrooms and Students in Egypt, 2001

GeneralElementary 173,700 7,142,000Preparatory 100,880 4,279,000General Secondary 266,500 1,087,500Total General 541,080 12,508,500

TechnicalIndustrial 25,110 894,900Commercial 24,660 953,600Agricultural 24,660 203,400Total Technical 74,430 2,051,900

Grand Total 615,510 14,560,400

Source: Egyptian State Information Services, <http://www.sis.gov.eg/yb2001f/ehtml/fram1.htm>

Level Classrooms Students


invested in technical education development.UNICEF’s programs in Egypt are mostly communi-ty based and tend to have a significant impact ongirls’ education. Japanese Government assistance inEgypt’s education sector is mostly concentrated infacility construction and technical skills exchangeprograms. Although many donors are focusing onimproving educational quality, much remains to bedone, especially at the secondary level, which alsoneeds concerted efforts and resources.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. The issue of employment in Egypt isnot so much of production of a labor force than theabsorption of educated people into the labor mar-ket. Between 1988 and 1998, the number of work-ers increased by 523,000 per year but the systemcould absorb only 435,000. Annually, 88,000

potential workers joined the ranks of the unem-ployed.8

Civic Participation. A consensus that students arenot learning civil society building skills in mostArab countries is reflected in the UNDP ArabHuman Development Report. It states:

The most worrying aspect of the crisis in educa-tion is education’s inability to provide the require-ments for the development of Arab societies. Thiscould mean not only that education loses itspower to provide a conduit for social advance-ment for the poor within Arab countries but alsothat Arab countries become isolated from globalknowledge, information and technology. If thecurrent situation is allowed to continue, the crisiscan only worsen—this at a time when acceleratedacquisition of knowledge and formation ofadvanced human skills are becoming prerequisitesfor progress. If the steady deterioration in the

Table 2.3. Donor Assistance to Egypt’s Public Education Sector, 1993–2003

World Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ADB

EU ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNESCO

CIDA ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

GTZ/KFW ■ ■

JICA ■

DFID ■ ■

DANIDA, FINNIDA, SIDA

* Information not available.


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quality of education in the Arab countries andthe inability of education to meet the require-ments of development are not reversed, the con-sequences for human and economic developmentwill be grave. Comprehensive action to reformeducation systems is therefore urgent.9

The authorities in Egypt also claim to be “threat-ened” by active civil society participation. Thethreat of perceived Islamization of the masses iskeeping the government from opening up the pub-lic debate on social and political issues or encourag-ing such debate in schools or colleges. As AmnestyInternational reported:

In the last few years, the Egyptian authoritieshave managed to muzzle civil society by threaten-ing with detention and imprisonment those whooppose or publicly criticize the government’s poli-cies. Journalists, writers, human rights defenders,nongovernmental organization (NGO) activistsand political activists have been and continue tobe particularly at risk of being detained in con-nection with “offences” which merely amount tothe exercise of their rights to freedom of expres-sion and association. Over the past decade newlaws and decrees have curtailed rights to freedomof expression and association. Human rightsactivists have been detained on the basis of dubi-ous charges, such as “disseminating false informa-tion abroad that would harm Egypt’s interests.”Journalists have been imprisoned for libel of officials.10

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesWith the advent of Islam in Egypt, the reading ofthe Koran became an integral part of a Muslim’slife. The study of the Koran was carried out inmosques, homes, under trees, and in open places,following ancient traditions of the ArabianPeninsula. The congregations served socializationand educational purposes. Once students memo-rized the Koran, they could attend higher instruc-tional classes where they learned the Koran in termsof Islamic law, logic, and the Prophet’s traditions.Koranic schools were the only means of primaryeducation for children until the introduction of theWestern form of education in late 1800s.

The Shiite or Fatimid version of Islam was mostprevalent in Persia and Egypt. Al-Azhar Universitywas established to propagate this version throughhigher level scholarship and schooling. When theSunni Seljuks conquered Egypt, they abolished theShiite system of education, reformed teachings atAl-Azhar University, and introduced the Sunni ver-sion of Islam throughout the country.

The Al-Azhar education system maintains separatefacilities for male and female students. It is responsi-ble for religious education as well as other compo-nents of the secular curriculum. Primary schoolextends over the first six years, and preparatoryschool extends over the next three. Students who

Table 2.4. Registered Students and Existing Classrooms in Egypt’s Al-Azhar Education System

1981–82 1994–95 1981–82 1994–95Primary 128,048 701,979 3,355 19,780Preparatory 66,344 187,326 1,783 5,816Secondary 99,757 168,830 2,519 5,684Teacher Education 3,241 9,445 – 224Koranic Recitations 1,428 6,497 – 224Total 298,818 1,074,077 7,657 31,728

Al-Azhar University 83,034 102,300 31 faculties 49 faculties

Source. http://www.sis.gov.eg/public/achieve/html/ach04.htm

Levels No. of Admitted Students No. of New Classrooms


successfully complete four years of secondary schoolcan enroll at Al-Azhar University. Like mainstreamstudents, those who do not go to secondary schoolcan attend vocational schools that operate under theMinistry of Education. Supervision and administra-tion of the Al-Azhar educational system is theresponsibility of the Central Administration of Al-Azhar Institutes. This is a department of theSupreme Council of Al-Azhar, which is responsiblefor the development of general policy and planningto ensure the propagation of Islamic culture and theArabic language in these schools.11

As shown in Table 2.5, in 2001–02, 26 percent and29 percent of new students were expected to choosethe Al-Azhar system for general and university edu-cation, respectively.

In addition to the Al-Azhar religious schools, thereare private religious schools that function under theauspices of the Ministry of Education. In 1998,there were 206 such Islamic education institutionsin Egypt.12 They follow the government-prescribedcurriculum but try to make the daily life more“Islamic” by enforcing certain dress codes. Despitethe Ministry’s ban of niqab—face covering—manyfemale teachers and students in these schools con-tinue the tradition.

TrendsThe number of religious schools has increased. StateInformation Service statistics for 2001 show a largenumber of students enrolling in religious schools:25 percent at the school level, and 29 percent at theuniversity level. In addition to the Al-Azhar schoolsystem, 6 percent of all private schools are religiousschools in which girls also enroll.

Influences—Sects Sunni Islam is the only form of Islam taught in Al-Azhar schools.

Affiliation with Radical GroupsThere is no evidence that students enrolling in Al-Azhar education system are affiliated with any radi-cal groups. However, according to Bradley J. Cook’s1999 doctoral dissertation, these private schools donot celebrate the national day of independence.Instead of the national anthem, the song of theMuslim Brotherhood initiates the morning assem-bly. The brotherhood is considered a radical Islamicgroup and is banned by the government.13

GovernanceThe Islamic education system in Egypt is governedby Al-Azhar, which, in turn, is financed and gov-erned by the government. There is no informationabout foreign or private funding sources for reli-gious schools in Egypt.

There is no divergence between Islamic schools thatoperate under Al-Azhar system and the regular pub-lic schools. Students from either system can transferto the other.

Parental IncentivesThere are different views on the underlying reasonsassociated with the “going back to the religion” phe-nomenon in Egypt. Some believe that it is rooted inthe Six-Day War with Israel: the humiliation suf-fered by Arabs and the annexation of Jerusalemhelped precipitate the demand to return to anIslamic way of life. Arabs and Muslims blamedthemselves and their leaders for the defeat. MostArabs—especially Egyptians—argue that Israel tri-umphed because of the country’s religious convic-tion, and they believe that Arabs will regain strength

Table 2.5. Expected Number of NewStudents in Government and Al-Azhar

Systems of Education in Egypt, 2001–02

Elementary 118,961 708,431Preparatory 119,982 331,444General Secondary 110,332 268,058Total 349,275 1,307,933

University Level 126,000 420,037Grand Total 475,275 1,727,970

Source: Egypt State Information Services, <http://www.sis.gov.eg/yb2001f/ehtml/fram1.htm>

Level New Al AzharSchool Students

New PublicSchool Students

and take charge once again by going back to Islam.In addition, graphic coverage of events in Palestine,Iraq, Bosnia, Kashmir, and other parts of the worldwhere Muslims tend to be victims prompts someArabs to ask whether the secular system of the gov-ernment and education is the answer to their sur-vival. The idea of returning to an Islamic way of lifecontinues to provide some consolation. For many,obtaining religious education and becoming wellversed in Islam is one way of achieving that goal.

Some even think that strict secular education makesone a slave of the West. The “democratic” dictator-ship in Egypt is viewed as a secular, educated pup-pet of the West, which does not allow true democ-racy to prevail and riches to flow to the needy.14

Many Egyptians are increasingly questioning theiraffiliation to the state instead of religion. Manybelieve that by returning to their Islamic roots theymay be able to lift themselves up from poverty andsubmission to their government.15

Though many people in the Muslim world believethat the growing Islamic resurgence is largely rootedin the perception that “Arabs are losing,” others sug-gest that internal forces play a much greater role.Richard Bulliet, a social historian of Islam, writes:

Many have argued, for example, that the failureof these regimes to defeat Israel or secure thematerial blessings of modernization sapped theirideological legitimacy and made an Islamicresurgence possible. I would not point to theseundeniable failures, but to the regimes’ success

in instituting brutal and all-pervasive internalsecurity structures as a root cause of Islamicopposition.16

Adding to this turmoil is the increase in the numberof students at the tertiary level and limited jobopportunities in the labor market. Many agree thatthe deteriorating social conditions and the wideninggap between rich and poor have greatly contributedto radicalism on Egyptian university campuses. Thisradicalism is reflected in the demands by students—interestingly, a vast majority of whom did not attendany religious school—to give Islam a chance.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. The Islamic education system is nobetter prepared than the secular system to producestudents who will be absorbed into the job market.However, students who graduate from higher levelsof Islamic schooling at least have a greater chance ofemployment in the religious sector. Some Al-AzharUniversity graduates become renowned scholars andserve as muftis (Islamic teachers and scholars) andspiritual leaders within and outside the country.

Civic Participation. No information was available.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsNo information was available. ■


1 Library of Congress, “Egypt, A Country Study.”<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/egtoc.html>

2 From a World Bank website maintained by the Ministry ofEducation in Cairo, <www.ppmu.org>. The data can be con-firmed at: UNESCO, The EFA 2000 Assessment: CountryReports—Egypt, (Paris: UNESCO, 1999).<http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/egypt/rapport_1.htm>

3 World Bank, The Arab Republic of Egypt EducationEnhancement Program, Staff Appraisal Report, (October 21,1996), 4. <http://www-wds.worldbank.org/>

4 World Bank, Egypt Country Assistance Strategy (June 5,2001). <http://www-wds.worldbank.org/>

5 World Bank, Secondary Education Enhancement Project,Project Appraisal (March 22, 1999). <http://www-wds.world-bank.org/>

6 World Bank, Egypt Country Assistance Strategy, op. cit.

7 UNESCO, The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports—Egypt (Paris: UNESCO, 2000). <http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/egypt/rapport_1.htm>

8 Samir Radwan, Employment and Unemployment in Egypt:Conventional Problems, Unconventional Remedies, EgyptianCenter for Economic Studies, Working Paper No. 70 (August2002), 2. <http://www.worldbank.org/mdf/mdf4/papers/radwan.pdf>

9 UNDP, Arab Human Development Report 2002 (New York:United Nations Development Programme, 2002).

10 Amnesty International, Egypt: Muzzling Civil Society,Country Report (London: Amnesty International, September2000), 1. <http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE120212000?open&of=ENG-EGY>

11 U.S. Department of Education,“Education Around theWorld: Egypt,” Office of International Affairs website.<http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/PES/int_egypt.html>

12 Bradley J. Cook, “Egyptian Higher Education:Inconsistent Cognition,” Ph.D. dissertation (University ofOxford, 1999).

13 Ibid.

14 Several sources confirm this view: see Karen Armstrong,The Battle for God, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2001);Geneive Abdo, No God But God (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 2000).

15 Cook, op. cit.

16 Richard W. Bulliet, “Twenty Years of Islamic Politics,” The Middle East Journal 53 (Spring 1999).<http://209.196.144.55/articles/bulliet.html>



3. Morocco


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.7Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.9GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $3,450Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.89Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.6


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97.04Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.81Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79.45Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.00Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.54Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.79Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,180Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –


FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.24Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure. . . . . . . . . . . . 24.9Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure. . . . . . . 34.6

Table 3.1. Morocco Country Profile

Introduction

Morocco has one of the largest populationsamong North African countries. It con-tends with complex socioeconomic and

demographic issues, including rapid urbanization, anincreasing dichotomy between rural and urban areas,growing income disparities, and a young population,almost 50 percent of which is under 20.

The government’s concerted efforts over the pastfive years have improved the educational landscapeoverall; however, enrollment rates, even at the pri-mary level in rural areas, continue to exhibit highgender disparities. At the secondary level, the prob-lem is more acute, and is compounded by the dis-tance of secondary schools from most rural areasand the general shortage of secondary schools.Literacy levels remain very low: 63 percent for menand 38 percent for women. Illiteracy is a particularproblem for women in rural areas, where nine outof 10 women are illiterate. In comparison withother lower middle-income countries, Morocco’ssocial indicators are low: the UNDP’s 2003 HumanDevelopment Index ranks Morocco at 126 out of175 countries.1

Although Morocco is considered an Arab country, itis actually over 50 percent Berber. Berbers speak alanguage that bears little resemblance to Arabic.Many Berbers, particularly rural women, do notspeak any Arabic. Berber children, therefore, areunlikely to speak or understand Arabic when theyenter the first grade of the public school system,where all subjects are taught in classical Arabic.

Public Education SystemCharacteristicsMorocco’s education system consists of six years ofprimary school, three years of lower-middle school,three years of secondary school, and a tertiary (high-er) education system. Primary education begins atage 6 and is free and compulsory. However, the out-of-pocket costs of sending children to school (suchas fees for schoolbooks and uniforms) as well as theopportunity costs (loss of a child’s labor at home)make schooling unaffordable for poor rural families.

Preschool education has traditionally been thedomain of Koranic schools (also known as kuttab),although the Ministry of National Education(MNE) has been introducing a preschool level intothe public primary school system.2 Vocational andtechnical training institutes are also available, buttheir usual locations in urban or semiurban areasconstrain access for rural youth.

ChallengesAccess. Geographical and gender disparities persist inMorocco. Enrollment in primary school is almostuniversal in urban areas, but not in rural areas. Inthe past five years, the Government of Morocco,with assistance from the donor community, hasundertaken an aggressive campaign to increase pri-mary enrollment rates in rural areas, particularly forgirls. The gross enrollment rate in rural areasreached 77 percent in 2000–01 and rural girls’enrollment reached 47 percent—a large improve-ment from 28 percent in 1992. The number ofMoroccan girls enrolled in primary educationincreased by 6.6 percent between 1999–2000 and2000–01. In rural areas, the number of girls inschool increased by 10.3 percent.3 Access to middleand secondary schools is limited and inequitablebecause of shortages in the number of schools andtheir distance from most rural communities.

Quality. Assessments of learning achievement showdeclining student performance in basic subjects inall schools. The problem is particularly acute amongstudents in rural schools. The MNE spends most ofits budget on salaries and other recurrent costs,resulting in poorly maintained schools and an inad-equate supply and quality of instructional materialsand textbooks. The poor quality of education isexacerbated by Arabic-Berber language issues. Sincethe Moroccan Government and the donor commu-nity are concentrating their efforts on education inrural areas, the rapidly expanding urban and periur-ban education sector is not receiving much atten-tion. Although access to primary level education inurban areas is almost universal, schools suffer fromovercrowding and poor quality.

Management. The MNE is decentralizing its func-tions to regional levels created in 1999, when 72provinces were subsumed into 16 regional adminis-


trative units. Responsibility for provision of healthand education services has been slowly devolving tothe regional level, which has an administrative struc-ture resembling a mini-ministry. This decentraliza-tion process is supposed to be accompanied by morelocal autonomy for the regions in ensuring that edu-cation programs are responsive to regional needsand realities and the budget is administered locally.Each region has a Regional Academy for Educationand Training and a regional director who is senior toprovincial delegates within the region.

Although the MNE’s central level will continue tohave responsibility for the school curriculum,teacher training curriculum, national examinations,and education policy development, the regionalacademies are slated to take over teacher recruit-ment, training, and assignment. The regional acade-mies will also be responsible for developing 30 per-

cent of the curriculum so that it is locally relevant.The central level of the MNE continues to managethe other 70 percent.4

Policy Reform. The Moroccan Government andKing Mohammad VI are strongly committed tosocial development and, in particular, to improvingpublic education services. In 1999, the RoyalEducation Council, appointed by the late KingHassan II, provided the government with recom-mendations for reforming the system. The council’srecommendations included: 1) increasing the partic-ipation of rural girls, 2) improving quality, 3) allow-ing Berber to be used in grades 1 and 2 to help stu-dents make the transition to learning in classicalArabic, and 4) introducing a countrywide preschooleducation system. The recommendations wereadopted by the government and are currently beingimplemented by the MNE.


Table 3.2. Donor Assistance to Morocco’s Public Education Sector

World Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF ■ ■ ■

ADB

EU

UNESCO ■

CIDA

French Cooperation ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

GTZ/KFW

JICA

DFID



Prim

ary

Seco

ndar

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Terti

ary

Acce

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Qua

lity

Teac

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oved

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tem

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Dist

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Donor Assistance A number of donors and partners are implementingprograms supporting the MNE’s basic educationpriorities. Since 1996, USAID/Morocco has beenworking in basic education on an integrated pri-mary education program targeting rural girls. Theprogram elements include

■ delivering preservice and inservice teacher training

■ strengthening the local capacity of the MNE ineight provinces

■ supporting the development of parent-teacherassociations and strengthening community participation in pilot school catchments

■ promoting public-private partnerships with theNGO community and the private sector

USAID is also coordinating with UNICEF to support the MNE’s new approaches: the Agency atteacher training colleges and UNICEF at the schoollevel. The World Bank continues to provide assis-tance for infrastructure upgrades and teacher train-ing, using, for the most part, USAID-trained per-sonnel from the MNE as trainers. France providesthe most education assistance, with programs thatsupport primary, secondary, and tertiary education.UNESCO has the lead in working with theMoroccan Government to followup on recom-mendations from the Dakar “Education for All”conference.5

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. There is a discrepancy between theeducation system’s outputs and the developmentand labor market needs of the country. For example,the tourism industry is a burgeoning sector of theeconomy, but hotels, restaurants, car rental compa-nies, and other tourist industry staples are poorlymanaged and lack qualified and properly trainedstaff. The high illiteracy rates show the educationsystem is not reaching all Moroccans, especially inrural areas. Many children drop out of school—ornever enroll—because of a prevalent apprenticeshiptradition that can be classified as child labor.Morocco has a wide range of traditional arts and

crafts (such as pottery, rug weaving, and jewelrymaking) that are popular with tourists. Young chil-dren—some as young as 9 or 10—usually appren-tice with master craftsmen and craftswomen tolearn trades such as rug weaving. Consequently,many children never enter or complete primaryschool or develop adequate literacy or numericalskills to participate in Morocco’s growing moderneconomy. Furthermore, the country’s education sys-tem is based on a highly theoretical model, whichmeans that university graduates often lack the prac-tical skills needed to compete successfully in thelabor market.6

Civic Participation. The curriculum for all levelsincludes a class on civic participation. This subjectis lumped in with history and geography and taughtbeginning in the grade 3 of the primary system. Theobjectives of civic education, as stated by the MNE,are to educate children on 1) their national andsocial responsibilities, 2) the different institutionsthat make up the nation and the government, and3) how to use and understand different governmentdocuments, such as edicts, administrative proce-dures, and laws.7 The literature review did notreveal any information on the impact of this classon civic behavior.

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesMoroccan Islamic schools are divided into two maincategories: Koranic preschools and “OriginalEducation,” a limited Islamic school system thatcovers grades 1–12. Koranic schools were initiallyestablished to teach the Koran, the Islamic religion,and the Arabic language. After independence, theirrole changed to the provision of preschool educa-tion in rural and urban areas. In recent times, theirfunction has been to safeguard the basic precepts ofIslam by teaching the Koran to children—both boysand girls—and prepare them for entry into the pub-lic primary school system.8 Although the publicschool system was modernized half a century ago,Koranic schooling remains very popular: approxi-mately 80 percent of all children attend some formof Koranic school for a portion of their schoolyears.9

Through Koranic schools, children learn the basicArabic alphabet and begin the process of becomingliterate in Modern Standard Arabic. Studies con-ducted in Morocco on the pedagogical impact ofKoranic schools found that children attendingKoranic preschools outperform non-preschooledchildren in Arabic reading achievement.10 AlthoughKoranic preschooling has a positive impact on liter-acy achievement in the early years of elementaryeducation, this difference diminishes by the timechildren reach grades 4 and 5. For Berber children,Koranic preschool is their first exposure to thenational language of their country and any form ofwritten script.

Original Education schools teach Islamic religion,tradition, and the Arabic language to those whowant to enter the religious sector. These schools arealso three-tiered: four years of primary, three yearsof middle school, and a secondary level that requiresspecialization in particular areas of Islamic studies.There are approximately 45 of these schoolsthroughout Morocco. They combine a religious andsecular curriculum that includes Islamic studies;Arabic language; history, geography, and civic edu-cation; philosophy and Islamic thought; mathemat-ics and sciences; languages (French, English, orSpanish); and physical education.11

One additional type of Islamic school is worth not-ing, though there is little available information. Themsid Islamic schools are typically found in ruralareas underserved by the public education system.Msid schools are privately funded, and vary widelyin size and scope. Generally, students attend theseschools to complement traditional schooling.

TrendsAlthough the Government of Morocco is commit-ted to universalizing preschool education, budgetconstraints make this objective extremely difficult toachieve. To provide preschool education, the min-istry is therefore relying on private schools, particu-larly in urban areas, and Koranic and other types ofcommunity schools in rural areas. It is hard to gaugewhether Koranic preschools have been increasing innumber or simply maintaining their current levelsbecause local NGOs and other community-basedorganizations are also providing preschool education.

Influences—SectsMorocco is a religiously homogenous country. Withthe exception of an extremely small minority ofChristians and Jews, Moroccans adhere to the SunniMuslim faith.

Affiliation with Radical GroupsThe literature review did not yield any informationon possible affiliation between radical movementsand Original Education schools or Koranic schools.This is not surprising, since Koranic schools areonly at the preschool level and Original Educationschools are government-run and part of the publiceducation sector.

GovernanceKoranic schools in urban areas fall under the controlof the MNE. In rural areas, they are managed bythe communities, with loose oversight from theMNE and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.12 In itsinformational materials, the MNE combinespreschools with primary schools in terms of educa-tional objectives and the rights of children. TheMNE outlines the objectives of preschool educationas follows:

■ learning a number of Koranic verses

■ initiating students into the principles of anIslamic education

■ preparing for access to the primary educationlevel

■ acquiring educational habits and notions of spatial organization and orientation

■ learning attention and expression aptitudes

■ developing manual competencies13

Original Education schools are official publicschools and are managed by the Division ofOriginal Education in the MNE’s Directorate ofCurricula.

