Dubai: The Arab Thought Foundation’s (ATF) sixth Arab Cultural Development Report was launched in Dubai yesterday.
His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al Faisal, President of ATF, was present at the launch and thanked everyone who worked on the report for their efforts.
“This report shows the state of culture in the Arab world... there is a great deficiency in our educational systems, and there is a greater need to remedy that,” he said.
Dr Mounira Al Nahedh, ATF Deputy Secretary General said that the report, titled ‘The missing integration between education, scientific research, the labour market and development in the Arab Countries’, addresses whether the link between education, scientific research, the labour market and development in the Arab Countries is an unfounded obsession or a reality.
She added that the report included several case studies that cover Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Gulf, with a special focus on Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Tunisia.
A large section of the report was focused on the relationship between education and the integration of scientific research and the development of the labour market in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The report found that the link between the elements is either missing or weak, Al Nahedh said.
She explained that in Saudi Arabia, for example, there is a great need for more medical science specialists, while there is an excess in engineering graduates, which needs to be changed through the creation of a comprehensive plan to help improve the job market and create sustainable human development.
Bilal Al Budoor, Assistant under-secretary for Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development, who was at the launch, said that the educational system does not take into consideration what the job market needs and this report can help pave the way for that change.
Dr Lana Mamkegh, Jordan’s Minister of Culture, said that the report is “a gift to all decision-makers” as it pinpoints the problem areas that need to be fixed.
