By Ahmed Mahmoud Mustafa-Afandi

After the uprising in Kurdistan in 1991 and later in most of the Middle East, many countries reached their primary goal of changing their existing political system. Subsequently, these countries have found themselves in an urgent need to reform both the education system as well as the economy. The establishment of political democracy and economic liberalization requires citizens to have the right knowledge, skills, and values. Therefore, when countries adopt a democratic system, good governance must also foster a high-quality education. However, this is an area where most of the countries in the Middle East have failed.

Despite the rapid expansion of primary education in these countries, schools continue to experience high drop-out rates, in the year 2019 Kurdistan Region had a drop-out rate of 14-15% according to its ministry of education. Additionally, many university graduates lack the essential skills and knowledge that are necessary for competing within the global labor market or pursuing their studies in prestigious institutions. In most countries in the Middle East, the curriculum focuses on preservation and is highly reliant on the teacher hence failing to contribute to the development of critical thinking and creativity of students. Other notable shortcomings in existing educational systems include a shortage of qualified teachers, low levels of educational achievement, poor national assessment of educational achievement, and lack of public accountability.

As for citizen’s education includes knowledge and understanding of civil affairs (laws, institutions, and concepts), opportunities for participation in civil society, as well as to interact with citizens' life and with the community and society. The responsible citizen can be defined as a citizen who knows his rights and duties, understands how to contribute effectively to the public good, and can apply his knowledge to assess government policies and practices. Parents are the first to teach national responsibility along with other civic values and orientations, and the school takes over this role early from kindergarten or primary school.

As the results of international tests indicate overall student achievement levels are low in these countries. Middle East students in grades 4th and 8th, who participated in the exam of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2003, scored on average well below the average for the test. Furthermore, 4th graders who participated in the test of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) subjects of Mathematics and Science in 2003 and 2009 similarly obtained low scores. Besides, students at the age of 15, who participated in the Program in International Reading Literacy Study (PirLS) in 2006, scored well below the average test rate as well.

In our world, there is a major gap between educational reform plans and the realities in schools, particularly concerning civic education and citizenship. Countries are currently experiencing mass uprisings, yet they have shown little political commitment to the rehabilitation of students who are independent, creative, and responsible. Especially because citizens equipped with these qualities are more capable of challenging power, political, religious, and traditional beliefs. Nevertheless, those educational systems do not intend on promoting the social values that thrive in democratic societies. Neither do they allow for the freedom to express diverse opinions, but rather frustrates efforts to create informed discussions and limits the ability of citizens to contribute to the reformation of their governments.

Countries in the Middle East including Kurdistan must undertake educational reform after the reformation of their political systems. This is a crucial step as those countries require citizens who are proficient in the knowledge and skills of the 21st century. To be able to alter their ways of thinking, communication style, develop technologies and progress their civic practices. Thus, the concepts of citizenship, empowerment, and community engagement emerge as educational priorities for these democracies. Besides, the qualification of Kurd and Arab youth for citizenship requires far more basic reform steps than has been achieved so far from educational reform plans. Unproficient citizen education is a major weakness of these countries' educational and political systems as a challenge to educational reform efforts at various levels. For instance, at the individual student level having a low educational achievement is quite prevalent in the Middle East. The absence of ambition within students results in them leaving the school early and they often end up working in the black economy or knocking the doors of politicians to be given low-skilled jobs. Additionally, at the school level, the traditional school management’s teaching style has been deemed to be ineffective. The lack of critical thinking which is critical to fostering ways of self-expression and logical analysis has immensely disadvantaged the youth within these countries. In the Middle East, the limited freedom of self-expression which is the core of democratic societies has led young citizens to be more vulnerable and un-opinionated.

Furthermore, at the national level, the issue lies within the lack of secure graduate job opportunities in the region. Most graduates seeking to work in the public sector due to the availability of the pension scheme to public sector workers. Therefore, a high proportion of the labor force depends on the country for their livelihoods because the private sector has no pension schemes. So governments should come up with more graduate jobs and incentivizes private sectors to implement pension schemes to decrease the load on the public sector. This has an impact on education because when students pursue their university degrees, they take into account the job opportunities as well as pension scheme availability to ensure their life when they retire. The Kurdistan region has already taken some steps as now some of the private companies are in the process to provide pension schemes. Currently, in Kurdistan, the lawyers' syndicate’s NGO provides pension schemes for their employees after 25 years of service, according to a member in the syndicate.

In conclusion, so far Kurdistan region has taken the initiative to decrease the dropout rates by attracting students through seminars hosted by professionals. Additionally, by enabling educational experts to participate in the country's educational, governmental, and political issues and development and decisions. However, that is not proficient for the region as it plans to implement a strict reform. If the new democracies in the Middle East world want to overcome these shortcomings, they must commit to implementing a comprehensive educational reform and should focus on the development and enhancement of the educational systems. These Governments should work to formulate a new approach to the subject of education that is compatible with democratic values, international standards. Furthermore, they should work closely with committed educational professionals as well as relevant community bodies at the national and international level to benefit from their expertise and experience in the field.