Parental IncentivesThe incentive for sending children to Koranicschools is clear. Alternative preschools are not widelyavailable, so parents want to give their childrensome preparation for the public school system and


1 UNDP, Human Development Report 2003 (Geneva: UNDP,2003). <http://www.undp.org/hdr2003/indicator/cty_f_MAR.html >

2 Mourad Ezzine, Basic Education Project, Staff AppraisalReport (Washington, DC: World Bank, May 1996).<http://www-wds.worldbank.org>

3 Social Watch on Poverty Eradication and Gender Equitywebsite. <www.socwatch.org.uy>

4 Christophe Tocco, “Islamic Education Study,” email(September 20, 2002).

5 USAID/Morocco, USAID/Morocco: Results Review andResource Request (R4) (Rabat: USAID/Morocco, March2001). PD-ABT-518

6 Helen Boyle, “The Growth of Qur’anic Schooling and theMarginalization of Islamic Pedagogy: The Case of Morocco,”paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Comparativeand International Education Society (Orlando, Fla., March6–9, 2002).

7 Ministère de l’Education Nationale, “Social StudiesCurricula: History, Geography and Civic Education.”<www.men.gov.ma>


provide the beginning of a religious education optto enroll them in Koranic schools.14 Parents alsoconsider Koranic memorization to be particularlybeneficial to the spiritual and emotional develop-ment of the child. They want their children toadhere to the path of Islam and grow up to be pro-ductive community members. Parents believeKoranic verses serve as points of reference, guidingchildren in the right direction as they grow up.15

The Arab proverb “memorizing in youth is likeengraving on stone, and memorizing when old islike engraving on water” illustrates the popular per-ception that this type of education is important at ayoung age.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Original Education schools couple anIslamic education with almost all the secular sub-jects taught in the public school system. OriginalEducation schools also place great emphasis onacquisition and mastery of foreign languages. Thegraduates of these schools have the skills to beemployed both in the labor market and in the reli-gious sector. Koranic preschools, on the other hand,are only for children under 6, making the employ-ment factor irrelevant.

Civic Participation. Since Koranic schools are onlyfor children under 6, there is little room for formalcivic education. However, today’s Koranic schoolsrepresent a continuation of traditional Moroccan

Koranic schools by providing students with a link tothe past and a sense of cultural and national identi-ty.16 Some Koranic schools teach national songs,which also contributes to the formation of a nation-al identity. Overall, preschool education preparesyoung children for the formal school system andallows them to acquire some learning and studyingskills. The curriculum in Original Education schoolsincludes social studies, encompassing civic educa-tion along with history and geography.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsThere is extensive interest in the donor communityin working with Koranic and other preschools inMorocco. The MNE is extremely open to programstargeting this level of education, as it lacks the fundsto do so and preschool education is part of its man-date. Recently, Children’s Resources International,Inc., met with MNE officials to discuss preschoolprograms that might be undertaken by the organiza-tion. The Bernard van Leer Foundation has alsoworked with preschools in Morocco, but in a limit-ed capacity and only in urban areas. The literaturereview did not yield any information on donor sup-port to Original Education institutions. ■

8 Khadija Bouzoubaa, “An Innovation in Morocco’s KoranicPre-Schools,” Working Papers in Early Childhood Development,No. 23 (The Hague: Bernard van Leer Foundation, 1998).

9 Boyle, op. cit.

10 Daniel Wagner, “Putting Second Language First: Languageand Literacy Learning in Morocco,” in Literacy Developmentin a Multilingual Context, ed. Aydin Yücesan Durgunoglu andLudo Verhoeven (Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates,1998).

11 Ministry of National Education. <http://www.men.gov.ma/fr/bdd/rechstheme.asp?code=34>

12 IFC, EdInvest News, January 2002 (World Bank:International Finance Corporation). <http://www2.ifc.org/edinvest>

13 Ministère de l’Education Nationale, “Composition desprogrammes de l’enseignement prescolaire et primaire.”<http://www.men.gov.ma/fr/bdd/afficheart.asp?code=55>

14 Dominique Zemrag, “Islamic Education Study,” email(USAID/Morocco, 10 October 2002).

15 Boyle, op. cit.

16 Boyle, op. cit.



4. Yemen


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.5Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.3GNI per capita (ppp, current international $). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $770Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.16Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.47


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77.92Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.55Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.02Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.3Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.36Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35.22Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –


FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure . . . . . . . . . –

Table 4.1. Yemen Country Profile


Introduction

North Yemen became independent of theOttoman Empire in 1918. The British,who had set up a protectorate around the

southern port of Aden in the 19th century, with-drew in 1967 from what became South Yemen.Three years later, the southern government adopteda Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hun-dreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility.The two countries were formally unified as theRepublic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionistmovement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000,Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their common border.1

Yemen is the only low-income country in the ArabMiddle East and North Africa region: its economicand social indicators are comparable to those of sub-Saharan Africa. Literacy rates are 70 percent formen and 28 percent for women, and gender dispari-ties are prevalent throughout Yemeni society, includ-ing the education system. Yemen’s 3.5 percent popu-lation growth rate means that the country will expe-rience the highest population growth in the worldbetween 2000 and 2015. The country’s population,currently almost 18 million, is projected to reach49.4 million by 2031. Three-fourths of Yemen’spopulation live in rural areas. However, the urbanpopulation is growing at twice the national rate—aresult of rapid urbanization caused by internalmigration.2

Yemen lacks a diversified economy and the humanresources to support its development: it is heavilydependent on oil exports and remittances fromYemenis abroad. The UNDP 2003 HumanDevelopment Index ranks Yemen 148 of 175 coun-tries. The country’s geography also contributes tohigh poverty levels and low social indicators. Yemenis arid, with severe water shortages and a mountain-ous terrain difficult to penetrate, particularly forsocial services that the government may be able toprovide. Northern Yemen is extremely rugged, con-tributing to its relative isolation and tribal character-istics. The south, historically a trade route for cara-vans and ships, is more open to the world.3

Public Education SystemCharacteristicsThe education structure in the Republic of Yemenconsists of three tiers: basic, secondary, and higher.The basic education system is divided into a pri-mary level (grades 1–6) and a preparatory level(grades 7–9). The secondary level is three years(grades 10–12). Higher and university educationfollow. At the basic education level, boys and girlsstudy together, but at the secondary level the sexesare segregated: girls and boys study in separate facil-ities. After their first year of general secondary leveleducation, students choose a scientific or literarytrack for the remaining two years.

Yemen has some technical secondary schools andthree vocational training institutions. There are alsoreligious institutes that focus on Islamic educationonly. The government finances and supervises allschools through the Ministry of Education (MOE).

ChallengesAccess. Yemen’s constitution stipulates that educa-tional opportunities should be provided to all citi-zens on an equitable basis. Unfortunately, poorpeople living in isolated parts of the country do nothave access to education. This is especially true forgirls, who tend to drop out even when there areschools near their homes. Additionally, at the sec-ondary level, the number of schools for boys out-strips those for girls, making equal access impossi-ble. Thirty-eight percent of school-age children arestill out of school, and girls constitute 56 percent ofthat number.4 Urban and rural disparities in accessto education are especially wide. Poverty, need forchildren’s labor, and inaccessibility are widely citedreasons for non-attendance at school.

Quality. Inequitable distribution of qualified teach-ers has resulted in uneven educational quality andpoor educational attainment. Qualified teachersprefer the better living conditions in urban areas. In rural areas, teacher absenteeism is quite high.5

Drop-out and repetition rates have been increasingsteadily over the past five years. In a 1998 standard-ized achievement test for fifth graders, satisfactorylevels were achieved by only 3 percent in

StrengtheningEducation in the Muslim World

27

mathematics, 14 percent in science, and 5 percentin Arabic.6

Until 1994, a large number of teachers, especially atthe secondary level, were “imported” from otherArab countries such as Sudan, Egypt, Syria, andJordan, a strategy that burdened the government’sscarce resources for education. In 1988, approxi-mately 60 percent of the teaching labor force wasforeign.7 After unification, the government placed aheavy emphasis on hiring teachers with a secondaryeducation and expanding teacher training programs,which included training at the college and universi-ty level. This ambitious program has resulted in asurplus of teachers, many of whom are not properlyqualified. About 25 percent of teachers were desig-nated “unqualified.” More women than men fellinto that category, along with, surprisingly, a slightly

higher percentage of urban teachers than ruralteachers.8 The MOE is currently training almost100,000 teachers in new basic education curriculadeveloped during the last three years.9

Management. The government is undertaking adecentralization strategy. For development planning,resource allocation, and management decisions, thenew Local Authority Law decentralizes authority togovernorate and district levels. The government isalso streamlining its operations by delegating moreresponsibilities to the governorate level of educationmanagement. Since the MOE lacks a comprehensivemanagement information system with reliable data,it is working with donors on improving the educa-tion management information system’s data gather-ing, dissemination technology, and procedures.10

Table 4.2. Donor Assistance to Yemen’s Public Education Sector


USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF

ADB

EU ■

UNESCO

CIDA

French Cooperation ■ ■ ■ ■

Islamic Dev.Bank ■ ■

GTZ/KFW ■ ■

JICA ■ ■

DFID



Prim

ary

Seco

ndar

y

Terti

ary

Acce

ss

Qua

lity

Teac

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ing

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Policy Reform. In a letter to the president of theWorld Bank dated September 6, 2000, the MOEstated the government is placing high priority onbasic education, with special emphasis on girls’ education. In the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper(PRSP) developed with the World Bank, the gov-ernment sets out its education priorities as

■ improving the educational environment

■ improving the management of the sector and itsorientation toward decentralization

■ giving priority to basic education

■ focusing on the education of girls

Donor AssistanceYemen is fortunate to have a comprehensive pro-gram of donor-funded support that is planned andbeing implemented within the education sector. Asignificant amount of donor funding is channeled tothe Social Development Fund (SDF), anautonomous body that has adopted a holisticapproach focusing on community-driven develop-ment. The SDF does not implement programsdirectly, but works through partner organizations,including civil society and government agencies.

Most other donor support targets improved accessto basic education through school construction andrehabilitation, particularly in rural areas. The WorldBank has a secondary teacher training project.USAID has supported the development of newtexts and teacher manuals, and has promoted quali-ty improvement initiatives, especially in traininghead teachers. USAID has also supported trainingfor female teachers in rural primary schools, non-formal education programs, and adult literacy pro-grams for women. In 2002, USAID issued aRequest for Assistance (RFA) for an integratedhealth and education program with an educationobjective of “Improved Quality and IncreasedEnrollment, Especially of Girls in Basic Educationin Targeted Districts.” This program’s main compo-nents are to

■ improve educational quality and relevancethrough training of teachers, school administra-tors, and education officials

■ stimulate parent and community support forschools and female education11

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. The current state of Yemen’s educa-tion sector is not conducive to producing out-comes that respond to the country’s developmentneeds. Growth of the basic education sector is not keeping up with population growth, and thesector will be hard pressed to meet expected educational needs during the population explosionpredicted over the next three decades. The absorp-tive capacity of vocational and technical traininginstitutions needs to be expanded, and the existinginstitutes and centers require development andmodernization.

The Yemeni unemployment rate of 18 percent willsurely increase because almost half the population isunder 20. High unemployment is due to low pro-ductivity, stemming, at least in part, from a lack ofappropriate skills. Because access to education islimited and the quality of existing schools is low,rural Yemenis in particular lack the human capitalto diversify the sources of their income or enter pro-fessions in which they would be less economicallyvulnerable.

Civic Participation. No information on civic educa-tion programs emerged during the study.

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesYemen was once considered the center of Islamiclearning. The southern city of Tareem had numer-ous libraries that provided Islamic education to stu-dents from all over the Arabian Peninsula.Although information from Yemen on the subjectis sparse, it is clear that madrasas at the primaryand secondary level exist. Their exact number anddistribution are unknown.


TrendsMadrasas have proliferated over the past 20 years.Sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites andbetween Salafis and Zaydis and other groups haveled to a growth in madrasas that reflect these differ-ent Islamic orientations.12

Influences—SectsYemen is divided into two general religious streams:the Shiites in the northern highlands and the SunniShafiis on the Red Sea Coast and in the southernmountains of the highlands and Aden. Recently, anew Islamic political party, the Islah Party, has beenestablished with strong roots in the Wahhabi andMuslim Brotherhood streams of Islam.13 Thisreformist Islamic movement has become increasing-ly popular: it has a strong following in the northernProvince of Sadah (which borders Saudi Arabia),and has been spreading steadily throughout thecountry, particularly among young Yemenis.

Affiliation with Radical GroupsInformation on the affiliation of Yemeni madrasaswith radical Islam is limited, but several reports sug-gest links between some schools and militants andradicals. In the 1980s, a Salafi movement—conser-vative and orthodox—was introduced to theProvince of Sadah by local men who had convertedto the Wahhabi stream of Islam while studying inSaudi Arabia or fighting with the mujahidin inAfghanistan. During the past two decades, Salafisestablished many madrasas (number unknown) inYemen.14 One report describes students armed withKalashnikov rifles at one Salafist school. Anotherreport from the ICG draws a clear connectionbetween the roots of Yemeni militant Islam and thesystem of religious schools.15

GovernanceRelationship to Government. The curriculum of theYemeni madrasas is controlled by the Islah Party, asis the appointment of imams at government-runmosques.16 The party and the government do nothave purview over private madrasas such those inSadah and Tareem, but the government has beenworking to modify the public madrasa curriculumto prevent fueling extremist ideology.

The government is also keeping a watchful eye fortrouble, and is wary of the kind of mistakes made inPakistan with “runaway” madrasas. Anxiety over thepossibility that the country might be seen as abreeding ground for radical groups may also explaina recent crackdown on visa violations by foreign stu-dents studying Islam. Already, 100 foreign students(including six U.S. citizens) have been sent homebecause they lacked documentation.17 The govern-ment has also shut down hundreds of religiousschools with suspected links to Islamic militants.18

Despite these efforts, the government continues toface difficulties exerting control over both privateand public religious schools.19

Relationship to Public School System. Information onthe subjects taught in Islamic schools in Yemen islimited, and further study in this area is needed. Itis unclear whether any or some madrasas teach thesame secular subjects as the public school system.

Parental IncentivesMany factors make Yemeni religious schools viable—and perhaps desirable—options for parents.Sectarian tension that has plagued the country hasresulted in the establishment of more madrasas.Parents who want to ensure that their children learntheir sect’s values, precepts, and traditions sendthem to the madrasa that corresponds to their sect.

A 1998 ethnographic study on Koranic schooling inYemen showed that public schools are viewed as aroute to economic development, whereas Koranicschools serve a supplemental function.20 Koranicschools facilitate intergenerational discourse, pro-mote spiritual and emotional growth, and instill asense of confidence and autonomy in students thatserves them well in the public schools. The peopleinterviewed in this study emphasized that Koraniceducation provides a common educational experi-ence for children and parents since many Yemeniparents have not attended modern schools. The cur-riculum and teaching methods fill a void that manyparents feel exists in public schools—Islamic valuesand respect for their culture. While modern school-ing is viewed as benefiting students in this life,Koranic education prepares them for the afterlife.

1 Central Intelligence Agency, World Fact Book, 2003.<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ym.html>

2 USAID, “RFA—Yemen Basic Health and EducationProgram” (Washington, DC: USAID, 2002).<http:www.usaid.gov/ftp_data/pub/OP/RFA/26302a024/26302a024.pdf>

3 World Bank, “Country Assistance Strategy of the WorldBank Group for the Republic of Yemen” (Washington, DC:World Bank,1999). <http://www-wds.worldbank.org>

4 World Bank, “Yemen: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paperand Joint Staff Assessment” (translated from Arabic).(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2002) <http://www-wds.worldbank.org>

5 Ibid.

6 World Bank, “Yemen: Country Assistance Strategy,” 1999:

7 Hassan Ali Abdulmalik and David Chapman, TeacherNationality and Classroom Practice in the Republic of Yemen(Washington, DC: USAID, 1992). PN-ABR-439

8 UNESCO, “The EFA 2000 Assessment: Country Reports,Yemen.” <http://www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/yemen/contents.html>

9 USAID, “RFA—Yemen Basic Health and EducationProgram,” op. cit.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

12 Alexander Knysh, “The Tariqa on a Landcruiser: TheResurgence of Sufism in Yemen,” Middle East Journal 3(Summer 2001): 399–414.

13 David Buchman, “The Underground Friends of God andTheir Adversaries: A Case Study and Survey of Sufism inContemporary Yemen,” Yemen Update 39 (1997): 21–24<http://www.aiys.org/webdate/sufi.html>

14 Shelagh Weir, “A Clash of Fundamentalism: Wahhabismin Yemen,” Middle East Report, 27, 3 (July–September 1997).<http://www/merip.org/mer/mer204/weir.htm>

15 International Crisis Group (ICG), “Yemen: Coping withTerrorism and Violence in a Fragile State,” Middle East ReportNo. 8, January 8, 2003. <http://www.al-bab.com/bys/books/colburn.htm>

16 Buchman, op. cit.

17 Bob Arnot, “U.S. students drawn to ‘pure’ Islam,”MSNBC News, February 11, 2002<http://www.msnbc.com/news/704434.asp>

18 Ian Fisher, “Hate of the West Finds Fertile Soil in Yemen.But Does Al Qaeda?” New York Times, January 9, 2003, A14.

19 ICG, op. cit.

20 Boyle and Abbas, 1998.


Another key factor is unavailability of publicschools, particularly in rural Yemen. Parts of thecountry such as the northern mountains are hard toreach and sparsely populated. Establishing schoolsin these areas presents the government with a diffi-cult resource allocation problem. Yemen has beenundergoing drastic economic deterioration due tothe costs of unification, the aftermath of the GulfWar, and the costly 1994 civil war. Madrasas maysimply be filling the void that the public educationsystem cannot fill.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Although Islamic schools may preparesome Yemenis for professions in the religious sector,

it is unclear whether they prepare their students toenter the national labor market.

Civic Participation. No information on civic educa-tion programs emerged during the study.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsAlthough several donors, including the World Bank,are active in Yemen, available information suggeststhe international development community has car-ried out few direct or indirect programs with thecountry’s Islamic schools. ■


5. Bangladesh


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.5GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,590Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.13Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.47


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122.42Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.96Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.93Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47.46Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.09Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4


FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure. . . . . . . 44.8

Table 5.1. Bangladesh Country Profile


Introduction

Bangladesh has outperformed its South Asianneighbors on all social indicators, includingeducation. It has near universal primary edu-

cation and high enrollment rates for girls at the sec-ondary level. This strong performance is the resultof the government’s commitment to educationreforms and an active NGO sector that is encour-aged by the government to deliver social services,especially education, to rural and underserved popu-lations. Tempering this optimistic assessment, how-ever, is the fact of unreliable data, along with theabsence of the requirement to collect birth registra-tions and other basic data. These shortcomingsunderscore the importance of observation and eye-witness accounts in assessing development progressin Bangladesh. And despite impressive educationalachievements, poverty poses challenges to all devel-opment plans, including those for education. TheWorld Bank Country Strategy Paper for Bangladeshstates that the country has the highest incidence ofpoverty in South Asia and the third highest numberof poor in the world, after India and China. Unlessconcrete measures are taken to reduce poverty byopening up the job market and diversifying thecountry’s economy, problems in every social sectorwill persist.

Public Education SystemBangladesh emerged as an independent country in1971 after a bitter war with Pakistan. In the after-math, separatist groups, poverty, and poor infra-structure posed severe challenges to the new govern-ment. Under British and, later, Pakistani rule, edu-cation had been mostly limited to urban and richpeople, with few educational facilities for the ruralpoor. The effort to recover from the war and put thecountry on track took considerable resources, ener-gy, and time. In 1981, only 19.7 percent of theBangladeshi population was literate. Only half asmany women as men qualified as literate, and therewere also large rural-urban literacy discrepancies.1

These low literacy rates and tremendous populationincreases hampered governmental efforts to bringabout significant economic change. Only when civilsociety infrastructure was strengthened in the mid-

1980s did literacy and population growth see somepositive changes. Between 1981 and 1995, the adultliteracy rate increased to 43 percent and the popula-tion growth rate declined—from roughly 2 percentin the 1980 to 1.59 percent by 2002.2 Close to 50percent of children in all types of schools are girls.Despite economic constraints, Bangladesh has per-formed exceptionally well in expanding educationalaccess during the last two decades. The role playedby civil society in all aspects of development is com-mendable.

CharacteristicsThere are four principal types of school systems inBangladesh.

■ Public Schools. The large public school educationsystem predominates, serving roughly 90 per-cent of all students. Based on the colonial edu-cational model, the system covers primary, sec-ondary, and higher education. Early childhoodeducation is a relatively new emphasis. Tables5.2 and 5.3 show government schools and stu-dents by province.

■ Private Schools. These are mostly confined tourban centers and operated by private entrepre-neurs and educators. The small but expandingprivate “English medium” schooling system—around 1 percent of all schools—uses English asthe language of instruction. These schools arereferred to as kindergarten primary schools byEducation Watch.

■ NGO-Managed Schools. This category includesNGO-managed, low-cost private schools andnonformal education centers that mostly serverural areas and urban slums. Estimates of enroll-ment range from 4 to 8 percent of total primaryschool-aged children. The Bangladesh RuralAdvancement Committee’s (BRAC) Non-Formal Education Program is one example. Itcovers more than 2.1 million children at the pri-mary level.3 Nonformal education ranges fromup to three years of basic education—whichmay conclude an individual’s schooling—to amore comprehensive curriculum that integrateswith either nonprofit or government schoolsand prepares students to continue their studies.


Some evidence suggests thatgirls’ attainment is somewhatstronger in nonformal andNGO-managed settings, thoughoverall achievements in all set-tings are low due to class size,low attendance, poor learningenvironments, and other factors.4

■ Religious Schools. Depending onthe source, the estimated per-centage of Bangladeshi studentswho attend religious schools—the madrasa system—variesconsiderably, ranging from 4 to12 percent. All madrasas pro-vide a religious education toboys and for a smaller percent-age of girls, who account forabout 38 percent of enrollmentat the primary level, accordingto the Ministry of Education.Aliya madrasas—an estimated75 percent of madrasas—alsoprovide a secular education thatfollows the national curriculumapproved for public schools.Quomi madrasas—the remain-ing 25 percent— are privatemadrasas that provide only reli-gious education.

ChallengesAccess. Enrollment increases duringthe past decade are encouraging. In1991, the number of students atthe primary level was 12,635,000, which increasedto 17,227,000 by 1998 and has continued to risesteadily.5 The number of schools at all levels hasincreased as well. Despite improvements in educa-tional access, however, inequities between rich andpoor and urban and rural children are evident.About 3 million children 6–10 years old are still outof school. About 40 percent of recent entering-gradecohorts dropped out before completing grade 5.Most children who do not attend primary schoolsare from the poorest communities in urban and

rural areas.6 Though public education is free, par-ents must bear such ancillary costs as uniforms andbooks. Many poor parents therefore send their chil-dren to madrasas that have minimal or no costimplications, or to NGO-run nonformal educationcenters and schools.

Quality. Though efforts to increase access to thegovernment education system have improved stu-dent enrollment, the low quality of education at alllevels results in poor learning achievements. A 1998

Table 5.2. Government Schools in Bangladesh, 1998

Barisal 5,813 1,192 151Chittagong 11,391 2,270 417Sylhet 4,830 551 97Dhaka 19,145 3,302 1,674Khulna 7,696 2,145 269Rajshahi 17,360 3,959 736Total 66,235 13,419 3,344

Grand Total 82,989

Source: Bangladesh Development Gateway <http://www.bangladeshgateway.org/sdnp/education/documents/database/number-madrasa.html>

Province/Division Primary Schools Secondary Schools Colleges

Table 5.3. Students Enrolled In Government Schools,*1998

Barisal 1,346,000 428,000 91,556Chittagong 3,891,000 1,280,000 339,980Sylhet 751,000 264,000 41,914Dhaka 4,613,000 1,843,000 1,577,175Khulna 2,010,000 873,000 164,986Rajshahi 4,616,000 1,601,000 497,938University Students** 105,598

Total 17,227,000 6,289,000 2,819,147

* Does not include students enrolled in NGO schools under BRAC and other programs.** There are 10 universities in Bangladesh. The number of university students by region is not available.

Primary Secondary College andProvince/Division Students Students University


survey found that only 29 percent of all Bangladeshiprimary students had basic competencies in reading,writing, and mathematics.7 The survey also notedconsiderable variation in learning achievement bygender, rural-urban residence, and type of school.Boys performed better than girls, and children fromurban areas did better than their rural counterparts.

Several factors are associated with the poor qualityof Bangladeshi public school education.

■ Teachers are not fully trained for their jobs and90 percent are poorly supervised. And while ateacher-student ratio of about 1:63 would bedifficult for even a well-trained teacher, manag-ing such a large group of students is particularlychallenging for poorly trained teachers.8 Theyalso have to meet this challenge with an inade-quate supply of teaching and learning materials.

■ A shortage of teachers has affected educationquality. Approximately one-third of sanctionedteacher posts are vacant. Teacher shortages areespecially severe in remote areas, including thosewhere indigenous populations live, and in urbanslums.

■ Without enough teachers to meet the demandfor education, many schools shortened theschool day to provide two shifts. This strategyhelped the education system meet the demandbut compromised the learning environment byrestricting classroom teacher-student contact—already the lowest in the world at only 2.5 hoursin primary schools. The strategy also diminishedteacher preparation time. Requiring teachers toprepare for two different classes each day placesa huge constraint on their time, leaving themlittle to get the additional training that mostsorely need. Even those fortunate enough to getsuch training have limited time to incorporateand apply what they have learned.

■ Head teachers carry a full teaching load in addi-tion to other responsibilities. This restricts theirability to provide the support and oversight thatare especially important for new or less qualifiedteachers.

■ Poor learning achievement is also the result ofpoor student and teacher attendance.Underlying factors include inadequate schoolfacilities, long travel distances to schools, therequirement for students to work in the fields,and weather calamities such as the cyclones andfloods that disrupt thousand of lives every year.

Management. According to the 1998 World BankProject Appraisal for the Bangladesh PrimaryEducation Project, the government had allocatedsubstantial resources—16 percent of the budget—tothe education sector. In 2000, roughly 45 percent ofthe government’s total education budget was spenton primary education.9 However, the resource usewas poor at all levels, resulting in problems withinfrastructure, sanitation, professional training,books, and materials. The low efficiency of expendi-tures is reflected in the poor quality of educationprovided, which, in turn, results in high dropoutand low completion rates. In addition, the govern-ment’s institutional capacity to prepare, implement,and monitor programs and projects remains weakthroughout the system.

Policy Reform. Social Watch’s 2000 Country Reporton Bangladesh stated:

The constitution of Bangladesh enshrines theright of the child to free and compulsory primaryeducation. The Compulsory Primary EducationAct was passed only in 1990, however, and wasimplemented for the first time in 1992. The gov-ernment has undertaken several measures toenhance enrolment and retention of students.These include: establishment of satellite schoolsmanaged by female teachers to help disadvan-taged children, especially girls, enter school; estab-lishment of less expensive community schools inthe areas with no schools; and the institution ofthe Food For Education (FFE) programme in1993–94 under which children of selected poorfamilies are given wheat and rice for attending.The government is also involved in non-formaleducation with participation of NGOs. TheHard-to-Reach Project deals with education ofslum children in major cities.10


The Female Secondary School Assistance Program,funded jointly by the World Bank and the govern-ment, demonstrates an effective strategy forenrolling girls in secondary education. Under thisprogram, every Bangladeshi girl who wants to pur-sue secondary education is provided a stipend—inthe form of school fees, books, and uniforms—whose continuation of the stipend is conditional onperformance at a certain grade level. As a conse-quence of the stipend, the number of girls enrollingin secondary education has increased. In some areas,it has even surpassed the number of boys enrollingin secondary education. Due to the financial incen-tive, girls and their parents are making sure thatthey do better in classes and exams. In addition, thegovernment’s strategy of encouraging the NGO sec-tor to implement education programs and reach dif-ficult to reach populations has also resulted inincreased community involvement in education,

access to information, additional training, and socialservices for all.

Donor AssistanceDonors providing assistance to Bangladesh’s educa-tion sector include

■ The World Bank, which has been funding activ-ities expanding access to primary schools andimproving the quality of education. The WorldBank is also supporting activities to improvegirls’ access to secondary education in ruralareas. Its innovative Post-Literacy andContinuing Education for HumanDevelopment Project in Bangladesh aims toincrease the functional application of literacyskills by providing postliteracy and continuingeducation to neoliterates through a more com-prehensive and enhanced system of nonformaleducation.

Table 5.4. Donor Assistance to Bangladesh’s Public Education Sector

World Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ADB ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

EU ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNESCO

CIDA ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

GTZ/KFW

JICA

DFID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■



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ary

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y

Terti

ary

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■ CIDA is supporting the BRAC nonformal pri-mary education program, which is the singlelargest nonformal program for the poor in theworld.

■ The ADB is providing assistance to strengthenaccess and quality in primary, secondary, andpostliteracy education, and has implementedseveral multipronged projects that target thepoor and disadvantaged.

■ USAID has had limited involvement in the edu-cation sector. Most activities related to infra-structure and were funded through the moneti-zation of donated food commodities (P.L. 480Title II). USAID also supported a GenderEquity in the Classroom activity, providingtechnical assistance and training to promoteeffective pedagogical practices and leadershipskills to increase participation and achievementof girls and other marginalized children. TheAgency has recently prepared a new educationstrategy that concentrates resources at the pre-school and early primary levels. It seeks toexpand learning opportunities in school, afterschool, and at home. Working outside the for-mal system, these activities will focus on educa-tion through mass media and on strengtheningteachers’ skills.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Public enterprises offer the majority ofjobs in Bangladesh, in such sectors as electricity, gas,and water; railway; airlines and civil aviation; petro-leum; telecommunication; and banks andinsurance.11 Government employment is usuallyrestricted to people with advanced educational skillsand university degrees. While students from urbanand private schools may acquire credentials andskills that qualify them for such jobs, rural studentscannot enter specialized fields because of poor edu-cational quality and limited access to secondary andtertiary educational institutions. In rural areas, thelabor market is restricted to fisheries and agriculture,but students do not get training relevant to improv-ing local production. The NGO sector is one of thelargest employers in rural areas. Through nonformalfunctional literacy programs, employment opportu-

nities for rural women and men have been createdby NGOs such as BRAC and Grameen Bank.However, students who do not complete primaryschool have limited livelihood possibilities, therebycontinuing the cycle of poverty and underdevelop-ment.

Civic Participation. NGO programs and schoolsencourage people to vote and participate in localelections. A visit to rural areas in Bangladeshdemonstrated that NGOs and other private organi-zations have mobilized the masses for civic partici-pation and improving their living conditions on aself-help basis. Government schools, however, withlimited time to teach even basic academics, do notprovide the kind of education that promotes civilsociety participation.

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesThe estimated percentage of primary pupils educat-ed by madrasas ranges from 4 to 12, depending onsources consulted. It is generally recognized that theproportion decreases at higher education levels, but,overall, it is thought to be on the rise. At lower lev-els, the number of boys and girls is roughly bal-anced, as in the secular system, but the number ofgirls declines at more advanced levels. In addition,many young children attend Koranic schools to sup-plement their secular schooling.

There are two madrasa systems in Bangladesh: Aliyaand Quomi (also known as Dars-e-Nizami). Aliyamadrasas teach secular as well as religious subjects;Quomi madrasas teach only religious subjects. TheAliya madrasa system has five levels.12

■ Ebtedayee is equivalent to primary school grade1–5. Religious education is mainly focused onreading and recitation of the Koran.

■ Dakhil is equivalent to grades 6–10. Beginningat this level, students are required to completegovernment examinations after completing theircoursework.

■ Alim is equivalent to grades 11–12, the finalyears of high school. Students learn other tenets


of Islam, such as interpretation of the Koranand the Prophet’s traditions and sayings.

■ Fazil is equal to the lower college level. At thisstage, the intensity of religious instructionincreases with the addition of subjects such asIslamic logic, law, Arabic literature, and history.

■ Kamil is the highest level of religious education,equivalent to a master’s degree in Islamic studiesfrom a regular university. At completing thisstage, a student is expected to have gainedknowledge of all aspects of Islam and lead largecongregations.

The Aliya madrasa system can be considered theformal Islamic education system. Although support-ed financially by the government, Aliya madrasas donot function under the Ministry of Education, butunder a separate Religious Education Board.Government-supported Aliya madrasas follow thesecular curriculum prescribed by the Ministry ofEducation. For religious education, they follow thecurriculum set by the Department of Arabic ofCalcutta madrasa in India. Students in the Aliyamadrasa system have to pass exams, administered bythe Religious Education Board, before they move onto the next level.

Students under the Aliya madrasa system take 16years to complete their education. Five years at theprimary level are followed by four or five years atthe secondary level. Students then must pass anexamination to receive an Alim certificate that isequivalent to a secondary school certificate. In theexam, 400 marks are attributed to Arabic, religioustheory, and other Islamic subjects. The remaining600 marks are for English, math, science, history,and so on. An additional two years leads to the Fazilexam, equivalent to the Higher School Certificate(lower college level). Two years of study after theFazil exam qualifies a student to take the Kamilexam, equivalent to the bachelor’s degree in seculareducation. Students of Aliya madrasas preparethemselves for employment in government and theprivate sector like other college or university stu-dents.

Quomi madrasas follow a curriculum prescribed byDarul-Uloom in Deoband, India, an important

madrasa established in 1866 by private contribu-tions of the “men of God” and sustained by publiccontributions.13 Quomi madrasas do not fall underthe jurisdiction of the Bangladeshi ReligiousEducation Board. These schools are privately fund-ed.14 They generally do not teach any secular sub-jects or keep enrollment records. Unlike Aliyamadrasa students, students enrolled in Quomimadrasas do not take any exams administered bythe government.15

Under the Quomi madrasa system, students take 16years to complete their education. At the lower lev-els, students learn Urdu, Persian, and Arabic withgrammar. From classes I until VIII, students learnvarious Islamic subjects; a few madrasas even teachEnglish, math, and Bengali. After this level, thesesubjects are dropped and the focus is strictly Islamiceducation. Classes IX and X are termed SanaviaAmma (secondary school) and classes XI and XII asSanavia Walia (higher secondary). Classes XIII andXIV are called Fazilat (college), while XV and XVIare termed Kamil (university). However, the govern-ment does not recognize these levels as equivalent tothe secular education system.

TrendsAccording to Ministry of Education data, there wereat least 7,729 madrasas in Bangladesh in 2000.16

Although it is difficult to quantify the growth in allmadrasas—formal and informal—the growth trendin available statistics through the latter half of the1990s indicates that the number schools is growingfaster than the population. Journalistic accountsconfirm these schools’ growth in number and influ-ence.17

Figure 1 compares the growth of the Bangladeshipopulation from 1995 to 2000 with the growth inthe number of madrasas.

Tables 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7 indicate schools at eachlevel in Bangladesh in 1995–2000, and how manystudents were enrolled in each level.

Influences—SectsBoth Quomi and Aliya madrasas follow the Sunnisect of Islam. Quomi madrasas, however, receivefunding from private sources and follow the


Deobandi curriculum, which is associated withWahhabism. Much Quomi madrasa funding report-edly originates from sources in the Gulf, such as theRabitat Al Alam Al Islami (Muslim World League),which is based in Saudi Arabia. According to onereport, private madrasas are appearing in increasingnumbers on the Indian and Myanmar borders, fedby impoverished rural youth and Muslim minoritiessuch as the Rohingyas.18

Affiliation with Radical GroupsHistorically, Bangladesh has been considered a mod-erate Islamic country, and many observers continueto consider it as such. Only recently have articlesbegun appearing that challenge that characteriza-tion. They point to the growing influence of radicalelements, some of which are closely tied to someschools in the madrasa education system. Reportscite as evidence of the increasing power of radicalgroups the emergence of militant political parties,recruitment for terror networks such as al Qaeda,and links to radical groups in neighboring countries.During 2001 elections, the winning Bangladesh

National Party’s electoral alliance included Jamat-e-Islami, which won an unprecedented 17 seats (outof 300) in Parliament. As a result, two party mem-bers gained powerful ministerial appointments:Agriculture and Social Welfare. This win seems tohave emboldened more radical elements inBangladeshi society, and is a worrisome trend.Particularly worth monitoring is the relationship ofradical elements with religious schools. Most reportsconcede that the level of radicalism has not nearlyreached that prevailing in Pakistan, but it is certain-ly of concern.

GovernanceAliya madrasas function under the ReligiousEducation Board, though they follow the govern-ment’s secular curriculum and include secular sub-jects. These madrasas also get most of their fundingfrom the government: approximately $3.7 millionwas allocated to them in 1995–96.19

The Quomi madrasas function outside of the gov-ernment system with their own curricula and finan-

Fig. 1. Population Growth and Growth of Officially Documented Madrasas, 1997–2000

Source: Ministry of Education, Bangladesh Development Gateway http://www.bangladeshgateway.org/sdnp/education/documents/database/number-madrasa.html>

5.26%5.82%

7.13%

1.76%1.76%1.76%

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

8.00%

1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000

■

Percent increasein number ofmadrasas

Percent increasein population

■


cial resources. They collect their funds through pri-vate sources and follow their own educationalmodus operandi. A small number of private Quomimadrasas cater to rich Muslims in the cities. TheBadshah Faisal Institute, one of the first suchmadrasas in Bangladesh, was established in 1976with Saudi money. King Khaled Institute, BadshahFahed Institute, Manarat Dhaka, and ShahWaliullah seminary came later.20

Parental IncentivesBangladeshi parents are increasingly sending theirchildren to Islamic schools, which are expanding insize and number. In urban areas, parents send theirchildren to madrasas to strengthen their religiousidentity. In many rural areas, parents primarilyenroll their children in Islamic schools becausethere are no secular, affordable schools nearby and madrasas typically provide free boarding and

Table 5.5. Types and Levels of Madrasas in Bangladesh, 1998

Level of Madrasa 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1999–2000*

Dakhil/Ebtedayee* 4,206 4,487 4,839 5,015Alim (middle to high) 894 949 997 1,087Fazil (higher secondary) 890 899 953 1,029Kamil (college and postgraduate) 110 120 126 148

Total 6,100 6,455 6,915 7,279

* Dakhil and Ebtedayee are combined because of lack of data on Ebtedayee.

Table 5.6. Number of Students in Madrasas in Bangladesh

Level of Madrasa 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98

Dakhil/Ebtedayee* 1,174,000 1,296,000 1,370,000Alim (middle to high) 292,000 307,000 333,000Fazil (higher secondary) 350,000 352,000 358,000Kamil (college and postgraduate) 59,000 65,000 65,000

Total 1,875,000 2,020,000 2,126,000

*Dakhil and Ebtedayee are combined because of lack of data on Ebtedayee.

5.7. Secular and Religious Schools in Bangladesh: A Comparison

Secular System Religious System

Level Schools Students Schools StudentsPrimary 66,235 17,227,000 4,839 1,370,000Secondary 13,419 6,289,000 1,950* 691,000*College 3,344 2,819,147 126 65,000

Total 82,998 26,335,147 6,915 2,126,000

* Alim and Fazil are combined for comparison purposes.Source. Bangladesh Development Gateway <http://www.bangladeshgateway.org/sdnp/education/documents/database/number-madrasa.html>

1 Library of Congress, “Bangladesh, A Country Study”(Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, September1988).<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/bdtoc.html>

2 Figures taken from Bangladesh Development Gateway web-site. <www.bangladeshgateway.org/demography.php>; CentralIntelligence Agency, World Fact Book 2002 (Herndon, Va:Brasseys, Inc., 2003). <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bg.html>

3 BRAC, “Education Programmes: BRAC Schools.”<http://www.brac.net/edf.htm>

4 Groundwork, Inc., “Bangladesh Education Sector Review:Report No. 2: The Status of Gender Equity,” prepared forUSAID, May 2002. <http://www.beps.net/beps_resources.htm>

5 Center for Policy Dialogue, “Policy Brief on ‘EducationPolicy’: CPD Task Force Report,” draft report (Dhaka: CPD,2001), 9. <http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan006189.pdf>

6 World Bank, Bangladesh: Primary Education DevelopmentProject, Project Appraisal (Washington, D.C.: WorldBank,1998). <http://www-wds.worldbank.org/>

7 Center for Policy Dialogue, op. cit., [page number]; HopeNot Complacency: State of Primary Education in Bangladesh1999 (Dhaka: Vedams, 1999).

8 USAID, “Bangladesh Education” (Dhaka:USAID/Bangladesh, June 2003). <http://www.usaid.gov/bd/education.html>

9 UNESCO 2000 data.

10 Atiur Rahman and M. Ismail Hossain, “The Fruits of aLong Road,” Bangladesh Country Report, Social Watch(2000). <http://www.socwatch.org.uy/en/informesNacionales/55.html>

11Tanweer Akram, “Privatization of Public Enterprises inBangladesh: Problems and Prospects,” Social Science ResearchNetwork Electronic Paper Collection (October 1999), 3.<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=272605>

12 These are explained on the Ministry of Education website:<http://dns3.bdcom.com/iactive/moe/mansys.html>

13 <http://www.darululoom-deoband.com/english/>

14 Ground Work Inc., op cit.


lodging. Another powerful incentives to parents isthat madrasas inculcate moral values, are usuallyconsidered safe, and are located near children’shomes.

Active government support for some of these insti-tutions may be another reason for their popularity.The Female Secondary School Assistance Project,supported by the World Bank and Government ofBangladesh, provides scholarships for girls to attendsecondary schools and stipends to those who wantto attend madrasas.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Graduates of Aliya madrasas, havinglearned science and other secular subjects, areemployable in the labor market. However, studentsgraduating from Quomi madrasas find joining themainstream workforce challenging because they donot possess adequate knowledge of secular subjectsand cannot pass competitive exams on such sub-

jects. In addition, their degrees are not recognizedby the government. They normally become imams,muazzens of mosques, or teachers at nongovern-ment madrasas.21

Civic Participation. Madrasas encourage participa-tion only in religion-based society and do not tendto encourage civic participation.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsThe Government of Bangladesh supports Aliyamadrasas directly and has encouraged other donorsto support educational reforms in these madrasas.For example, ADB was requested to allocate fundsto build science laboratories in 200 Aliya madrasasin the mid-1990s. UNICEF in Bangladesh is alsoworking with some madrasas.22 The government hasalso introduced English, Bengali, and science inthese madrasas. Donors such as the ADB, UNICEF,and UNDP have also assisted madrasas in spreadingliteracy to the masses in rural areas. ■

15 Salahuddin Babur, “Madrasa in Focus” (2002).<http://www.bccbd.org/probe/madrasas.htm>16 The figure from Ministry of Education website excludesprimary-level (Ebtedayee) madrasas, many of which may beattached to Dakhil-level schools.

17 Bertil Lintner,“A Cocoon of Terror,” Far Eastern EconomicReview (April 4, 2002). <http://www.asiapacificms.com/arti-cles/bangladesh_terror/>

18 “Is Religious Extremism on the Rise in Bangladesh?” Jane’sIntelligence Review (May 2002). <http://www.asiapacificms.com/articles/bangladesh_extremism/>

19 Abdul Momen, “Madrasa Education in Bangladesh:Background, Present Scenario and the Position of Women”(Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha, 1997).

20 Ibid.

21 Babur, op. cit.

22 Ibid.



6. Pakistan


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138.1Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,860Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.68Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86.16Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.57Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.22Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.66Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9


LiteracyAdult literacy rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.9Female adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.7Male adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure. . . . . . . 51.8

Table 6.1. Pakistan Country Profile, 1995–2000


Introduction

Only 45 percent of Pakistan’s population isliterate, compared to the South Asian aver-age of 49 percent and 53 percent in low-

income countries worldwide. While India andBangladesh have reached universal primary schoolenrollment, Pakistan lags behind with a primarygross enrollment ratio of 86 percent. In addition,compared to their counterparts in India andBangladesh, fewer Pakistani students complete pri-mary school (only 8 percent) and enroll in second-ary school. Pakistan is also far from achieving gen-der equity. Educational challenges for Pakistanifemales are particularly acute: illiteracy is extremelyhigh at 70 percent—even higher than in Bangladeshand India. With weak performance on most educa-tional indicators and almost half the populationunder 15, Pakistan faces daunting educational chal-lenges. Successfully meeting these challenges willrequire a huge financial investment in the educationsector, far more than its current 7 percent share ofthe national budget. This figure is far lower than inmany countries with a similar or lower GNI percapita.1

Public Education SystemAfter achieving independence in 1947, Pakistanfaced tremendous economic and educational chal-lenges. Reversing years of a colonial system thatencouraged education only for the elite wouldrequire an enormous level of resources. Because ofeconomic and political constraints, no substantivemeasures were taken to provide mass education dur-ing the first two decades of independence. Whileattempting to expand education in the 1970s, thegovernment realized it did not have the capacity toprovide education to the poor. With support frominternational donors, the government took addition-al measures to expand education but the demand farexceeded the supply. The resulting inadequate cover-age and low quality of education for the poor fur-ther widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

After the 1990 “Education for All” Conference inJomtien, international donors and the governmentlaunched a comprehensive effort to expand primaryeducation. The educational administrative systemwas decentralized, but fiscal authority still rested

with Islamabad. This created more administrativeproblems, and access to and quality of educationcontinued to decline. Only in recent years has thecurrent government taken steps to decentralize con-siderable administrative and fiscal authority toprovinces and districts. However, the impact ofthese measures remains to be seen.

CharacteristicsSimilar to other South Asian countries, Pakistan hasfour state-financed levels of education: primary(grades 1–5), middle (grades 6–8), secondary(grades 9–10) and tertiary (college). Tertiary educa-tion starts at grade 11, usually in a college facility.To meet the educational needs of students in ruralareas, the government converted about 25,000Koranic schools into mosque primary schools byadding some secular subjects to their religious cur-riculum. The Ministry of Education finances andmanages these schools. The curriculum in publicschools is predominantly secular, but the govern-ment long ago added a course on Islamic religionand history at all grade levels to appease religiousleaders who wanted the educational system to beinspired by the Islamic ideology.2

Tables 6.2 and 6.3 provide a synopsis of the numberof government-financed schools and the studentsenrolled in each province during 1999–2000. Thesefigures do not take into account students enrolled inmosque and private schools. According to some esti-mates, 13 percent of primary school students inurban areas attend private schools, and a vast num-ber of such schools are in all cities in Pakistan.

ChallengesAccess. While Pakistan has experienced someimprovements in access to education over the pasttwo decades, progress remains slow and challengesdaunting. Roughly 37 percent of the country’s138.1 million people live in urban areas.3 Evenwithout school data disaggregated by urban andrural areas, it is quite clear that rural children facechallenges due to poverty and the unavailability of“appropriate” schools nearby. The government alsofaces special challenges in providing equal educa-tional access to girls. In 1998–99, only 44,602 outof 163,746 primary schools were for girls. Similarly,girls’ schools numbered 5,841 at the middle and


3,397 at high levels, compared to 11,166 and7,122, respectively, for boys.4 Gender disparities ineducation remain significant: only about 69 percentof girls are enrolled in primary school, compared to98 percent for boys.5 The gender gap widens at sec-ondary and tertiary levels.

Quality. The increase in enrollment during the lasttwo decades has not been met with equivalentimprovements in the quality of the classroom teach-ing-learning experience. The deteriorating quality ofpublic school education is due to deficiencies inteacher qualifications and performance, especially inrural schools. Student dropout in rural areas remainsa serious problem. The most dramatic dropout takesplace in kachi (kindergarten) and pakki (grade 1).For example, in Balochistan, approximately 50 per-cent of all children entering kachi leave the system

by the second grade.6 This statistic is reflected inother rural areas of Pakistan. A large part of theproblem may be due to the developmentally inap-propriate kindergarten curriculum, which is essen-tially the same as the grade 1 curriculum. Equallydemoralizing for young children are teacher-cen-tered methods. Young children are expected to sitstill all day and learn almost entirely by rote.Teachers are not educated about developmentalstages and appropriate learning environments.

The situation at higher levels of primary education(grades 3–6) is exacerbated by poorly trained teach-ers, many of whom cannot read and teach from pri-mary-level books. A study of teacher training col-leges financed by USAID/Pakistan in the early1990s showed that the teachers’ mastery of the con-tent barely exceeded that of the students.

Table 6.2. Number of Educational Institutions in Pakistan, 1999–2000

Province Mosque Primary Middle High

Punjab 8,229 96,579 5,974 4,425Sindh 13,107 64,663 2,073 1,449NWFP 3,318 39,434 1,930 1,353Balochistan 575 19,061 696 424

Total 25,229 219,737 10,673 7,651

Grand Total 263,290

Source: Pakistan Ministry of Education

Table 6.3. Number of Students in Pakistan, 1999–2000

Province Primary Middle High

Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys GirlsPunjab 3,968,934 2,690,856 1,070,398 645,746 428,183 253,862Sindh 1,447,572 787,573 311,402 208,730 108,877 290,759NWFP 1,310,675 718,643 368,462 138,036 163,294 51,740Balochistan 415,212 237,250 68,443 28,313 30,480 10,170

Total 7,142,393 4,434,322 1,818,705 1,020,825 730,834 606,531

Grand Total 15,573,610* (Boys 9,691,932; Girls 6,061,678)

*This number does not include students enrolled in mosque and private schools. According to some estimates, 13 percent of Pakistan’s total primary student population in urban areas attend private schools.Source: Pakistan Ministry of Education


Reasons for the high dropout level and discontentwith the public education system include

■ a weak and centralized education managementsystem that has led to ineffective supervision ofschools and teachers at the district and locallevel, especially in remote areas that have aseverely deficient communication infrastructure

■ underqualified and undertrained teachers

■ inappropriate, irrelevant, and inadequate learn-ing materials

■ parents and communities unprepared to provideeducational support (with homework and thelike) to children outside of the school

■ unavailability of postprimary education formany rural children

■ old and irrelevant educational curricula at mid-dle and secondary schools

■ overcrowded school facilities ill-suited for anykind of constructive learning, especially at theprimary level

Management. Pakistan Ministry of Education guide-lines provide that all public schools operate underthe general supervision of district education officers(DEOs), with additional staff at the subdistrictlevel. School head teachers report to DEOs, who, inturn, report to the Directorate of Primary orElementary Education, depending on the province.7

DEOs are responsible for hiring, transferring, train-ing, and supervising teachers.

Schools follow the federally prescribed curriculum,which is developed in Islamabad but published atthe provincial levels. Because most DEOs operatefrom district headquarters, they are unable to pro-vide regular supervision to all rural schools. Theresult is a high rate of teacher absenteeism and alarge number of defunct schools that close down

Table 6.4. Donor Assistance to Pakistan’s Public Education Sector, 1993–2003

World Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ADB ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

EU ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNESCO

CIDA ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

GTZ/KFW ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

JICA ■ ■

DFID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■


* Includes building the capacity of NGOs for better social service delivery.


Prim

ary

Seco

ndar

y

Terti

ary

Acce

ss

Qua

lity

Teac

her t

rain

ing

Cur

ricul

a/te

xtbo

oks

Impr

oved

m

anag

emen

t sys

tem

Dec

entra

lizat

ion

Girl

s’ ed

ucat

ion

Lite

racy

Non

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al e

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tion

Voca

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al


when students and teachers stop attending. In addi-tion, poor investment in teacher skill buildingmeans many rural teachers remain underqualifiedand untrained. Regular inservice teacher training issomething of a luxury, enjoyed only by some urbanteachers.

Financial mismanagement has often occurred atprovincial and district education levels. School con-struction occasions the most leakage. Educationofficers often choose school construction sites uni-laterally, without consulting community members,and award contracts for personal and political rea-sons. Schools are often constructed in the wrongplaces and with the cheapest materials, leading torapid school building deterioration.

Donor AssistanceAs shown in Table 6.4, most donor-funded pro-grams concentrate on improving access and qualityin primary education, with a special focus on girls.The World Bank and ADB usually focus onprovince-wide programs that serve many beneficiar-ies. The EU has also financed the Aga KhanInstitute of Education Development, the state-of-the-art teacher training facility that caters to build-ing the capacity of rural and poor teachers.

Though many donors and private NGOs are oper-ating in Pakistan, only the ADB is focusing onimproving secondary education. This is where theproblem of radicalism actually begins. Recently, theWorld Bank has shown interest in tertiary educationfunding reforms and a greater focus on informationtechnology training. And only the ADB is investingin vocational training to provide students with skillsrelevant to the labor market.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. It is widely acknowledged thatPakistani public schools are failing to provide basicliteracy and numeracy skills—the minimal require-ments for employment in most public or privatesector jobs. Many students either do not stay inschool long enough to develop these skills—only 8percent complete primary education—or they devel-op only rudimentary skills because of poor educa-

tional quality. Fierce competition from privateschool students has further marginalized publicschool students. Students attending “somewhat bet-ter” public schools in city centers tend to get lower-level (secretarial or clerical) government or privatesector jobs. Only students from the rich and mid-dle-income strata assume leadership and other high-level jobs in public and private sectors, while poorand rural students remain without jobs or end up inlower-level posts.

Civic Participation. Pakistani schools do not preparestudents for civic participation or building demo-cratic society. The schools are characterized byauthoritarian teaching styles, absolute adherence to“how lessons should be taught,” and zero toleranceof independent reasoning by students or teachers.This is not the environment that supports or guidesthe development of skills needed for civic participa-tion or contributes to the development of a free-thinking society. Only in the last 15 years hasPakistani civil society, supported by internationaldonors, begun to address some of these issues andmobilize masses to assume greater civic roles.

Policy Reforms. Over the past decade, theGovernment of Pakistan has implemented severaleducational development programs that have had apositive impact on school enrollment rates. However,most of these efforts have been confined to increas-ing access rather than improving quality. ThePrimary Education Development Program, fundedby USAID in 1989–94 in Balochistan and theNorth West Frontier Province (NWFP), placedheavy emphasis on community participation in edu-cation and had a significant impact on parental atti-tudes toward girls’ education. It increased the supplyof primary schools for girls and shaped it to meet theneeds of parents and their daughters. Between 1990and 1998, girls’ enrollment in Balochistan increasedby 151 percent.8 However, poor quality persisted.

Some recent innovations have targeted quality.Based on an open advertisement and screening per-formed by a private firm, the Sindh EducationDepartment recently hired 3,500 teachers. This was,perhaps, the first time that such a large, openrecruitment had taken place. This procedure curbedpolitical pressure to appoint unqualified or uncom-


mitted “ghost” teachers (who are paid but nevershow up to teach) and allowed new and more quali-fied candidates to become teachers and have asteady income.

Reviving Pakistan’s local government structure is thepolicy reform that would have the most meaningfulimpact on district-level operations and accountabili-ty in all sectors, especially education. In August2001, Pakistan’s chief executive decreed a govern-ment decentralization plan under which local elec-tions were held to revitalize the role of communitiesin district- and subdistrict-level management. Thepurpose of the plan was to shift district manage-ment responsibilities, including fiscal ones, fromprovincial operatives to locally elected representa-tives. Thirty-three percent of local council electionseats were reserved for women. Devolution rulesprovided that if a woman could not be elected to adedicated seat, it would remain vacant. This encour-aged unprecedented participation of women inPakistan’s local elections, which allowed many new,young, nonpoliticized, and energetic men andwomen to represent their areas. Though many newdistrict manager (nazims) posts went to powerfulpoliticians from previous governments, the new sys-tem of checks and balances is in place whereby naz-ims are chosen by assistant managers (naib-nazims),and only for three years. Local councilors elect naib-nazims, many of whom are young and, according tomany accounts, aspire to change the old political

power system. Human development, especially edu-cation expansion, is the key responsibility of nazimsand their associates.

Future educational improvements are also expectedto result from USAID’s new Education SectorReform project in Pakistan. Its key components are

■ strengthening local education departments

■ creating local learning centers

■ improving educational quality

■ fostering functional literacy for out-of-schoolyouth

■ expanding primary education

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesTable 6.5 shows the number of secular and religiousschools in each province and the number of stu-dents enrolled in 2000 (in secular schools) and2002 (religious schools).

The three main types of religious institutions inPakistan are Koranic schools, where only the Koranis taught; mosque schools, where both Koranic andsecular subjects are taught; and madrasas, whereonly Islamic learning takes place.

Table 6.5. Secular and Religious Schools in Pakistan, 2000, 2002*

Punjab 115,207 3,155 9,057,979NWFP 81,292 1,776 3,154,913Sindh 46,035 905 2,750,850Balochistan 20,756 692 789,868Mosque schools under Ministry of Education** 25,229Total 288,519 6,528 15,753,610 1,197,427

* The data on secular schools are derived from the Ministry of Education for the year 2000. Data on religious schools are from the Ministry of Religious Affairs for the year 2002.

** Mosque schools operating under the Ministry of Education are usually considered as secular schools.

Province or Category Secular Schools

Madrasas operatingunder the religiouseducation board

Students in Secular Schools

(male and female)

Students in Madrasas(data by province

not available)


Koranic schools. Every Muslim child in Pakistan isexpected and encouraged to read the Koran, eitherin a mosque or at home. Koranic schools usuallyfunction in a mosque, where the mullah teaches theKoran to children, both boys and girls. At the basiclevel, only the words of the Koran are taught; notranslation or interpretation is provided. The objec-tive is that all Muslims be able to read the Koran inArabic, even if they do not understand the language.Students are expected to try to understand theKoran when possible, but not much is actually doneto bring this knowledge to the student. Koranicschools offer classes at various times—evenings,mornings, and afternoons—to accommodate theneeds of teachers and students.

Mosque Primary Schools. A lack of resources to pro-vide schools in every village in the mid-1980s ledthe Government of Pakistan to experiment withconverting some rural Koranic schools into mosqueprimary schools. The plan was to add additionalsubjects, such as basic Urdu and mathematics, to betaught by the local imam. The plan faced seriouschallenges because the local imams were not aca-demically prepared to teach these subjects: manyhad not attended formal secular schools and thegovernment did not provide any training.

Madrasas. The mission of most Pakistani madrasasis to prepare students for religious duties. Adheringto strict religious teachings, madrasas teach Islamicsubjects such as the Koran, Islamic law and jurispru-dence, logic, and the Prophet’s traditions. The con-centration of religious teaching increases with thelevel of the madrasa—primary, middle, or high.Lower levels of madrasas produce hafiz-e-Koran (onewho memorizes the Koran fully) or qari (one whocan recite the Koran with good pronunciation andin a melodic tone). Higher level madrasas producealim (Islamic scholar or teacher). An alim certificatefrom a madrasa is equivalent to a master’s degree inIslamiyat or Arabic from a regular university. Sincevery few madrasas supplement religious educationwith secular subjects, students who enroll fulltimedo so with the knowledge that they will becomewell versed only in religious studies and find jobs inthe religious sector.

TrendsFor most of Pakistan’s history, madrasas numberedin the low hundreds and focused on training thenext generation of religious leaders. The number ofmadrasas began to grow in the mid-1970s, with therise of Jamat-e-Islami and political Islam and theactive support of Prime Minister’s Zulfikar AliBhutto. With government financing, they grew atan even greater rate in the mid-1980s under theregime of President Zia ul-Haq, when large theolog-ical seminaries were established to create a cadre ofreligiously motivated mujahadin to fight inAfghanistan.

The defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistanresulted in the fall of Pakistan’s military dictatorship.Subsequent governments were unable to fully sup-port these madrasas financially, so funds startedflowing in from private individuals and Islamiccharities in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,and the Gulf states. The situation in Afghanistankept the madrasa system alive in Pakistan: more andmore mujahadin were recruited to fight for theouster of the corrupt Afghan government. In addi-tion, sectarian madrasas flourished (such as thoserun by the Ahle-Hadith and Shia sects), not asmuch to fight foreign wars as to guard and spreadtheir version of Islam.

Many recent articles and reports point with alarm tothe increase in the number of madrasas in Pakistan.The 2002 ICG Report states that the Ministry ofEducation estimated there were 3,906 Pakistanimadrasas in 1995 and 7,000 in 2000.9 InSeptember 2002, the Dawn newspaper citedMinistry of Religious Affairs reports that there were6,528 registered madrasas that had enrolled about1.2 million students.10 However, in April 2002,Pakistan’s minister for religious affairs had told theICG that 10,000 madrasas existed. He suspectedthere were more, and as many as 1–1.7 million students attending madrasa classes, at least for short periods.11 Some analysts believe the number of madrasas is higher than 10,000—perhaps as highas 33,000.12


Influences—SectsThere are five major Islamic sects in Pakistan:Deobandi, Bareili, Ahle-Hadith, Salafi, and Shia.Each has its own madrasas that teach its own ver-sion of Islam. The two main Sunni sects—Deobandi and Bareili—dominate Pakistan’s madrasasystem.13 The Deobandi and Bareili sects originatedin the colonial Indian subcontinent in response to aperceived imperial plot to destroy Islam and its fol-lowers by means of education. Of these sects, theDeobandi is considered to be the most anti-Western.

Affiliation with Radical GroupsThe current religious extremism in Pakistan has itsroots in the Afghan war. After the Soviet invasion,the call for jihad was raised by the predominantlySunni Jamat-e-Islami, then the largest religious partyin Pakistan and considered by some to be an off-shoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.Abiding by the call of their leader that Muslimsmust take up arms to defend the religion, partyoperatives started recruiting young men to oust the infidels (kafirs) from Afghanistan. Some were recruited from madrasas operated by theJamat-e-Islami.

Deobandi madrasas also participated in the war.Sunni, but opposed to Western-type governments,these madrasas were operating under the Jamiet-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and involved mostly Pashto-speaking people from the NWFP and Balochistan.14

Most JUI madrasas were concentrated along theborder with Afghanistan. Even though JUI opposedthe Zia regime, it had ethnic and tribal loyalties inAfghanistan. Because helping was a sacred duty, thenumber of JUI madrasas increased, and theybecame much fiercer in their resolve to cleanseAfghanistan of all “nefarious infidels.” The increasekept pace with the increasing number of Afghanrefugee men in such Pakistani border towns asPeshawar, Quetta, Chaman, and Landikotal. Later,JUI madrasas spread to other parts of the country.

In the beginning, according to the ICG report,

These madrasas did not necessarily conduct mili-tary training or provide arms to students but

encouraged them to join the mujahadin insideAfghanistan. Madrasas affiliated with theHaqqaniya chain and the JUI faction led byFazlur Rahman also established networks for jihadin Pakistan’s major urban centers. Jihadi seminar-ies with Afghan and Arab volunteers spread toKarachi and later to the Punjab.

The proxy battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran—between Wahhabism and Shiaism respectively—alsoplayed a role in giving rise to sectarian and jihadiculture in Pakistan. Thus, madrasas established toproduce religious leaders to establish law, order, andaccountability attracted holy war recruits for all bat-tles involving Muslims.

Most Pakistani madrasas continue to serve only ascenters of learning for future Islamic scholars andclerics. The concern, however, is with the muchsmaller portion that have been associated with mili-tant groups. In November 2001, Peter W. Singerreported:

Around 10–15 percent of the schools are affiliatedwith extremist religious/political groups, whohave co-opted education for their own needs.These schools teach a distorted view of Islam.Hatred is permissible, jihad allows the murder ofinnocent civilians including other Muslim men,women, and children, and the new heroes are ter-rorists. Martyrdom through suicide attacks is alsoextolled. Many of the radical religious schools alsoinclude weapons and physical training in theirregimen, as well as weekly lessons on politicalspeechmaking (where anti-American rhetoric ismemorized). The students are uneducated, young,dependent on the schools, and cut off from con-tact with their parents for years at a time, andthus highly susceptible to being programmedtoward violence.

These schools have become the new breedingground for radical Islamic militants, where thenext generation is trained and groomed. Theirgraduating classes form an integral recruiting poolfor transnational terrorist and conflict networks.For example, both the Taliban and the moreextreme Kashmiri terrorist groups found theirroots in the young boys from crowded refugee


camps taught at radical Madrassahs. The 55thBrigade, made up of foreigners recruited byUsama bin Laden’s Al Qaida terrorist organizationto fight in Afghanistan, also drew from theschools.15

Singer also points out an added concern:

[T]he student pool in many of these radicalmadrasas is made up of foreigners as well, andthus lays the seeds of conflict elsewhere. Thisinternationalizes their virulent influence. As muchas 10–50 percent of the students in certainmadrasas are from abroad, coming from regions atwar such as Afghanistan, Chechnya, and thePhilippines. These students return with new influ-ence and a changed outlook, helping to worsenthe levels of violence in their home states.16

A majority of Pakistani madrasa graduates havereceived no career-oriented education and face fiercecompetition for limited jobs. Some have resorted toviolence to influence the country’s internal andexternal policies. Right-wing religious leaders pro-vide free transportation and sometimes food whenthese students attend rallies and other demonstra-tions against the government or the West.

GovernanceRelationship to the Government. During the earlyyears of the rise of madrasa education and the threatof Islamization, the Ayub Khan government createda religious endowment (Auuqaf ), which providedmoney for the operations of the religious institu-tions. The Auuqaf reforms demanded that madrasasadd secular subjects to their curricula. All major reli-gious political parties rejected this stance. Seeking togain political support, Prime Minister Zulfiqar AliBhutto put in the 1973 constitution that Pakistanwould be an Islamic state that would enableMuslims to live their lives according to the Koranand Sunnah. He also created the Council of IslamicIdeology to guide moves that would make Pakistana more religious state.17 Thus began the glory daysfor madrasas in Pakistan. Bhutto made all privateschools public, but madrasas remained autonomousin deciding what to teach. Under President Zia ul-Haq, madrasas continued to flourish. Arabic was

introduced as a compulsory subject in all publicschools, and teachers from madrasas were hired toteach it. In addition, Islamic tax (Zakat) funds weredirected to support madrasas.18 Under Zia’s regime,military chaplains were hired from the Deobandisect, giving further strength to the most anti-Western sect of political Islam.

Currently, the religious board, run by religious lead-ers under the auspices of the Ministry of ReligiousAffairs, manages and controls the operations ofmadrasas. In addition to government funds, muchmoney comes from private philanthropists in SaudiArabia, Kuwait, and other Gulf states, who alsoattach strings to madrasas’ curricula. During aninformal interview, a principal of a madrasa inSindh, which receives both government and foreignfunding, said that their nongovernment benefactorsstrictly prohibit them from introducing any subjectsin their school that can help “open the minds ofstudents to things that fall outside the realms of reli-gious teachings.” The principal in question has adegree in English literature.

During the summer of 2002, the government prom-ulgated a madrasas registration ordinance that alsocalled for major reforms and addressed curricular

A Glimpse into the Financial Status ofa Large Madrasa in Pakistan*

A Deobandi residential madrasa in a provinceenrolls 2,500 fulltime students and its annualcosts, according to a 2001audit report, are$100,000—$40 per year per student.

In 2001, the government’s education budgetfor all levels was $939.3 million. Even if, quitegenerously, 30 percent of this amount wereallocated to primary and secondary education,the total amount per student is $16.7, less thanhalf of the amount per student spent in anaverage residential Pakistani madrasa.

* Interview with an anonymous madrasa principal.


and pedagogical issues. Registration was to be doneon a voluntary basis, and the law included no mech-anisms for enforcement or punishing violators.However, apparently under the pressure of Islamicparties and other antireform constituencies,President Pervez Musharraf indicated he would nolonger pursue madrasa reform as a top priority.

Relationship to Government Schools. Other thanmosque primary schools operating under theMinistry of Education that teach secular subjects inaddition to the Koran, there is no formal relation-ship between a madrasa and a regular public school.Curriculum design and pedagogical methods do notconverge in any way. A madrasa student in grade 8would feel out of place if transferred to a regularpublic school, and vice versa.

Parental IncentivesDuring the last two decades, as access to and qualityof public education deteriorated, Pakistan’s eliteincreasingly sent their children to the expandingnumber of private schools. Poor parents could notafford private school, and, with no better alterna-tives, they began sending their sons to madrasas.According to Singer, some madrasas provide food,clothes, and even pay parents to send their children,further increasing their enticement.19 This is espe-cially appealing for destitute Afghan refugees whoneed schooling for their children.

Nevertheless, some families who are not poor andhave access to public schools opt to send their chil-dren to madrasas. The poor quality of public schoolteaching may be one factor, but the choice may alsobe inspired by religious affiliation and the preserva-tion of religious identity, which is perceived to beunder threat by the invading popular culture ofMTV and ZeeTV (from India). Every now andthen, people write letters to Dawn lamentingobscenity on Pakistani TV, which is followingWestern models of programming and dress codes.Many parents, regardless of economic status, there-fore prefer to send their children to religious schoolswhere they will be taught how to be good Muslimsand be protected from the immoral, non-Musliminfluences of the modern world.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentThe following draws heavily from Tariq Rahman’sarticle, “Language, Religion and Identity inPakistan: Language Teaching in PakistanMadrassas.”20

Employment. Madrasas study Islam, as a particularsect interprets it. The main languages of instructionare Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. In madrasas locatedalong the Afghan border and in Sindh, the lan-guages of instruction are Pashto and Sindhi. In1997, only 2.8 percent of madrasas were also teach-ing English. Urdu remains the most prevalent lan-guage of instruction: students become well versed atleast with spoken Urdu by the end of their studies.At the end of the highest level of madrasa educa-tion, the student has to pass an exam to be formallyinducted in the religious sector as an alim. In 2002,the ICG reported that only a small percentage—perhaps 2–5 percent of students—actually reach thislevel. What happens to the rest is not known.

Most of the Arabic books taught in madrasas arefrom medieval times and focus primarily on gram-mar and syntax. Students are taught Arabic, basedon difficult classical texts, and they are encouragedto memorize the texts rather than internalize theirmeaning. Similarly, when Persian is taught inPakistani madrasas, students tend to memorize les-sons and fail to gain functional literacy. Even Urdutranslations of some ancient works are heavilyArabicized, leaving little room for students tounderstand what they are reading or hearing.

Rahman states that books in Persian (which is closerto Urdu in grammar than Arabic) approved to betaught in Pakistani madrasas include Attar’s PandNama, Nam-e-Haq, and Sa’adi’s Karima.

These books are didactic and in rhymed couplets.Although they are ‘safe’ from the ulema’s point ofview, being about morality, this morality is strictlymedieval and patriarchal. Both Pand Nama andKarima approve of hospitality and condemnmiserliness. In both silence is a virtue and sponta-neous talking is not. In both women are inferior,

1 Comparable figures are Ethiopia, 15 percent; Gambia, 21percent; Guinea, 27 percent; Niger, 13 percent; Nigeria, 12percent; Senegal, 33 percent; Uganda, 21 percent.

2 Aziz Talibani, “Pedagogy, Power, and Discourse:Transformation of Islamic Education.” Comparative EducationReview, 40, no. 1 (February 1999), 66–82.

3 World Bank, “Data by Country, Pakistan,” 2002.<www.worldbank.org/data/countrydata/countrydata.html>

4 Government of Pakistan, “1998/99 Economic Survey.”

5 UNESCO. Statistical CD-Rom—2000.

6 Balochistan Education Management Information System(BEMIS), 2000.

7 Each Pakistani province has its own system of school man-agement. For example, the Directorate of ElementaryEducation is responsible for primary schools in Punjab whilethe Directorate of Primary Education is in charge in theNorthwest Frontier Provinces. The Directorate of Secondary

Education supervises middle and high schools in all provincesexcept Balochistan, whose small number of schools all fallunder one Directorate of Education.

8 Balochistan Education Management Information Statistics,1998.

9 ICG, “Pakistan: Madrasas, Extremism, and the Military,”Asia Report, 36 (29 July 2002), 2. <www.crisisweb.org/home/index>

10 Zulifiqar Ali, “EU Ready to Help Madrasas,” Dawn,September 2, 2002.

11 ICG, op. cit., 2.

12 K.P.S. Gill, “Politics of Islam in Pakistan,” The Pioneer,March 2001. <http://www.hvk.org/articles/0301/11.html>

13 ICG, op. cit.

14 Ibid.


untrustworthy and alluring, as, indeed, are beard-less boys. Both belong to a male world confidentin its superiority. Women are faithless and thewise must suspect them.

Most madrasas teach no secular subjects. Religiousleaders who decide the madrasas’ curriculum con-tend that every aspect of knowledge that a Muslimneeds to know was revealed to the Prophet and iscontained in the Koran. Given this resistance to sec-ular knowledge or even a progressive interpretationof the Koran, most religious schools are notdesigned to prepare students for employment.Nevertheless, a graduate of a madrasa has the rightto a high-level (grade 16) civil service job in a gov-ernment office.

It is worth pointing out that many students gradu-ating from secular public schools or colleges are notbetter off academically. Because of the poor qualityof the education system, most secular students dis-play only limited knowledge of their subjects. Still,their chances of obtaining a job, particularly in theprivate sector, are higher than for their counterpartsin the madrasa system.

Madrasa students, however, are better prepared foremployment than those who have received no edu-cation. At least the higher level madrasas add to astudent’s language comprehension. Compared to aperson with no education, a madrasa student’sadvantage is the basic literacy and socialization skillsdeveloped in a school environment.

Civic Participation. Based on the information col-lected for this study, there is no evidence thatPakistani religious schools prepare their students forcivic participation.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsUntil recently, no donor agency supported reformsin Pakistan’s religious education sector. InSeptember 2002, the EU announced its support forreligious institution reform. “The EU has made afirm commitment to provide some $4 billion toIslamabad for the rehabilitation of seminaries in thecountry,” a senior official in the religious affairsministry disclosed. He said the proposed packagewould be for 10 years.21 ■


15 P. W. Singer, “Pakistani Madrassahs: Ensuring a System ofEducation Not Jihad,” Analysis Paper No. 14 (Washington,DC: Brookings Institution, November 2001). <http://www.brookingsinstitution.org/dybdocroot/views/papers/singer/20020103.htm>

16 Ibid.

17 Christele Dedebant, “‘Mughal Mania’ under Zia ul-Haq,”ISIM Newsletter, 8 (2001), 11. <http://www.isim.nl/newsletter/8/>

18 ICG, op. cit.

19 Singer, op. cit., 2.

20 Tariq Rahman, “Language, Religion and Identity inPakistan: Language Teaching in Pakistan Madrassas,” EthnicStudies Report, 16 (2) (July 1998).

21 Dawn, op. cit.


7. Indonesia


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210.4Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,830Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.49Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.68


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4



FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure . . . . . . . . . –

Table 7.1. Indonesia Country Profile, 1995–2000


Introduction

Indonesia has made significant strides in educat-ing its citizens: it has a relatively high literacyrate of 88 percent, a high primary net enroll-

ment of 95 percent, and relative gender equity inboth primary and secondary schools. However, withlow secondary enrollment rates, deteriorating quali-ty of education in primary and secondary schools,and one-third of its population under 15, Indonesiafaces formidable educational challenges. Providinghigh quality education for such a large cohort ofschool-aged children will require the government tosignificantly accelerate its efforts to strengthen theeducation system. This, however, will be difficult,given that spending on education amounts to only1.6 percent of Indonesia’s GNP and just under 8percent of total government expenditure.1

Public Education SystemCharacteristicsBasic education in Indonesia consists of six years ofelementary school and three of lower secondaryschool. There is no tuition for basic education, butstudents and their families have to purchase booksand official uniforms. Indonesia also provides non-formal education through programmed learningpackets to out-of-school youth or school dropouts.After basic education, the school system offers threeyears of upper secondary school and four years ofuniversity. However, after basic education, promo-tion is determined by selective examinations thatnarrow the option for higher education.

Despite the predominantly secular curriculum ingovernment schools, students are given the optionof taking two hours of religious instruction—usuallyin Islam, Christianity, or Hinduism.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for theplanning and execution of education. The ministryhas four directorates: primary education, secondaryeducation, higher education, and out-of-school edu-cation and culture. While management of educationis essentially centralized, increasingly district educa-tion offices across the 27 provinces are assuming

more power and initiative regarding local policiesand teacher training.

The vast majority of school-aged children inIndonesia enroll in public schools. In 2000–01,43.4 million students were enrolled in public pri-mary and secondary schools, 29.2 million in pri-mary and 14.2 million in secondary.

ChallengesAccess. Enrollment in primary education has beenalmost universal for the past 20 years. Although pri-mary enrollment rates are high, access levels differmarkedly between Java and outer provinces such asWest Timor. The economic crisis of the late 1990sresulted in a slight and temporary decrease in schoolenrollment by poor and rural students. For manypoor families, the costs associated with publicschooling are unaffordable. Because of the difficultlabor market, such students tend not to continue tosecondary school. Thus, while enrollments havesteadily increased in primary schools, they have lev-eled off in secondary schools.

Quality. Indonesian students have consistently expe-rienced low quality of learning in classrooms, result-ing in low academic achievement. Assessmentsreport relatively low scores on reading competencytests by Indonesian students by international stan-dards.2 They also performed at lower standards inscience and mathematics than students in Malaysiaand other countries in the region. A major con-straint to achieving higher quality education is ashortage of qualified teachers, due to low salariesand lack of incentives. Finding qualified personnelto teach in rural areas is a serious problem.Providing textbooks and other school equipmentthroughout the far-flung archipelago continues tobe another significant challenge.

Management. In 2001, Indonesia decentralizedsome educational management functions to provin-cial and district governments. The central govern-ment develops policies, manages the national cur-riculum, and conducts national examinations.Provincial and district governments define policy onstudent selection, provide instructional materials,and manage special institutions, including those for


teacher training. However, limited capacity at locallevels impedes this decentralization because localunits cannot adequately meet the educational needsof large populations of out-of-school youths orimprove teaching through better school manage-ment and training programs.

Policy Reform. Indonesia’s educational priorities for2001–04 focus on

■ improving quality of instruction and relevanceof the curriculum

■ reducing inequities within and among theprovinces

■ enhancing educational management throughmore efficient financing and information usageand continued decentralization of functions

Donor AssistanceUSAID has been supporting democracy and educa-tion initiatives in government primary and second-ary schools and in Islamic institutes. The Agency isplanning to strengthen its assistance to basic educa-tion in Indonesia, and is currently finalizing itsstrategy.

As shown in Table 7.2, several other donors haveimplemented programs to support Indonesia’s edu-cation sector. Most have been assisting the govern-ment to expand access, improve primary and sec-ondary education, and strengthen institutionalcapacity at provincial and district levels.

■ The World Bank has been supporting educationprojects throughout the archipelago. They aredesigned to expand access to primary and juniorsecondary education; improve the quality of primary and junior secondary education; and

Table 7.2. Donor Assistance to Indonesia’s Public Education Sector

World Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

AusAid ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNESCO/UNICEF ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ADB ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

EU

Dutch (World Bank Admin.) ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

New Zealand (UNESCO ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Admin.)

JICA ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

GTZ ■ ■ ■ ■

JBIC ■ ■ ■



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ary

Seco

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Terti

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decentralize and improve educational planning,management, and institutional capacity atprovincial and district levels.

■ UNICEF has been providing support to a proj-ect that focuses on improving the educationalstatus of girls throughout Indonesia.

■ JICA is currently supporting a project toimprove primary and secondary science andmathematics teaching by improving the educa-tional content of faculties in charge of scienceand mathematics education at three nationaluniversities.

■ The Australian Agency for InternationalDevelopment (AusAID) has been providingscholarships at primary and junior secondary lev-els to children from poor families. AusAID hasalso supported technical and vocational educa-tion in Indonesia.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. The major strength of the Indonesianpublic school system is the widespread enrollmentof primary school students. The basic literacy,numeracy, and analytical skills taught prepare mostprimary educated youth to be “trainable,” regardlessof whether they continue to secondary school, entertraining programs, or need to learn skills on the job.Students can also take vocational subjects in lowersecondary school, and they may specialize in techni-cal, vocational, or business education in upper sec-ondary school. There are also life skills subjects thatall students take as electives. This is an attempt tomake the curriculum more relevant to the locale,with special attention given to health prevention(HIV/AIDS), environmental protection, and practi-cal skills training. For students who never attendedor dropped out of school, nonformal or out-of-school education prepares them to concentrate onpractical skills in commerce, trades, and business.

A major weakness of formal vocational training inlower secondary school is that the skills taught maybe outdated or disconnected to market realities: jobskills learned may not correspond to those required

by the job market. In addition, the secondary schoolcurriculum is usually overloaded to the point thatsubjects may not be taught effectively. Finally, pri-mary school quality problems mean that basic litera-cy, numeracy, and analytical skills may not belearned well. Hence, some students are less likely tobe adequately prepared to be “trainable” later on.

Civil Participation. Indonesia’s public school systemis based upon the state philosophy of the five princi-ples (Pancasila): 1) belief in one god; 2) just andcivilized humanity, including tolerance to all people;3) unity of Indonesia; 4) democracy led by wisdomof deliberation among representatives of the people;and 5) social justice for all. This state ideology,taught in public schools, may be considered a formof civic education.

Since the 1998 overthrow of the Suharto regime,Pancasila has taken on a more democratic emphasis.Some donors are undertaking pilot efforts to replacetraditional Pancasila teachings with civic educationcourses that cover such topics as the principles andpractices of conflict resolution, tolerance of differ-ences, respect for individual rights, and participatoryinstruction. USAID/Jakarta has funded democracyeducation pilot projects that involve students inanalyzing public policy issues through democraticeducational processes. Students involved in theinstructional models have demonstrated abilities toanalyze problems, interpret and draw conclusionsfrom data, debate issues, accept and criticize eachother’s opinions, and propose relevant solutions.However, traditional teacher-centered instruction inprimary and secondary schools tends to dilute theseinnovations by perpetuating an authoritarian class-room atmosphere. Thus, efforts will be needed tohelp teachers create a teaching-learning environmentthat supports these innovations.

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesThe two types of Islamic schools in Indonesia aremadrasas, or day schools, and pesantrens, or board-ing schools.


Madrasas provide education at primary, lower sec-ondary, and upper secondary levels. They teach thenational education curriculum and use extendedhours to teach basic Islamic education and princi-ples. Students who graduate from the upper second-ary level of accredited madrasas are qualified toenter a university. The great majority of madrasasare privately owned and operated, while others oper-ate under the Ministry of Religion. Madrasas areless expensive than public secondary schools andprovide access to basic education in rural and low-income urban communities. They widen access tobasic education through affordable schooling andsupply Islamic teaching.

Pesantrens operate as independent Islamic self-gov-erning schools, outside of the national madrasa andpublic education system. They exist as a communi-ty, with a compound, mosque, and boarding systemwhere students and teachers eat, sleep, learn, andgenerally interact throughout the day. Most arelocated in rural areas. Pesantrens vary considerablyin size, from only a few hundred students to 4,000or more. The majority of pesantrens have a cus-tomized curriculum that consists mainly of Islamicteachings based on the interpretation of the head-master (kyai). Religious subjects include Islamic the-ology, philosophy, jurisprudence, and ethics;Koranic exegesis, recitation, and memorization; andArabic literature, grammar, or astronomy. A fewpesantrens include a curriculum that follows thegovernment curriculum. Pesantrens have roughlythe same three levels as the madrasas, but they aremore staggered and not as clearly defined.

Many pesantrens have businesses that make themself-supporting, and they provide training for stu-

dents in trading, farming, cottage industries, andother community-based and income-generatingactivities. Thus, many pesantrens attempt to blendtraditional Indonesian values—such as Islamicbrotherhood, selflessness, simplicity, social justice,and self-sufficiency—with selected modern ones—such as entrepreneurial business management withEnglish language and computer training.3

Though comparable enrollment data for public andIslamic schools is unavailable, it is estimated thatIslamic schools enroll 10–15 percent of the totalschool-age population.

TrendsIn 2001, there were 11,312 pesantrens in Indonesia,an increase of 13.2 percent from the previous schoolyear. For a variety of reasons discussed below, anincreasing number of students attend them.

Influences—SectsThe historical spread of Islam throughout the archi-pelago was far from consistent or uniform, and strictlines between different sects or approaches to Islamtoday are not always clear. Most Indonesian Muslimsfollow the Sunni sect or the orthodox teachings andtraditions of Islam. Coastal groups in Java and someof the outer islands accepted Islam in its orthodoxform and continue to practice it, while interiorgroups in Java adopted some of Islam’s precepts andpractices while maintaining their Javanese andHindu-Buddhistic traditions. In other outer islands,animist beliefs and practices underlie overt expres-sions of Islam. Many Javanese remain suspicious oforthodox political Islam and, together with Christianand Hindu minorities, identify more with the secularstate of Indonesia than with an Islamic state.

Table 7.3. Madrasa Schools in Indonesia, 2000–01

Level Private Public Total Teacher:Students Students

Upper Secondary 3,130 (84%) 575 (16%) 3,705 1:44 576,000Lower Secondary 9,624 (89%) 1,168 (11%) 10,792 1:10 1,900,000Primary 20,554 (93%) 1,481 (7%) 22,035 1:18 2,900,000

Source: Ministry of Religious Affairs Educational Statistics, “Indonesia School Year 2000–2001;” Education Management Information Service(EMIS), Jakarta, Indonesia, 2001.


Very broadly, the vast majority of orthodoxIndonesian Muslims are either traditionalists ormodernists. Traditionalists follow religious teachingshanded down over the centuries, including traditionsderived from Java. Modernists contend that the onlytrue basis of Islam is the Koran and the example ofthe prophet Mohammad. These two macroinflu-ences are expressed through Indonesia’s two largestMuslim organizations: the traditionalist NahdatulUlama, based in Java, and the urban-based mod-ernist Muhammadiyah, which runs a network ofschools, hospitals, and other welfare organizations.Paradoxically, traditionalist Muslims in Indonesia aregenerally regarded as more liberal and comfortablewith the secular state, while modernists are generallyregarded as more conservative, supporting a largerrole for Islam in government. Nevertheless, both areregarded as moderate, and both are against anIslamic state that uses Sharia or traditional Islamiclaw as a basis for common law. In addition, the lead-ers of both organizations have expressed discontentwith how Islam has been politicized by certain radi-cal groups. Both organizations have appealed to theIndonesian government to take harsh measuresagainst groups that break the law.

Affiliation with Radical GroupsThe existence of militant Muslims in Indonesia isnot new. There were radical groups during theSukarno and Suharto periods that attempted toestablish an Islamic state in Indonesia and replacePancasila. However, all these attempts failed, notonly because of the repressive measures imposed bythe government, but also because they failed to gainsupport from the mainstream Muslim population.The recent rise of Islamic radicalism in Indonesia isconsidered by Indonesian analysts to be the result ofthe sudden collapse of the Suharto’s authoritarianregime, the newfound openness that followed, andthe demoralization of the police.

Though radical groups claim to have large numbersof members, it appears that their membership andinfluences are very limited. Radical groups share,more or less, the same ambitions or beliefs4:

■ establishment of an Islamic state in Indonesia oreven among Muslim collectivities withinSoutheast Asian countries

■ adoption of Sharia or traditional Islamic law

■ adherence to puritanical Islam and an aversionto secularism

■ suspicion of or opposition to Christian churchesand proselytizing

■ opposition to Israel

■ increasing anti-Americanism

■ prohibition of prostitution, gambling, and alcohol

Since September 11, 2001, many analysts have beentrying to determine the extent to which Islamicschools in Indonesia are affiliated with radicalgroups. While most are not, there is concern, espe-cially among government officials, that somepesantrens are potential breeding grounds for terror-ist activity. Although far more research is needed,several analysts have documented evidence thatappears to link a few Islamic schools in Indonesiawith Islamic extremist groups. The following aresome examples.

■ According to Leonard Sebastian,5 there are twobroad groups of Indonesian madrasas: 1) gov-ernment-controlled madrasas that adopt a liberaleducation curriculum and private madrasasunder the tutelage of tolerant Islamic leaders,and 2) privately run madrasas that adopt a moreradical agenda propagated by Islamic clericswith radical intentions. Privately run madrasasoutnumber those run by the government by aratio of 9 to 1. Sebantian contends that someprivate madrasas have recruited members forterrorist groups. He refers to an article thatdescribes links between madrasas recruiting forLaskar Jihad, a militant Indonesian Islamicgroup, and other groups advocating an Islamicstate for Indonesia. Jafar Umar Thalib, thefounder of Laskar Jihad, is also the founder of apesantren in Central Java.6 Recently, someIndonesian analysts speculated that Laskar Jihadmay have ties to al Qaeda. In interviews withjournalists, Jafar has admitted being visited by alQaeda representatives but denies a direct rela-tionship. Despite compelling evidence thatThalib’s Laskar Jihad is a militant Islamic group,


it is unclear to what extent his pesantren servesas a recruiting ground for Laskar Jihad or othergroups.

■ According to the ICG, the Front to DefendIslam, one of the most prominent radicalIslamic organizations in Indonesia, has a para-military wing, Laskar Pembela Islam, whosemembers come from rural religious schools andunemployed youth.7

■ According to several articles, Abubakar Baasyir isthe spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiah, aSoutheast Asian militant Islamic network whosehub is Pondok Ngruki Pesantren, a religiousboarding school in Indonesia cofounded byBaasyir that is said to have about 2,000 stu-dents. According to an al Qaeda operativearrested in the summer of 2001, Baasyir was alQaeda’s senior representative for Southeast Asiaand was instructed to plan attacks on U.S. inter-ests in the region with operatives and resourcesfrom Jemaah Islamiah. While Baasyir denies anyconnection to these plots, he admits to inspiringstudents to fight for Muslim causes in Bosnia,Chechnya, Afghanistan, and the Philippines.“The students who absorb my teaching andfinally understand Islam completely want toimplement the teaching of jihad,” he stated.8

One of those students is jailed Indonesian Al-Ghozi, who attended Baasyir’s NgrukiPesantren. How many more were recruited,trained, and deployed for Islamic causes or ter-rorist activities is unknown.

■ A New York Times correspondent who inter-viewed students at a pesantren in EastKalimantan Province found they lived austerelyand modeled themselves on Islamic values andtraditions. But they also had jaundiced views ofthe United States, Israel, and world capitalism.As an antidote, the U.S. State Department invit-ed 80 Islamic educators from Indonesianpesantrens to courses at the Institute forTraining and Development in Amherst, Mass.,that show the “good” side of the United States.9

While concerned about extremist elements infiltrat-ing Islamic schools, the government has yet toclamp down systematically. Since recent terrorist

attacks and with increasing pressure from theUnited States, Indonesian officials say they are keep-ing a close watch on the activities of certain schools.However, they are reluctant to move too aggressivelyagainst them without absolute proof of criminalactivity because they fear such actions wouldprompt widespread protests.

GovernanceThe Ministry of National Education (MONE) andthe Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) haveestablished a national curriculum that is compatiblewith both a Western-style and an Islamic education.MORA sets the Islamic component of the curricu-lum while MONE does the same for all other com-ponents. The government’s unique effort thus com-bined both elements into a national education cur-riculum. However, the extent to which the min-istries regulate Islamic schools is unclear.

Officials in both ministries express alarm at thegrowth of overt anti-Western and anti-U.S. teach-ings in unregulated schools, usually those with acustomized curriculum. These officials recommend

■ assisting MORA to increase the number ofpesantren schools with official curricula (now 5percent of the total) and decrease the numberwith individualized curricula (66 percent of thetotal) through provision of secular textbooks,instructional materials, and teacher training

■ improving the quality of madrasas so that theyattract students who would otherwise attend apesantren

■ providing additional funding for monitoringand tracking pesantren activities

Parental IncentivesIn Indonesia, parents send their children to primaryand secondary schools to prepare them for modernlife and to provide opportunities for further educa-tion, training, or a salaried job. An increasing number of children attend both secular and Islamicschools. Without sacrificing public education, most parents want to give their children a religiouseducation and for them to be good Muslims.


Because of low academic achievement among publicschool students and decreases in job opportunities,some may see the practical skill training and tradi-tional religious training offered in Islamic schools asan attractive alternative. Pesantrens, in particular,offer an accessible and practical means of obtainingjob training and strengthening an Islamic identity.Parents from poorer and more isolated communitiesmay see pesantrens or madrasas as the only afford-able educational opportunities for their children,especially if they are not academically gifted.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. The greatest strength of some Islamicschools is that they teach some marketable skills thatenable graduates to assume jobs. Community-basedpesantrens are probably more sensitive to job marketneeds than more inflexible and established formaltechnical and vocational schools. In addition, morestudents can attend pesantrens of their choosing atless cost than those who attend public vocationalschools at the secondary level.

Because the government and MONE have long rec-ognized that madrasas and some pesantrens provideopportunities to develop basic literacy, numeracy,and analytical skills in the primary grades and skilltraining in the secondary grades, they have directlyor indirected supported MORA’s efforts to buildand maintain madrasas.

However, many madrasas and pesantrens do notteach basic subject matter and secondary scienceand math as well as public schools do. Manymadrasas are hampered by a lack of qualified teach-ers in English, mathematics, physics, chemistry, andbiology. As a result, madrasa students tend to bepoorly educated in science and technology. Further,pesantrens not regulated by the ministry mayemphasize religious training to the exclusion ofteaching marketable job skills. Students atpesantrens that breed extremist activities may besidetracked from pursing job-related skills.

Civic Participation. Some Islamic organizations andinstitutes are benefiting from donor-sponsored civiceducation interventions that are bound to benefitstudents pursuing Islamic studies. These efforts,being implemented on a small scale, will need to bereplicated on a larger scale to ensure that alternativeways of thinking and group problem-solving spreadto a critical mass of students educated in Islamicinstitutions.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsUSAID has been supporting democracy and educa-tion initiatives in government primary and second-ary schools and in Islamic institutes. USAID’s neweducation strategy focuses on strengthening thequality of secular education provided in governmentschools and some Islamic schools.

The Asia Foundation, with USAID funding, hasbeen working extensively with more than 25 Islamicorganizations and groups in civic education. Perhapsthe most notable single effort is the assistance pro-vided to 47 State Institutes for Islamic Studies(IAIN). CIDA has recently funded a McGillUniversity fellowship program, which, since the1960s, has assisted IAIN to improve staff qualifica-tion and infuse IAIN with information, methodolo-gies, research interests, concepts, and new ideas forgraduate study. A CIDA-funded study states thatIAIN has had a positive influence on the modern-ization of all levels of Islamic education, a systemthat serves over 6 million young people.10

The Asia Foundation is continuing the effort bysupporting IAIN’s development of a new civic edu-cation course for postsecondary students. Thisincludes expansion of education and training ondemocracy, human rights, religious tolerance, andother civil society issues through curricular andmaterials development. Following a successful pilotprogram in Jakarta, the civic education course wasexpanded to reach 8,000 students nationwide. Theobjective is for the course to replace ideologicalindoctrination courses left over from Suharto’s New


1 This is far lower than many countries with a lower GNI percapita, including Ethiopia, 14 percent; Gambia, 21 percent;Guinea, 27 percent; India,12 percent; Mauritania, 16 percent;Niger,13 percent; Senegal, 33 percent; Uganda, 21 percent.

2 World Bank, Staff Appraisal Report, “Central IndonesiaJunior Secondary School Project,” (Washington, DC: WorldBank, 1996). <http://www-wds.worldbank.org/

3 Ronald A. Lukens-Bull, “A Peaceful Jihad: Javanese IslamicEducation and Religious Identity Construction,” Ph.D.,Arizona State University, 1997.

4 ICG, “Indonesia: Violence and Radical Muslims,” IndonesiaBriefing, October 10, 2001. <www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=1776&l=1>

5 Leonard Sebastian, “Getting to the Root of IslamicRadicalism in Indonesia,” The Straits Times (Singapore),August 6, 2002. <http://www.ntu.edu.sg/idss/Perspective/research_050212.htm>

6 Asia Foundation, “Islam in Modern Indonesia,” report on ajoint conference sponsored by the United States-IndonesiaSociety and the Asia Foundation, February 7, 2002.<http://www.usindo.org/Briefs/Islam%20in%20Indonesia.htm>

7 ICG, op. cit., 12.

8 Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress, “An Inspiration forMuslim Fighters,” Washington Post, September 23, 2002,A10.

9 Jane Perlez, “U.S. Tries to Win Over Angry IndonesianMuslims.” New York Times, June 22, 2002, A3.

10 McGill University and State Institute of Islamic Studies(IAIN), “Impact on the Development and Modernization ofIslam in Indonesia,” study submitted to CIDA, May 31,2000. <http://www.mcgill.ca/indonesia-project/impact/>

Order with a new curriculum designed to strength-en long-term tolerance and responsible citizenship.

Among other activities, the Asia Foundation assists

■ the Indonesia Society for Pesantren andCommunity Development, by training studentin principles and practices of democracy

■ the Institute for Islamic and Social Studies, byproviding training in human rights and con-

ducting courses to promote the understandingof democracy from an Islamic perspective

■ the institutes of the main Islamic parties(Muhammadiyah and Nadhatul Ulama) on curricular and materials development on demo-cratic principles and processes

■ the Institute for Social Institute Studies, throughworkshops on Islam and programs on educationand democracy from an Islamic perspective ■


8. Malaysia


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.3Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,330Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.01Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.77


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98.62Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98.25Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97.89Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.11Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.89Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.5




Table 8.1. Malaysia Country Profile


Introduction

Malaysia has an impressive record in eco-nomic and educational development andthe highest GNI per capita of the coun-

tries reviewed. In addition, Malaysia has very highprimary and secondary enrollments and relativegender equity. Its relatively low university enroll-ment reflects the selective nature of the educationsystem, which controls student flow through exter-nal examinations. One reason for this impressiveeducational development is the relatively largeamount the government spends on education: 15percent of the total budget.

Public Education SystemCharacteristicsAs an upper middle-income country, Malaysiaexpects to achieve developed nation status by 2020.Since independence, educational development andreforms have been characterized by the government’sefforts to adapt education to meet national econom-ic and human resource development needs. Itsheavy investment in education is based on the beliefthat the quality and efficiency of schools make a dif-ference in educational achievement and subsequentopportunities for employment and career develop-ment. Education is a federal responsibility. Whileadministered centrally under the Ministry ofEducation, states and districts also have decision-making responsibilities regarding educational per-sonnel, substance, and process.

The school system consists of six years of elemen-tary, three years of lower secondary, two years ofupper secondary, two years of postsecondary or pre-university, and four years of university education.School-based assessment is administered at all gradesand levels. At the end of each secondary level, stu-dents sit for common public examinations.Promotion during the first nine years is automatic,but subsequent promotion is determined by exami-nations, and higher education is very selective.Successful completion of upper secondary educationcan lead to opportunities for further study andtraining at postsecondary and tertiary levels at uni-

versities, colleges, and other educational traininginstitutions.

ChallengesAccess. The Malaysian Government has been suc-cessfully implementing its policy of providing 11years of basic education to all. Universal primaryeducation has been a reality since 1990. From 1960to 1995, enrollment rates for lower secondary rosedramatically, from 18 percent to 83 percent, andupper secondary rose from 10 percent to 56 per-cent. Although university enrollment rates rose onlyfrom .04 percent to 3.7 percent during the sameperiod, the tertiary rate would be double this if stu-dents in private and foreign universities were includ-ed. Despite these impressive increases, enrollmentrates in remote and sparsely populated regions, par-ticularly in the east Malaysian states of Sarawak andSabah, continue to lag behind those in westMalaysian states and urban areas.

Quality. While the quality of Malaysian education isrelatively good, the delivery system needs greaterteacher competence, more relevant curricula, andmore effective use of technology and multimedia.More specifically, the qualifications of secondaryschool teachers need to be upgraded to a universitydegree. The academic thrust of the secondary cur-riculum also needs adjustment to facilitate theschool-to-work transition for students entering theworkforce upon graduation.

Management. Previous staff development programswere biased toward school pedagogy, at the expenseof system planning and management. In addition,the existing education management information sys-tem has not been as effective as anticipated. As aresult, collected data is not reviewed or used system-atically for decisionmaking, and the use of resourceshas been inefficient. More policy assessments andgreater staff development are needed to addressstrategic planning and management needs.

Policy Reform. Since 2000, the government hasfocused on overcoming the country’s economicdownturn of the late 1990s; this has weakened edu-cational investment. Nevertheless, the governmentcontinues to


■ improve access to and quality of basic educa-tion, especially in Eastern Malaysia

■ rationalize investments in secondary, technical,and vocational education to make institutionsmore responsive to market demands

■ increase access to high-quality polytechnicaleducation

■ strengthen the education sector’s planning andmanagerial capacity

Donor AssistanceThe German Cooperative Agency for Developmentprovides training to middle-level industrial workersto upgrade their skills through intensive basic,advanced, and specialized training. The develop-ment objective is to assist the country’s shift from anexporter of raw materials toward an export-orientedindustrialized nation. The technical objective is toimprove the Malaysian Tertiary Vocational andEducation Training system through curriculumdevelopment and teaching aids, preservice andinservice technical teacher training, and job linkageswith training.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Malaysia has a well developed systemof technical and vocational education and over 60vocational and technical schools. In addition, voca-tional subjects are incorporated in the secondaryschool curriculum, in line with the policy of allow-ing students in general academic schools to studyvocational subjects. Students in vocational schoolsfollow either an academic or skills training program.Those with the interest and aptitude are streamlinedafter grade 10 into the two-year skills trainingcourse. Technical and vocational education at higherlevels is offered at the polytechnics, teacher educa-tion colleges, the MARA Institute of Technology,and the Tunku Abdul Rahman College, where pro-fessional courses leading to certificates and diplomasare available.

Notwithstanding, Malaysia’s technical and vocation-al system needs to diversify. With donor assistance,

the government is converting limited vocationalschools into more diversified secondary technicalschools. While positive, the technical curriculum ofsome technical and vocational schools could bemore in line with and responsive to market demand,and could include private secondary participation indevelopment, operations, and financing. The poly-technic system also needs expansion and diversifica-tion to produce more qualified and better trainedgraduates to fuel Malaysia’s growing technologyneeds. Measures needed include more financing,higher quality instruction, and industrial linkages tomarket realities. Training efforts should take advan-tage of the proximity to industries that can provideexposure and facilitate on-the-job training for stu-dents.

Since the quality of the primary education is rela-tively high, most students develop reasonable litera-cy, numeracy, and analytical skills. These skills pre-pare most primary educated youth to be employableor “trainable,” whether or not they go to secondaryschool, enter training programs, or need to learnskills on the job. However, those who complete onlyprimary education are minimally qualified for thedecreasing pool of low-level jobs and need addition-al education to compete for higher level and highersalaried jobs.

Civic Participation. The public school system allowslimited religious instruction in Islam, Christianity,Buddhism, and Hinduism, the main religions ofMalaysia. For students who choose not to take reli-gious studies, there is instruction in ethics andmorals that includes some civic education at the sec-ondary level. Government primary schools haveadopted a child-centered learning approach toinclude flexible groupings and greater attention toindividual needs. Through participatory teachingand learning methods, children have more opportu-nity for individual expression and group exposure.In addition, the primary and lower secondary cur-riculum attempts to integrate the teaching of knowl-edge, skills, and values, as well as explicit teaching ofmoral values.

In practice, teachers may not always apply moreparticipatory methods, particularly in rural and iso-


lated schools. Some teachers may pay only lip serv-ice to participatory methods and practice moreauthoritarian methods, especially those preparingstudents for crucial external examinations.

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesThe two parallel streams of schools in Malaysia—government (national) schools and Islamicschools—are subject to the supervision and manage-ment of the Department of Education. Both aredivided into three levels: elementary (grades 1-6),lower secondary (grades 7-9), and upper secondary(grades 10-11). Roughly, there is one Islamic schoolfor every 10 government schools. Approximately 22percent of primary students attend Islamic schoolsand 11 percent of secondary students attend Islamicschools.

Islamic schools can be divided into three categories:

■ national religious schools (Sekola AgamaKebangsaan)

■ state religious schools (Sekola Agama Negri)

■ Islamic private schools (Sekola Agama Rakyat)1

National religious schools are fully funded by thefederal government, but they are prestigious andselective: students must pass entrance exams toattend. State religious schools are fully funded bystate governments, with supplementary funding

from the federal government. Islamic private schoolsare built and maintained by private individuals, butwith funding from sources that include federal andstate government grants, Islamic councils (YayasanAgama), and parental school fees. These are akin toIndonesian madrasas.

Islamic schools use the Malaysian language as thelanguage of instruction and follow the curriculumtaught in government schools, where English is acompulsory subject. However, the Islamic schools atthe primary level are less structured. They empha-size learning the Koran in basic Arabic. In manystates, primary schooling is provided for a few hoursdaily to supplement the national curriculum. As inIndonesia, many primary students (mostly Malay)attend government schools in the morning and earlyafternoon and Islamic schools later in the afternoon.

Islamic schools begin formally and fulltime only atthe secondary level. In addition to the national cur-riculum, they provide instruction in advancedArabic and education in Taswwur (correct think-ing), the Koran (Al-Quran), As-Sunnah, and Islamiclaw (Syri’ah). Teachers in Islamic schools are govern-ment trained. Some of the schools provide boardingservices.

Most Islamic schools, particularly private ones, havea written philosophy that mirrors that of theMinistry of Education, with the exception of explic-it references to Islam. The emphasis is cognitivegrowth, skill development, and producing students

Table 8.2. School Attendance in Malaysia

Government Islamic*

Number of Number of Number of Number of Level schools students schools full-time students

Primary 7,084 2,870,667 2,171 656,168Secondary 1,538 1,794,515 420 203,010

* Fardhu ‘Ain, a separate type of Islamic school, trains primary public school students—1,032,841of them—after school hours in school build-ings, mosques, or private buildings. They are, in effect, Koranic schools, but their students would be double-counted if they were included in theabove list.Source: Malasia Ministry of Education website and “Islamic Schools in Malaysia” (September 20, 2002), Department of Islamic and MoralEducation, Ministry of Education.


with balanced personalities who are anchored inIslamic values and Malaysian national society. ForMuslims and non-Muslims, moral education is cen-tral in primary education. It is designed to “developself-esteem, independence, ethical values, the senseof truth, spirituality, self-discipline, self-actualiza-tion, and love for knowledge; and to train studentsto apply what they have learned in their daily life.”2

Islamic school physical facilities reflect their fundingsources: those funded federally and by the state arequite good by Malaysian standards. Private schoolsthat rely heavily on private funding often havebelow-standard school buildings; recreational facili-ties; and science laboratories, libraries, and resourcecenters. They also have less qualified teachers. Innational and state schools, more teachers are univer-sity graduates than in private schools, where themajority are secondary school graduates.3

While national and state Islamic schools comparefavorably with public government schools, privateIslamic schools do not. They promise an alternativeto secular education, but suffer from ill-equippedbuildings, limited financial resources, and less thanqualified teachers. Research findings suggest thatIslamic private schools could be improved by adopt-ing a “business mentality” and raising funds for sys-tematic upgrades by using Muslim practices such asendowments (waqf ), donations, and alms (zakah).

TrendsWhile data on enrollment trends in Islamic schoolsare not available, parental interest has increased inthe past decade. Apparently, more parents are inter-ested in a firm grounding in religion for their chil-dren. In addition, the reputation of Islamic schoolsfor providing a good education has grown just assome have begun to question the quality of govern-ment schools. Financial contributions to privateIslamic schools—from government grants, dona-tions from parents or Islamic organizations, andschool fees—have increased in an effort to keeppace with the rising demand for Islamic schooling.

Influences—SectsMost Malaysian Muslims follow the Sunni or ortho-dox teachings and traditions. The second largest

political party (after the United Malaysian NationalOrganization) is the Islamic Party. To some extent,the party helps ensure the persistence of orthodoxteaching in the Islamic schools. It receives signifi-cant support from Western Malaysia, where moretraditional versions of Islam are based.

Affiliation with Radical GroupsReportedly, several madrasas have been closed bythe police because they contained alleged extremistelements. The government took swift action underthe Internal Security Act. In addition, PresidentMahathir stated emphatically that he would not tol-erate extremist elements in Islamic schools.4 Itshould also be noted, however, that Abu BakarBaasyir, founder of Pesantren Ngruki in Indonesia,spent several years in exile in Malaysia.5

GovernanceRelationship to Government. All public and Islamicschools in Malaysia are regulated by the Ministry ofEducation. They must be registered and meet min-istry standards, including those relating to theirfinances, locations, and teacher qualifications.Within the ministry, the Department of Islamic andMoral Education oversees the curriculum of Koranicstudy and teachings to ensure they are organized,taught, and assessed according to national standards.This is important because national standards are setand administered for religious studies in all Islamicschools and this oversight and control makes it diffi-cult for extremist elements to emerge and spread.There is also political control: radicals of all kindscome under the fierce scrutiny of Malaysia’s dracon-ian National Subversive Act, and Islamic extremistgroups are not exempt from its coverage.

Relationship to Public School System. All schools(public and Islamic) that come under the Ministryof Education provide religious education. In Islamicschools, Koranic and Islamic moral instruction areprovided at the primary level and specialized Islamicstudies at the secondary level. Of the three types ofIslamic schools, however, only national religiousschools have compared favorably with publicschools; they are seen as selective and somewhat elit-ist in student composition and background.Traditionally, state and, especially, private Islamic


schools have not compared favorably with govern-ment schools. This is changing, as the public andthe Islamic community in Malaysia make efforts tomobilize resources and improve school quality. Ofthe countries studied, Malaysia seems to have madethe most progress toward a convergent and nationalintegration of religious and secular education.

Parental IncentivesUntil recently, Malaysian Islamic schools werereputed to be second class. Their improved quality,the growing influence of Islamic education world-wide, and Malaysia’s outstanding economic growthhave caused more parents to regard these schools asviable alternatives to government schools. Themotive is primarily religious: parents simply wanttheir children to be securely grounded in Islamthrough religious instruction. At the same time, par-ents want to ensure that their children are preparedfor modernity. By sending their children to nationalor state Islamic schools, they get both. Some parentsmay see Islamic schools as cheaper or more accessi-ble, but most Malaysian parents whose childrenattend private Islamic schools are from the middleclass.6 As such, economics does not seem to be whatmotivates them to send their children to Islamicschools.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentMuslim parents in Malaysia face a dilemma whendeciding how to educate their children. While theywant to send their children to Islamic schools(preferably the national religious schools) to receiverigorous and lasting grounding in the knowledge,practices, and values of the Islam, they fear thatthese schools do not impart the knowledge, skills,and attitudes that would allow their graduates toparticipate effectively and productively in modernMalaysia. Government and business careers requireknowledge of science, mathematics, English, andcommerce. This kind of knowledge is not com-manded by students from the Islamic school systemand is best learned in government secondary schoolsand universities. Parents also fear that graduatesfrom the religious system are lagging because com-ponents of higher-order thinking—analysis, inter-

pretation, synthesis, and coherency—are not suffi-ciently emphasized, particularly in late primaryschool and lower secondary school. Parents are alsoaware that secularized Muslims with degrees frompublic secondary schools and universities assumesought after positions with ease.

The Ministry of Education has attempted to resolvethis dilemma by incrementally integrating the tradi-tional and religious educational system with thenational and secular one. President Mahathir, theformer Minister of Education, and his successor,Anwar Ibrahim, attempted to bring the two systemscloser through primary and secondary curriculumreforms and the development of a NationalEducation Philosophy (NEP). They upgraded thecontent of social and natural sciences in secondaryIslamic schools to resemble that of the nationalschools. They also improved the teaching methodol-ogy in secondary Islamic schools, giving more atten-tion to individuals and emphasizing inquiry anddiscovery methods, Socratic discussion, projects, andgroup work. The objective was to produce morecritical and creative thinkers—not only for a scien-tific and technological society, but to solve pressingsocial problems from an Islamic perspective. Aslearning became more participatory and less author-itarian, students also learned “democracy” in theclassroom.

Mahathir and Ibrahim also brought the two systemscloser together by highlighting moral instructionand ethical values in the national curriculum—many of which are similar to those of Islam andtaught in Islamic schools without being explicitlylabeled as such. Thus, the NEP characterized aMalaysian citizen as one who: 1) has a firm belief inand obedience to God; 2) is knowledgeable andskillful; 3) possesses high moral standards; 4) isresponsible to himself or herself, society, religion,and nation; and (5) has a balanced personality. Asnoted above, instruction in religion, ethics, andmorals for Muslims and non-Muslims alike wasintroduced into government primary and secondaryschools as required learning.7

Lessons learned from Malaysia’s experience of thepast several decades include

1 A. Atari,“Islamic Private Schools in Malaysia and thePhilippines,” Muslim Education Quarterly, 15 (1) (1997),

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.



6 Atari, op. cit., 79.

7 R. Hashim, “Educational Dualism in Malaysia: Progressand Problems Toward Integration,” Muslim EducationQuarterly, 41 (1994).


■ attempts to harmonize traditional and religiouswith modern and secular education systems canlead to a convergence of the systems

■ housing the two systems under one bureaucraticroof (the Ministry of Education) enables govern-ment to facilitate this convergence for mutualadvantage

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsThe Government of Malaysia apparently initiatedIslamic school reforms and developments with little,if any, outside intervention. While there have beenUNESCO-sponsored activities and World Bankeducation projects, no single donor appears to driveeducational innovation. ■


9. Nigeria


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126.9Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –GNI per capita (ppp, current international $). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $800Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.28Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.46


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

LiteracyAdult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Female adult literacy rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Male adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure . . . . . . . . . –

Table 9.1. Nigeria Country Profile


Introduction

Nigeria has a population of 122 million anda wealth of natural resources. During itscolonial period, it had one of the best edu-

cational systems in Africa. Today, the country has alow GNI per capita of $800, and spends just 7 per-cent of the total government budget on education.The adult literacy rate of 49 percent is low, butother statistics are more encouraging. Nigeria hasmanaged to achieve near gender equity, a gross pri-mary education enrollment of 81 percent, and anadult primary completion rate of 65 percent. Thenorth is predominantly Muslim and the southmainly Christian, a dynamic that partly explainsregional differences in types of schools and gender-related enrollment issues.

Public Education SystemCharacteristicsNigeria’s formal education system is known as a 6-3-3-4 system: six years of primary school, three yearsof lower secondary school, three years of senior sec-ondary school, and four years of university educa-tion (for a bachelor’s degree). Primary education atgovernment schools is free, although school fees arecharged for lower secondary school and at successivelevels. In addition, technical and vocational schoolsand training colleges for primary school teachersoffer alternative secondary education. Tertiary edu-cation comprises universities, polytechnics, collegesof technology, and training colleges for teachers forprimary and lower secondary schools.

The Nigerian educational pyramid still reflects theselective system of British colonial education,though it has widened at primary and secondarylevels. Student promotion depends upon continuousassessment (school grades) and performance onexternal examinations organized by state educationministries. In this determination, national policydictates that continuous assessment is weighted at30 percent and the formal examination is weightedat 70 percent.

Responsibility for education is shared among threetiers of government. Primary education is directly

controlled by local governments and indirectly bystate governments. Secondary schools are predomi-nantly controlled by state governments, and tertiaryeducation is controlled jointly by federal and stategovernments.

Nigeria’s educational system expanded after inde-pendence in 1960, particularly when the universalprimary education policy was implemented in the1970s. This expansion gave way to contraction inthe 1980s, when global oil prices declined. For theremainder of the century, prolonged neglect anddecay under successive military regimes contributedto Nigeria’s educational decline.

After Nigeria’s return to civilian rule in May 1999,the newly elected government declared that rebuild-ing and revitalizing education was one of its threetop priorities. The government’s main focus is uni-versal basic education (UBE), covering six years ofprimary school and three years of lower secondaryschool. The government is also planning to incorpo-rate adult literacy into the nine-year basic educationprogram.

The challenges are daunting. Approximately 44 per-cent of the population—53.6 million people—areunder 15, yet education’s share of the nationalbudget remains one of the lowest in Africa.Furthermore, the net primary attendance rate is esti-mated at only 55 percent—57 percent for boys and53 percent for girls.

ChallengesAccess. There are about 29.5 million primary school-age children in Nigeria; 23.8 million (81 percent)are enrolled in school. Enrollment rates are higherin the south than the north. Until recently, femaleenrollment rates in the north were lower than malerates, on par with male rates in the southwest, andhigher than male rates in the southeast. Primaryenrollment rates in urban areas are higher than inrural areas. The supply of schools in urban areas hasyet to meet the demand and results in overcrowdedclassrooms.

At the secondary level, enrollments have declinedmarkedly over the past several years. This is due to


inadequate public financing, increasing privatecosts, serious decline in quality, and stagnatingdemand for secondary graduates in the labor force.Secondary schools need renovation, teachers needbetter support, classrooms need more and bettermaterials and equipment, and school managementneeds strengthening.

Quality. The quality of the teaching-learning experi-ence in public school classrooms is low. Most teach-ers are poorly trained, and there is a dearth of text-books and instructional materials. There is anabsence of teacher professional support, and fewteachers have the opportunity to upgrade their skillsthrough inservice training—fewer than 10 percentreceived it in the last two years. Until recently,teachers were relatively unmotivated as a result ofrecurrent strikes and low salaries, but large salaryincreases have brought their income in line withthat of other civil servants. It is too early to deter-mine whether this has contributed to higher teachermorale or improved the quality of student learning.

In addition, there has been a noticeable decrease ofcivil society and community involvement in theeducation sector, due, in part, to dwindling educa-tion budgets, mismanagement, corruption, and neg-lect. Declining public participation has probablycontributed to a decrease in school accountability atthe community level, which has likely contributedto the declining quality of teaching and learning.

Efficiency. Average primary school completion ratesare estimated at 65 percent for girls and 64 percentfor boys. Reasons cited for dropping out includehigh educational costs for parents, a resource-poorschool environment, minimal relevance of an over-loaded curriculum, and teacher absenteeism.

Financing. Primary education is hugely underfund-ed, with serious impact on the availability ofinstructional materials, provision and maintenanceof infrastructure, and until recently, on teacherremuneration. Revenue generation at the local gov-ernment level is minimal. Local and state govern-ments rely heavily upon the federal government’sstatutory allocations to cover primary educationcosts. Federal outlays are highly dependent on oilrevenues, and when funding is reduced, teachers go

unpaid and other expenditures go unmet. The bestcurrent estimate is that about 1 percent of GDP isallocated to primary education annually, comparedto 1.5 percent in 1990.

Management. Administrative staff make use of out-dated practices and procedures, and administrativetraining is too theoretical. There is no well-estab-lished enabling culture of teacher professional andadministrative support within the schools or fromdistrict and state educational authorities. Theinspectorate is a supervisory body, not one that isadvisory, supportive, and capable of capacity build-ing. At the federal level, planning capacity is weak,and educational data collection, processing, andpublication have deteriorated.

Policy Reform. The Government of Nigeria’s educa-tional priority is achievement of UBE through anine-year basic education program. To meet thisgoal, the government reorganized high-level educa-tional management. Strategies include increasingaccess, particularly for girls and disadvantagedgroups; raising quality; improving equity; andstrengthening delivery through community organi-zations, NGOs, and distance learning.1 In addition,the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) has takensteps to enforce reform measures to improve quality.For example, the FME has assisted states in develop-ing inspectorate services and strengthening theircapacities to collect, analyze, publish, and dissemi-nate educational data to improve supervision andmanagement of schools. It also provides trainingand orientation to remedy inadequacies observed ininspected schools.

Donor AssistanceCurrently, eight donors—the World Bank, USAID,UNICEF, African Development Bank, EU,UNESCO, DFID, and the CommonwealthSecretariat—are helping the FME to improve alllevels of the Nigerian education system. Informationis available on only some of these donor activities:

■ USAID recently launched its first full educationprogram in Nigeria in 30 years. It includes theLiteracy Enhancement Assistance Project(LEAP), which will assist Nigeria in completingits Education Sector Assessment and improving


the quality of basic education and civic partici-pation. The project’s objective is to improve lit-eracy and numeracy by providing teacher train-ing and core content (secular) knowledgethrough interactive radio instruction, strength-ening PTA groups, and improving the use ofinformation for resource allocation decisions.LEAP is targeting 330 primary schools (200government-run and 130 Islamic); three localgovernment authorities; nearly 2,000 teachers(roughly two-thirds from government schoolsand one-third from Islamic schools); and a pro-jected student population of 50,000. The proj-ect will run through December 2003 and cost$10.7 million. USAID also funds the youthskills development program, which compriseslife skills training such as conflict mitigation,HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and voca-tional training. Courses designed for unem-

ployed youth aim to provide relevant and practi-cal preparation for the workforce beyond purelytechnical training.

■ The World Bank has three projects, including acommunity education program for nomadicgroups. The bank’s UBE project seeks toupgrade the education management informationsystem, school buildings, teaching training, andlearning materials. It also seeks to strengthencommunity schools and educational institutionsat all levels. The World Bank’s Second PrimaryEducation Project trains school teachers, admin-istrators, and state and local staff, funds localself-help projects, and seeks to enhance theinformation database and increase HIV/AIDSawareness through the schools. DFID collabo-rates with the World Bank in implementing theUBE project.

Table 9.2. Donor Assistance to Nigeria’s Public Education Sector

World Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Afr. Dev. Bank ■

EU ■

UNESCO ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

CIDA

GTZ/KFW

JICA

DFID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Comm. Sec. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■




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ary

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■ The Commonwealth Secretariat’s EducationFund supports capacity building efforts at feder-al, state, and local levels to help civil societyorganizations work with governments towardEducation for All, and, in particular, toimprove educational access for girls.

■ UNESCO, as part of the Education For All ini-tiative, cooperates with the InternationalReading Association to provide skills workshopsfor trainers of reading instructors.

■ UNICEF joined the African Girls’ EducationInitiative to enhance awareness of girls’ educa-tion, build girl-friendly schools, make curriculamore gender-sensitive, promote employment ofwomen teachers, and develop pedagogical skillsto include girls more in classroom activities.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Nigerian students who graduate fromprimary school with certificates are minimally quali-fied for low-level training and salaried jobs. Thosewith secondary certificates (after lower or upper sec-ondary school) are more qualified for training andsalaried jobs at higher levels. However, it is unclearwhat percentage of primary school graduates go onto secondary school: current statistics are unavail-able, but 1994 data indicated fewer than 50 percentcontinued on to secondary education.2

Vocational education takes place in upper secondaryschool institutions3 that teach as many as 40 trades.The duration ranges from four months (welding) tothree years (auto mechanics). In 1990, there were350 such schools and almost 100,000 enrolled stu-dents. The National Directorate of Employmentorganizes apprenticeship schemes for secondaryschool leavers, who are attached to skilled craftsper-sons for periods ranging from six months to severalyears. In addition, there are a variety of certificatejob skills programs in universities, polytechnics, col-leges of education, government ministries, and pri-vate business that provide training. However, it isnot clear that these programs adequately reflect theneeds of the modern workforce.

Civic Participation. While public schools do notexplicitly train students for civic participation,USAID’s LEAP interventions in government andIslamic primary schools emphasize participatorylearning with student-centered classroom activities.This means students engage in learning more active-ly through asking questions and participating ingroup projects, discussions, and teamwork. Whilethe objective is to enhance student learning andcognitive development, this participatory approachalso develops democratic processes of give-and-take,sharing ideas, open discussion, and consensus-build-ing. In addition, LEAP introduces democratic deci-sionmaking processes to local education authoritiesto facilitate data gathering, discussion, analysis, anddissemination.

Islamic SchoolsLevels and TypesThough Islamic schools coexist with governmentschools, the system is difficult to compare because itis less clear cut and does not conform to a standardprimary-secondary-tertiary description. The terms“Koranic” and “Islamiya” are widely used in Nigeriato refer to Islamic schools, and their curricula rangealong a continuum from purely religious to bothreligious and secular. Older students who havealready received some religious education and wantto become more advanced can attend madrasas, thethird type of Nigerian Islamic school. While there isno standard Nigerian definition for the kinds ofschools where students begin their education, LEAPhas created definitions that will be used here:Koranic schools provide only religious training.Islamiya schools have incorporated secular materialin addition to religious subjects. Children of any age(including adolescents) can attend Koranic schools,and are free to start school and drop out as theywish. Islamiya schools follow the public school con-vention of primary and secondary divisions.4

Koranic schools have existed in Nigeria for almost1,000 years.5 During colonial times, they werelargely left alone. The British supported the spreadof European mission schools in the nineteenth cen-tury and government primary schools in the twenti-


eth century. Koranic schools continued their reli-gious traditions: children learned one or more chap-ters of the Koran by rote from a local religiousteacher (mallam) before the age of 5 or 6. Religiousstudies included learning the Arabic alphabet anddeveloping the ability to read and copy texts in thelanguage, including those texts required for dailyprayers. Islamic communities supported regularinstruction in a mallam’s house, under a tree on athoroughfare or in a local mosque. A smaller num-ber of more capable or motivated Muslim youth,usually boys, went on to examine the meanings ofthe Arabic texts under specialized tutorials with themallam.

During the colonial era, madrasa secondary schoolsemerged where specialist teachers taught Arabicgrammar and syntax, arithmetic, algebra, logic, rhet-oric, jurisprudence, and theology. Madrasas attractstudents who have already learned the Koran—probably at a Koranic school—and want to pursuein-depth studies. After the madrasa level, a fewselect students continue their study in one of thefamous (tertiary-level equivalent) Islamic centers oflearning in Kano or elsewhere in North Africa orthe Middle East.

Islamiya schools also emerged during the colonialperiod. These are formal Muslim schools originallymodeled on European lines, with classrooms organ-ized by age of students and level of learning and oneor more teachers instructing students in various sec-ular subjects. Islamiya schools, established in almostall major Nigerian cities, were notable in Kano,where Islamic brotherhoods developed an impressivenumber. The schools catered to devout and well-to-do parents who wanted essential Islamic instructionfor their children as well as education in the newand secular subjects of English language, mathemat-ics, science, and social studies.

Like Koranic schools, Islamiya schools today contin-ue to teach Islamic subjects through a heavy focuson Koranic memorization. Like public schools, theyalso teach secular subjects such as English, math,technology, and science. While Islamiya schoolsretain memorization as the primary method ofinstruction, less didactic and more student-centered

methods may be used, especially in schools influ-enced by UNICEF and other proponents of child-centered pedagogy. It should be noted, however,that Koranic schools have traditionally employedsuch child-centered, “modern” methods as theteacher’s one-on-one coaching of individual stu-dents, group learning, and peer group tutoring.

There is no current data on the number or break-down of Koranic, madrasa, and Islamiya schools,but they probably number in the tens of thousandsin northern Nigerian states where Islam is predomi-nant. It is believed that Islamic schools provide theonly source of learning for nearly 7 million childrenin Nigeria.

TrendsIn recent years, the number of Islamic schools in thenorth has increased. This is probably due to a com-bination of factors. As noted, public schools deterio-rated in the 1980s and 1990s, and many schoolstructures are in extreme disrepair. Governmentschools are not as attractive as they once were, espe-cially in northern states where the independent gov-ernment has not actively promoted the developmentof public schools.6 Modern Islamiya schools offerwhat some parents believe is a higher quality alter-native, and appeal to the desire of some parents toprovide their children with a religious education.

The number of girls in Islamiya schools has alsoincreased. In 2002, USAID/Nigeria reported thatgirls’ enrollment in Islamiya schools exceeded thatof boys, in contrast with public schools, where boys’enrollment is higher. A USAID consultant attributesthis to parental perceptions that Islamiya schools aresafe environments for girls.7

Influences—Islamic SectsMuslims in Nigeria can be grouped in one of threeloose categories: traditionalist, modernist, and fun-damentalist.8 Traditionalists are in the majority; theybelieve in keeping with the “great traditions” ofIslam: officiating in Islamic public rituals, instruct-ing Muslims in Islamic precepts, and interpretingand administering Islamic law. Islamic modernists,however, disapprove of “traditionalist” Islam.Modernists espouse a legal positivism whereby Islam


strictly complies with Koranic rules of belief and theteachings of Mohammad. While traditionalist lead-ers arise from Koranic schooling and work in looselystructured networks, modernist leaders are well edu-cated, and from well-known Islamic schools of high-er education, such as the Kano School of ArabicStudies. The modernist leaders operate in a clear,modern organizational format, replete with electedofficers, a written constitution, and formal registra-tion as a legal body. A notable element of modernistinstitutes in northern Nigeria is the enrollment ofwomen. Modernists have attempted to expandMuslim women’s access to Arabic and Islamic learn-ing, contrasting sharply with traditionalists whoargue that mixing the sexes contravenes Islamicteaching.

A factional outgrowth of the modernists consists ofhighly educated Nigerians who studied abroad inthe Muslim world and define themselves as funda-mentalists. They oppose the secularity of theNigerian state and identify with Islamic republicssuch as Iran and Saudi Arabia. Many fundamental-ists espouse Shiite doctrines from Iran. Factionswithin the fundamentalists advocate the necessity ofstruggle and suffering to establish an Islamic societyand state in Nigeria. Some carry this doctrine to anextreme, emphasizing martyrdom as a central tenet.

The fluidity of these classifications further compli-cates a description of trends in Nigeria. Recently,traditionalists seem to be shifting more towardmodernism, and modernists seem to be movingtoward a more fundamentalist interpretation. Thereis clearly a trend among the Muslim population innorthern Nigeria to embrace Islamic fundamental-ism in varying stages. This helps explain the adop-tion of Islamic law (Sharia) in the north.

Affiliation with Radical GroupsThere do not appear to be radical influences withinKoranic and Islamiya schools in Nigeria today.During the economic downturn that began in the1980s, however, riots were staged by Islamic funda-mentalists who were products of the Koranic schoolsystem in northern Nigeria. These fundamentalistsfelt alienated from Western-educated and salariedmodernist Muslims whose greater wealth had

enabled them to cope with the downturn. Theseextremist elements appeared to dissipate as econom-ic stability returned.9

GovernanceThere is no clear-cut governance of Koranic andIslamiya schools. To retain the goodwill of thenorthern emirates, the British colonial governmentfound it expedient to maintain the dichotomy ineducation systems between north and south, withthe result that the north lagged behind in Westerneducation—and still has minimal governmentsupervision. Traditionally, Koranic schools operatedas community-based institutions with little if anygovernment oversight. What control existed overIslamic (mainly Koranic) schools came from central-ized religious authorities, more as spiritual andmoral guidance than administrative control.

Currently, the governmental Islamic Education andSocial Affairs Board (IESAB) at the state level isbeginning to regulate Koranic and Islamiya schools,although there is still no formal or explicit control.The IESAB’s mandate is to assist with standardiza-tion and quality improvement, mainly through thecurriculum. An objective is to raise Koranic andIslamiya schools to government primary schoolstandards, enabling them to become primaryschools, should they wish to do so. In reality, gover-nance of Koranic schools in the north varies fromschool to school and from state to state. Some ofthe more traditional Koranic schools continue tooperate independently, while more urbanized onescome directly under the IESAB or even the StatePrimary Education Board. Other agencies, such asthe Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs,also claim to have authority over some Koranicschools. In short, the governance of Koranic schoolsis politically sensitive and in a state of flux.

Parental IncentivesIslamic schools in Kano had noticeably higher num-bers of girls than boys (2:1 ratio). Helen Boylebelieves that this may be due to “the notion thatthese schools are safer for girls and will keep themclose to their religion.” There is less concern thatboys will be “influenced away from their religion.”Moreover, “parents [may] feel that an Islamiya edu-

1 Kay Freeman and Julie Owen-Rea, Overview of USAIDBasic Education Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa III, SDPublications Series Technical Paper No. 106 (Washington,DC: USAID, 2001) PN-ACK-735; World Bank, NigeriaSecond Primary Education Project: Project Appraisal Document,Washington, DC: World Bank, 2000. <http://www.wds.worldbank.org/servlet/>

2 Torsten Husén and T. Neville Postlethwaite, eds.,International Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd ed. (New York:Elsevier, 1994), 4127.

3 Ibid., 4128.

4 Material for this section comes from USAID/Nigeria andeducational consultant Helen Boyle, author of “QuranicSchool Strategy and Mini Needs Assessment. Trip Report”(Washington, D.C.; USAID, February 25, 2002).

5 Helen Chapin Metz, ed., Nigeria: A Country Study, 5th ed.(Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1992).

6 Ahmed Dahuru, The Modernization of Islamic Education inNigeria (1998).

7 Boyle, op. cit.

8 Muhammad S. Umar, “Education and Islamic Trends inNorthern Nigeria: 1970–1990s,” Africa Today, 48 (2)(Summer 2001), 127–150.

9 Clyde Ahmad Winters, “Koranic Education and MilitantIslam in Nigeria,” International Review of Education, 33 (2)(1987).

10 Boyle, op. cit.


cation serves girls better because their primary rolewill be to marry and have children,” making itunnecessary or perhaps unwise to make the greaterinvestment in public schooling for girls.10

On a broader level, it would appear that parentsbelieve that both government and Islamic schoolshave advantages—one prepares children for the sec-ular world, the other for the heavenly world. Hence,parents are likely to follow a tandem approach: theirchildren attend regular classes at governmentschools and supplement them with religious classesin Koranic schools at the beginning or end of theday.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. In general, students who receive strict-ly religious education are prepared for religious butnot secular jobs. Thus, by offering math, science,and other subjects, Islamiya schools provide betterpreparation for the secular workforce than Koranicschools. The great variation in the quality of schoolsmakes it impossible to generalize whether public orIslamiya schools make students more employable,

though the highest quality public schools are proba-bly the best in this regard. Where Islamiya school-teachers have had some secular training, it is likelythat they can better prepare students for secularjobs. It is possible that USAID’s LEAP will buildthe capacity of some Islamiya schools to educatestudents for the secular job market.

Civic Participation. As in government schools, therecently begun LEAP interventions in Islamiyaschools emphasize student-centered learning. Theparticipatory approach builds upon such “modern”learning styles embedded in Koranic classrooms asindividual pacing, self mastery, peer teaching, andlearning circles. As a result, Islamiya students in par-ticipating LEAP schools are exposed to “democratic”group activities, though they are not necessarilylabeled as such.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsApproximately one-third of the schools participatingin USAID’s LEAP are Islamic. There is no informa-tion regarding other donor interventions inNigerian Koranic schools. ■


10. Guinea, Mali, Senegal


Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,930Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.22Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.4


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.89Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.63Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.67Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.72Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.36Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.69Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

LiteracyAdult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Female adult literacy rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Male adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –


Table 10.1. Guinea Country Profile



Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.8Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –GNI per capita (ppp, current international $). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $780Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.38


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53.1Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.71Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.23Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.52Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7

TertiaryTertiary students per 100,000 inhabitants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133Adult tertiary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.3

LiteracyAdult literacy rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.8Female adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37.9Male adult literacy rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

FinancePublic expenditure on education as a percentage of GNP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9Public expenditure on education as a percentage of total government expenditure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Public expenditure on primary education as a percentage of total education expenditure. . . . . . . 45.9

Table 10.2. Mali Country Profile



Total population (millions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5Muslim population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Population under age 15 as a percentage of total population. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Rural population as a percentage of total population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –GNI per capita (ppp, current international $) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,480Total fertility rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1Human Development Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.42


PrimaryPrimary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69.73Primary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.82Primary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58.81Apparent gross intake rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult primary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3Primary repeaters as a percentage of total enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Primary student/teacher ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

SecondarySecondary gross enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19.55Secondary gender parity index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.64Secondary net enrollment ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . –Adult secondary completion rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5




Table 10.3. Senegal Country Profile


Introduction

This section concentrates on public andIslamic schools in the francophone WestAfrica countries of Guinea, Mali, and

Senegal. They are discussed together because of thesimilarities in their public and Islamic schoolingoutweigh differences. As Table 10.4 indicates, allthree countries have made significant progress ineconomic growth and educational attainment dur-ing the past 20 years.1 However, much remains tobe done. Although literacy rates have increased,more than half the populations in these countriesare illiterate.2

Public Education SystemCharacteristicsEducational systems in Guinea, Mali, and Senegalare variants of the selective system established by theFrench. Primary education consists of five to sixyears of schooling, and is followed by three to fouryears at the lower secondary level and three years atthe upper secondary level. Universities or technicalinstitutes are also available in each country.However, selection begins after grade 6, when stu-dents must pass an external exam. Students faceanother exam to advance to upper secondary school.As a result, fewer than half the students continue tolower secondary school: secondary gross enrollments(only 15–20 percent of the secondary school popu-lation) are half of primary gross enrollments (40–60

percent of the primary school-age population). Onlya fraction (fewer than 1 percent) continue to terti-ary-level universities or technical institutes.3

All three countries are committed to the develop-ment of six years of primary education for all youth.This priority is reflected in funding levels: all coun-tries spend 34–45 percent of total education expen-ditures on primary education. This is significant,considering that public expenditure on education isonly 2–3 percent of GNP.

Challenges4

Despite economic growth and increased schoolenrollment, public education faces several chal-lenges.

Access. There are gender and urban-rural enrollmentdisparities in all three countries: more boys andmore urban children attend school.

■ Guinea. The gap between boys’ and girls’ pri-mary gross enrollment is 29 percent, while theurban-rural gap is even higher. Conakry, forexample, has a primary gross enrollment rate of99 percent, while eight of 38 prefectures haverates under 35 percent.

■ Mali. Gross enrollment rates are under 53 per-cent, with average rural enrollments at 30 per-cent and only 25 percent for rural girls. Overall,there is inadequate coverage of primary schoolsfor rural and periurban populations. The admis-

Table 10.4. Population, Literacy, Income, and School Enrollments in Guinea, Mali, and Senegal, 1980–2000

1980 2000

Guinea 4.5 1.7 48 25 36 7.4 2.2 $1,930 62 33 48

Mali 6.6 2.2 14 $480 34 19 26 10.8 2.4 41.5 $780 49 32 41

Senegal 5.5 2.8 21 $780 55 37 46 9.5 2.6 37.3 $1,480 72 57 64

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Source: UNESCO.


sion rate is about 52 percent: 60 percent forboys and 43 percent for girls. In some areas, thisrate is as low as 25 percent for boys and 19 per-cent for girls.

■ Senegal. The gross primary education enrollmentrate in Dakar is about 92 percent, but the aver-age for other provinces is only about 55 percent.Girls are less likely to attend and finish schoolthan boys. In addition, there is an inadequatenumber of places in schools, and they are poorlydistributed. This prevents many children fromentering the school system.

Quality. Overall, the quality of school inputs, teach-ing processes, and learned outcomes has declined inall three countries. Students are learning less atgreater cost. In addition, teacher absenteeism,strikes, and low salaries indicate low motivation andmorale, which negatively affect learning.

■ Guinea. Standardized achievement tests showlow learning levels, which fall even further as stu-dents progress through the system. For example,over 50 percent of grade 2 students achieve min-imal competencies at grade level in French andmathematics, but this figure drops to about 30percent by grade 6.

■ Mali. Passing rates on external exams have beendeclining, from 64 percent to 56 percent at theend of primary and lower secondary levels inurban and rural areas. The quality of teachingand learning is poor, and, for the most part, fewresources are allocated for improving the qualityof learning. The pupil to textbook ratio is verylow in French and national languages; thenational curriculum is not very well adapted tothe linguistic, social, and economic context; andteaching methods and classroom practices areinadequate and outdated.

■ Senegal. Low levels of learning continue to char-acterize the system and limit the number of well-qualified students graduating from each level.Only about 30 percent pass grade 6 examina-tions and only 50 percent pass in grade 9. Onlyabout 10 percent of poor rural people can readand write. The system does not meet the specialneeds of students with learning disabilities and

gifted students. In addition, private provision ofschooling is underdeveloped, with no consistentgovernment strategy for financial or pedagogicsupport.

Efficiency. In all countries, dropout and repetitionrates are high and completion rates relatively low,thus driving up unit costs per child. Reasons citedfor dropping out include high educational costs forparents, resource-poor school environments, mini-mal relevance of an overloaded curriculum, andteacher absenteeism.

Management. Despite attempts to decentralize pri-mary education by strengthening local supervisionor promoting community schools, current systemsare still too centralized. As a result, local level educa-tion managers are overloaded and ill-equipped tosupervise and visit schools. Planning is weak, withinadequate systems for gathering educational infor-mation for monitoring, evaluation, and review. Inaddition, the managerial culture, especially in ruralareas, is still more akin to that of an inspectoraterather than one that provides advice and support forpoorly trained, underpaid, and isolated teachers.

Policy Reform. All countries have embarked on pro-grams to increase access, improve quality, anddiminish inequities in their education systems, espe-cially at the primary level. Of note are attempts toenhance girls’ education through promotion of “girl-friendly” schools that encourage more women tobecome teachers and provide safe boarding facilitiesfor girls at rural schools. Mali, in particular, hasexperimented with different models of communityschools to make education more cost effective andmore accessible to the community by recruiting andmanaging teachers to be more responsive to com-munity needs. Senegal has accelerated teacherrecruitment: contract teachers now constitute about25 percent of the teaching force. At the macro level,Guinea sustained its educational growth in the1990s through economic and political reforms thatliberalized the economy, targeted public sectorspending, controlled inflation, and stabilized theexchange rate.


Donor Assistance

GuineaThe Government of Guinea’s primary educationreform program (PASE II) aims to improve thequality and equity of educational delivery andincrease the involvement of local communities inschool-level educational management.

■ USAID supports PASE II through StrategicObjective 3 (S03) Fundamental Quality andEquity Levels activity. This activity has threecomponents: 1) improving educational planningand decentralized management, 2) improvingprimary level instruction using interactive radioinstruction and materials development, and 3)improving opportunities for regional and genderequity in primary education.

■ The World Bank’s Education for All Projectseeks to support the government’s objective of

ensuring equitable access to a high-quality edu-cation through school construction and rehabili-tation, improved teaching and learning interven-tions, and management training to acceleratedecentralization.

■ UNICEF is involved in nonformal educationthrough community outreach programs and informal education through school-based curricu-lar and materials development interventions.

■ The African Development Bank supports quali-ty improvement and support for girls’ schoolingthrough construction, curricular and materialsdevelopment, teacher training, and communityoutreach interventions.

■ The French Government provides assistance inschool administration training, monitoring andevaluation, curriculum reform, school construc-tion, and personnel management.

Table 10.5. Donor Assistance to Guinea’s Public Education Sector


USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF ■ ■ ■ ■

Afr. Dev. Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

EU

UNESCO

CIDA

GTZ/KFW ■ ■ ■

JICA

French ■ ■ ■ ■

DFID



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■ Other donors active in the education sectorinclude CIDA, the EU, the German andJapanese international agencies, and the UnitedNations World Food Programme.

MaliUSAID’s SO for education is to Improve Social andEconomic Behaviors among Youth. The programaims to improve education-related youth behaviorby providing increased access to quality primaryeducation and strengthened institutional capacityto deliver social and economic services. The pro-gram emphasizes girls’ education and developmentof community schools through teacher training;strengthened administration; curriculum develop-ment with emphasis on life skills, health awareness,and HIV/AIDS prevention; and PTA and commu-nity organizational development.

The World Bank has two projects. The EducationSector Expenditure Project seeks to improve access

and quality through teacher training, curriculumand materials development, madrasa improvement,strengthening of school facilities and increasingschool construction, and decentralizing educationalmanagement. The World Bank’s ImprovingLearning in Primary Schools Project seeks to devel-op and assess bilingual education through materialsdevelopment and the training of teachers andsupervisors, management training to improve mon-itoring and evaluation, and community outreach tostrengthen PTAs and related groups.

UNICEF’s program seeks to improve access andquality through teacher training, school renovation,and community outreach that centers on child- andgirl-friendly schools.

The African Development Bank Education ProjectIII strengthens educational planning, improvesteacher training, and widens girls’ education.

Table 10.6. Donor Assistance to Mali’s Public Education Sector

World Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

USAID ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

UNICEF ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Afr. Dev. Bank ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

EU

UNESCO

CIDA

GTZ/KFW

JICA

French

DFID



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ary

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SenegalUSAID’s Strategic Objective for education inSenegal is Increased Girls’ Access and Retention inTargeted Primary and Vocational Schools. This is tobe achieved through school environment improve-ment, practical and life skills training, and commu-nity development.

The World Bank’s Quality Education for All Projectaims to improve the quality of basic education by2009. The project consists of three components: 1)increasing access through construction and renova-tion, curriculum diversification, and technical andvocational training; 2) improved quality throughearly childhood development, curriculum and mate-rials development, and teacher training; and 3)management strengthening through financial train-ing, community development, and program moni-toring and evaluation.

UNICEF’s emphasis is on girls’ education, with aprogram that combines social mobilization, com-munity development and support, gender equitablecurricula, and income generation activities.

GTZ emphasizes girls’ literacy programs throughtraining, community mobilization, income genera-tion, and organization of women’s groups.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. Students who graduate from primaryschool are minimally qualified for low-level trainingand salaried jobs. Those who complete lower orupper secondary school are more qualified for train-ing and salaried jobs at higher levels. However, thepercentage of students who go on to secondaryschool is generally well below 20 percent.

As a result of French influence, there is a significantvocational training subsector within the educationsector. Most of this is formal training, which is con-centrated at the secondary level in urban areas. Itgenerally consists of subjects or streams (such asbusiness, industry, or commerce), either in schoolsor as separate training institutes. Increasingly, smallprivate sector institutes are emerging to train urbanyouth with at least three years of secondary educa-tion for salaried jobs in business, accounting, orcomputers. These institutes also offer courses inmechanics, electricity, metal construction, boiler-making, carpentry, office work, and trade. In ruralareas, various departments related to development(such as agriculture, water and forests, environmen-tal protection, animal husbandry, fishing, and pri-mary healthcare) provide farmers with relevant skillsto increase productivity or improve their livelihoods.Often, especially in Mali, skill training is providedin conjunction with adult literacy programs in aregional or national language.

Rigidity is one weakness of these training programs,especially those provided in government lower sec-ondary or training schools. Courses and equipmentstay the same year after year, despite changes in thejob market. This helps explain the rise of smalltraining institutes in the private sector, but the cap-ital and recurrent costs (instructors’ salaries) arehigh and do not always justify their operations.Moreover, training in secondary schools and sepa-rate public institutes tends to be geared to produc-ing graduates to operate in the public sector.Meanwhile, economic and political policies andprograms are being developed to shrink the publicsector and accelerate the private sector. While train-ing in public sector schools and institutes is techni-cally good, it needs to be more oriented to thechanging job market in the private sector.

Civic Education. The literature search did not yieldany information on the status of a civic educationprogram in public education.

Islamic Schools5

Levels and TypesIn Islamic Africa, Islamic schools are pervasive: thereare many and different types of schools, and largepopulations have experienced some level of Islamicinstruction. It is also safe to say that no one knowshow many schools, teachers, or students there are.This is because a contradiction permeates the studyof Islamic schools in Africa: on one hand, wide-spread opinion admits to the pervasiveness and effi-cacy of Islamic education; on the other, few teach-ers, learned scholars, or government administratorsknow—or show much interest in knowing—pre-cisely how widespread or effective these schools are.From the beginning of the colonial era until recent-ly, the visibility of these schools had declined to thepoint of being on the fringe of formal education,eclipsed by the rise of government schools. Islamicschools have become visible again with the deterio-ration of government schools and the Islamic revivalsweeping the world. In Senegal, for example, theproportion of the population reporting itself asMuslim grew from under 50 percent in 1950 toover 90 percent in 1990.

The teacher and the Koran form the heart ofIslamic schooling in francophone West Africa.Usually, the teacher has studied the Koran in depth,emulates the life of Muhammad, and understandsthe basics of Islamic law. Teachers, usually male, areknown by various terms, depending on geographiclocation and educational level. Some experts referto the francophone West African Koranic teacher asa marabout, while others refer to the mallam. Sincethe teacher receives paltry compensation from theparents of students, he usually depends on agricul-ture, artisanry, trade, commerce, or business tomake a living. Hence, the community Islamicschool may be the teacher’s home, the mosque,under a shade tree, vacant quarters, or a shed.

The two basic types of Islamic schools are tradition-al and modern.

■ At the elementary level in traditional Islamicschools, teachers instruct students in the Koran

through group chanting or individual repetitionof verses, along with writing them in Arabic.Pupils also learn how to observe daily prayers,study the Prophet’s life, and learn variousaspects of Islam through graded courses.Elementary modern schools teach subjects inaddition to the Koran, some of which may besecular.

■ Students at the secondary level in traditionalschools (madrasas) learn the meaning of theKoran, including the traditions surrounding theProphet. This is a more selective level: most stu-dents have dropped out by this time, and thosewho continue may want to become teachers. Atthe secondary modern level, religious and secularcourses are mixed, and Arabic and French aretaught.

■ At traditional higher level schools, instructionbecomes specialized, and is usually a special andextended affiliation (tutorial or apprenticeship)with a learned scholar (perhaps an imam).Modern higher-level schooling means attendingan Islamic institute of higher learning, taught inArabic or even in French, with specialized reli-gious science (ilmu) and secular courses.

Koranic Schools. The Koranic school is the mostwidespread in Islamic Africa. In some areas, mostlyurban, preschool Koranic schools prepare the youngfor government primary schools or for continuedKoranic schooling. Dropout rates in the initialKoranic instructional sequence are high: 85–95 per-cent of students never fully complete the primarycycle of courses that concludes with memorizationof the entire Koran and receipt of a diploma.Though students may not have completed the cycle,some attendance is important because the exposuremeans most have been socialized into the essentialtenets and duties of Islam.

Language. Because Koranic schooling focuses onlearning the Koran, which is written and recited inArabic, achieving literacy is difficult for African stu-dents whose first language is not Arabic. Teachersexplain lessons and manage students in their firstlanguage or a regional language such as Wolof, Peul,or Hausa. In some cases, teachers switch their lan-

guage usage in class by using an African languageunderstood by students for explanatory, managerial,and disciplinary functions and using Arabic forpresentation and instruction of Koranic verses,phrasing, or recitations. Thus, students come tounderstand spoken and written Arabic throughmemorization and repetition, as well as throughexplanation and application in African languages. Inother cases, teachers use an adapted version ofArabic script as a phonetic technique for teachingreading and writing. Formerly, teachers transcribedseveral of West Africa’s most widespread languagesinto Arabic script by inventing or combining lettersto represent special sounds peculiar to African lan-guages. Through this code, African students inKoranic schools become literate in Arabic even ifthey never attain a level that would permit them tocommunicate easily in writing.

Learning Processes. Instruction in Koranic schoolsincludes a number of common features:

■ oral memorization of the Koran

■ emphasis on accurate and aesthetic oral recitation

■ training in Arabic (or a closely related) script

■ disciplined instruction

Unlike public or secular primary schools, Koranicteaching provides no opportunity for age-gradedvocabulary or grammatical structures. In addition,illustrations are strictly forbidden for religious rea-sons. Simply put, learning to read by using theKoran as a primer is not a trivial task for any child.Memorization is by rote: pupils recite their lessonsaloud until the teacher approves. They also writepassages from the Koran on a wooden slate with apen, using locally made black ink and washing theirslates clean for the next lesson. Teachers point outsections of the Koran as important for religiousbelief or practical for daily living. Teachers are high-ly esteemed as a source of knowledge. Their task isto lead and educate with discipline, vigilance, andoften a bamboo cane to back up their authority.6

Koranic schools teach learning in a structured set-ting; respect for an authority figure (usually not a

kinsman); use of language, individually or in group recitation; the encoding and decoding a writtenalphabet; and how to be a moral person and goodcitizen.7

It would seem that early Koranic schooling providesa preparatory payoff to subsequent, progressive, andmore difficult schooling, be it religious or secular.Evidence from educational psychology strongly sup-ports the notion that background information, basiclearning, and language and social skills in the class-room are the building blocks upon which muchsubsequent school learning is based. If these skillsare obtained prior to or along with secular schoollearning (as is the case now in some urban areas ofAfrica), there should be substantial transfer, even ifsome of the content (Koran) is different from class-room texts. Naturally, comparisons of the two typesof schools must be in similar geographical and cul-tural contexts.

Learned Outcomes. Limited empirical evidence indi-cates that students learn the following:

■ Literacy. Some empirical evidence suggests thatmore Koranic students than might be expectedachieve and sustain a working level of literacy.Usually, these individuals have either been pre-pared by Koranic schooling for commercial,government, or NGO jobs that require minimalliteracy; or their schooling has enabled them tobecome literate through formal or on-the-jobtraining in an international language besidesArabic. Limited evidence from self-reportingsamples of school graduates in Guinea indicatesthat over 90 percent of males claimed readingand writing abilities in Arabic script. In Senegal,25–75 percent of all male adults and 10–25 per-cent of women in villages contacted claimed thislevel of literacy.8

■ Numeracy. Numeracy skills are not explicitlytaught in Koranic schools in Africa, althoughsome are beginning to do so, and all refer tonumbered pages in Koranic usage. Hence, stu-dents are at the least familiar with numbers and,by implication, multiples of numbers.Numeracy is taught, however, at the secondaryand higher levels. While 93 percent of respon-

dents in the Guinea study cited above consid-ered themselves literate, only 26 percent consid-ered themselves numerate.9 However, mostmarabouts and imams are considered numerate,and they are sought for accounting responsibili-ties in their communities. In addition, Koranicgraduates are likely to seek out opportunities todevelop or improve their numeracy skillsthrough formal or on-the-job training.

■ Leadership Roles. Students who continue theirKoranic schooling beyond the initial phase oftenbecome leaders in various fields, whether reli-gious, societal, entrepreneurial, or political.Through role modeling, tutorials, apprentice-ships, and related superordinate-subordinaterelationships, Koranic students appear to bemore prepared and motivated to seek positionsof influence than those who did not attend anyschool.

■ Intellectual Development. A synthesis of empiri-cal evidence from Liberia and Morocco as wellas from the above studies suggests that disci-plined and systematic memorization and literacytraining in Koranic schools have practical appli-cations in management, developing inventories,and organizational reconstructions.10 Koranicgraduates excel in serial memory or memorizingthe content and sequence of different elementspresented in order. This learned outcome hasapplications to basic understanding in law, localadministration, and business management. InMorocco, Berber-speaking rural students whoattended Koranic school actually increased read-ing achievement in public schools.11

■ Moral Development and Citizenship. Koranictraining is intended to reinforce the strict moralteachings of the faith and is a generally acceptedreference for future public service. On a relatednote, a student must respect and obey theteacher, who usually lies beyond the student’skinship network. As an authority figure in thelocal community, this payment of respect con-tributes to students’ acceptance of the norms ofcivic society.

Trends, Influences, Affiliation withRadical GroupsThere have been madrasas or Franco-Arabic schoolssince colonial times that combine Islamic teachingswith the Arabic language, along with the study ofsecular subjects in French or a regional language.The French attempted to mute the religious impact(and perceived threat) of Koranic schools throughthese alternative bilingual and religio-secular schoolsin urban areas. Unlike Koranic schools, theseschools resemble the Western model, with class-rooms, textbooks, exams, formal administration,and secular subjects that include science and socialstudies. Schooling also continues to the secondaryand tertiary levels. Since the 1970s, Arab NGOsarmed with substantial funds from the oil boomhave poured into Islamic Africa to strengthen andArabize madrasas. This trend continues, as the qual-ity of public schools has deteriorated and Africanstates became more fragile, buffeted by global eco-nomic forces.

In effect, there has been a growth and spread ofmodernized forms of Arabic education. Graduatesemerge from madrasas that are influenced by thereligious Wahhabist movement and form a mod-ernist cohort of educated Muslims. In some cases,they are bent on reforming various social and politi-cal institutions: schools, legal systems, gender rela-tions (elevation of women’s status), local religioushierarchies, and the meaning and status of Islamicknowledge itself. They are modernist insofar as theyappeal to the principles of law, reason, and sciencein the construction of the new Islamic society theyenvision.

However, these madrasas have not delivered whatthey promised in terms of salaried jobs andenhanced social status. Graduates from these schoolscannot compete with French-speaking governmentschool graduates with baccalaureates who can obtainjobs, training, or further education. Hence, theybecome discontented and vulnerable to extremist orsubversive influences sometimes conveyed in thesemadrasas.

It is not clear from literature who these modernistsare: little mention is made of numbers, ethnic

groups, age, or socioeconomic background. Neitherthe identities nor the larger economic and socialforces behind the revolutionary ideology of this visi-ble and recognized force were elucidated by fran-cophone Africa literature reviewed.

Parental IncentivesIn general, parents have three choices regardingtheir children’s education: Koranic schools,madrasas, and public schools. Most parents, espe-cially those in rural areas, choose Koranic schoolsbecause they want their children to learn classicalIslam and their attendance signifies a commitmentto the religion of Islam. This tradition has existedfor a thousand years and is rooted in the commu-nity. The choice may also be pragmatic, in that noother school alternative is available or parents seethe value of Arabic literacy for trading purposes,as reported among the Hausa.12 The motive mayalso be ideological, if the public school is a per-ceived threat to their child’s religious identity andstatus. Parents may prefer religious schools to reaf-firm their children’s identity as Muslims and insu-late them from pervasive modern and secularinfluences.

If parents have access to a government primaryschool, they will send, simultaneously or insequence, their children to Koranic school andthen to the government school as initial prepara-tion for a salaried position. It is likely that theyconsider each school to have a different function:the Koranic school strengthens and legitimizestheir children’s understanding and commitment tothe religion of their ancestors and as such is a partof the community; the government public schoolis a preparation for government or related whitecollar jobs beyond the community and as such isfrom the urban world. Despite efforts in Mali tobring public schools closer to parents’ lives throughcommunity-managed schools, these schools stillremain more a symbol of government than of thecommunity itself.

Parents’ third option is to send their children to pri-mary and/or secondary madrasas. Parents who wantthe “best of both worlds” tend to do this. Thischoice may also be pragmatic if the madrasa is the

best, most affordable, and available school around;or it may be ideological as in the case of the mod-ernist madrasas.

An observation among the Hausa from Niger (aneighboring francophone country) that may be rele-vant to many West African Muslim parents regard-ing motivations for sending their children to school:

Many families make financial investments in bothKoranic and state education for their children.Most children who go to public school also attendKoranic school. More children attend public thanKoranic schools, although the public schools havevery high dropout rates. School attendance hascontinued to grow…and many more boys thangirls attend school, although the relative propor-tion of girls attending school has risen over thepast 20 years. Literacy programs are an increasing-ly important component of the overall educationsystem, and women are key beneficiaries. Girlsgenerally leave school when they get married.

The main purpose of getting an education formost families…is not to get a particular typeof work, but more simply, in order to becomebetter educated, and therefore better able todeal with the wider world. In addition…one’sknowledge and status are strongly linked.Agents of the state are the main sources ofagricultural innovations in the study villages,and the youth are important sources of non-environment-related innovations (clothes,bikes, radios, style, etc.).13

GovernanceThe literature review did not reveal explicit refer-ence to the oversight, regulation, and control of theIslamic schools. Under colonial and independentrule, Islamic groups or funding organizations usuallycarried out this function under the watchful eye oflocal or regional administrators. It is unclear howthe Ministry of Education regulates the operationsof Islamic schools, if it does so at all.

Strengths and Weaknesses forPreparing Students for CivicParticipation and EmploymentEmployment. The primary purpose of Islamic—

especially Koranic—schools is religious: to teach theKoran to the faithful. However, there are learnedoutcomes that are similar to those of elementaryschooling in terms of cognitive development, socialadjustment, civic responsibility, and leadershiptraining. While not explicitly oriented to develop-ment, Koranic schools do provide children some ofthe cognitive, attitudinal, and social building blocksnecessary for further schooling. Older students mayhave selected apprenticeships with marabouts andother religious leaders prominent in local com-merce, trade, or business. Hausa Koranic schoolgraduates (men and women) may use Arabic literacyfor trade purposes. While some practical training isprobably included in a few madrasas, no explicit ref-erence was found on how this is done. It is thereforedifficult to assess whether Islamic schools preparestudents for employment to the same degree thatpublic schools do.

Whatever training exists for employment in Koranicschools is a byproduct of Islamic schooling.Traditionally, to mix religious and practical trainingin Koranic schools was unheard of, even blasphe-mous. Whether job-related training can be intro-duced in this type of school is questionable at best.It would have a better chance of succeeding if prac-tical aspects of agricultural or business subjects weretaught as secular subjects in the madrasas. Studentsmight be induced to see such materials as real-lifealternatives to the modernist rhetoric they mayreceive at Arabized madrasas.

Civic Participation. In addition to religious teach-ings that inculcate and strengthen students’ Muslimidentity, students are socialized into the routines andexercises of their institutional environment. Thisincludes respect for the teacher as an authority fig-ure, good manners, civility among peers, and loyaltyto and identification with the local community,nation, and Muslim people worldwide. It does notappear that Islamic education in the Koranic schoolsdoes much else in the way of civic participation.Most likely, madrasas provide some form of civiceducation through social studies, morals, and reli-gious teachings. The Arabized madrasas, however,may also provide threatening or even subversiveteachings about secular government.

Donor-Funded Work with IslamicSchools and ResultsResearch on assistance from donors to Islamic edu-cation systems in the three countries revealed verylittle information. ■

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