The Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation became a reality when it received $10 billion (Dh36.7 million) from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

With clear goals to facilitate learning in the Arab world, the foundation was announced in May 2007 at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.

At the time of the launch, Shaikh Mohammad said: "Our region needs at this moment 15 million job opportunities, and our Arab world will need in the next 20 years 74 to 85 million job opportunities."

The Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation is a development agency with a clear vision and a definite goal. It is to participate in the development of the state of knowledge in the Arab and Islamic worlds.

"I believe that the success we have achieved in the UAE can be achieved in other states as well, and that the spread of success is healthy," said Shaikh Mohammad at the Knowledge Conference.

Freedom of thought

"The Foundation believes knowledge and freedom are two sides of the same coin. Building communities of knowledge requires the development of policies, laws and measures necessary to ensure the freedom of thought, research, publication, in addition to providing protection for intellectuals, researchers and inventors, while securing the independence of universities and research centres."

According to Human Development reports, literary and intellectual books published in the Arab world represent only 0.08 per cent of world output.

The same reports state that the Arab world spends only 0.02 per cent of its GDP on scientific research. In the Arab world, for every 10,000 people in the workforce there are 3.3 academic scholars, while the developed world has 110 for every 10,000.

The region's high unemployment rate — the highest in the world at 15 per cent — is creating challenges of survival as well as reform and development.

The sessions

During the two-day sessions, in the first knowledge conference of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, leading educationalists and personals in the Arab world presented studies and views on key issues hindering the growth and productivity of the Arab countries.

Over 75 million illiterate in the Arab countries and about 10 million children unable to get any form of schooling or they are forced to drop out for financial reasons, Dr Ali Fakhro, author, doctor, and former Bahrain minister of Health and Education. Educational reform and clear strategies are much needed to revolutionise the traditional methods used in setting plans and agendas, curriculums, and in applying technology.

Another speaker, Dr Mustafa Mohammad said "essential learning and life skills are significantly lacking, which are needed in the job market."

He was focusing on the importance of critical and analytical thinking along with strategic thinking, which aims to put into practice productive and innovative methods.

"Where does vocational learning and training lie in the efforts to reform the Arab world?" he said, adding it is the driving force to establish productivity and developments.

Dr Abdul Aziz Al Jalal, professor and consultant in education in Saudi Arabia, said unemployment in the Arab countries is more than 15 per cent and some estimate it to being up to 30 per cent. The rates increase for women and also for those below the age of 30, which could reach up to 85 per cent.

"In the Arab world we have a huge unemployment rate among nationals or citizens of a country but expatriates comprise more than 90 per cent of the workforce, in particular the private sector," he said.

Ahmad Luqman, General Manager of the Arab Labour Organisation, said there was no difference between a populated country or a nation with a small population with regards to unemployment. There should be an emphasis on training programmes that suit job market requirements.

"We should create a link between education results, vocational training, and job requirements. More importantly, we should strive for quality education that nurtures creativity and critical thinking."

Dr Mohammad Al Halaqah, a commentator, said: "The education sector is always blamed for the inherit problems in Arab countries. Do we really know what the requirements of the job market are?

Countries should specify their economic, political, and administrative goals, he said. Another commentator, Dr Ahmad Jalal, said the gap between education and the job market raises a set of questions.

"Studies show that Arab countries invest a lot in education, however, revenue from this investment is very weak.

According to Dr Rafe'a Gabash, independent educational bodies must be created to assess the outcomes of education including the programmes and teaching methods.

"We should also promote e-learning, which broadens the current limits in education and more importantly knowledge," she said.

In this context, a session on the "Digital Revolution and its Impact on Higher Education," addressed the implications of technology.

"Innovations in technology and invention of the internet… change the traditional university into what is called the 'hyper university,' or the 'virtual university," said Dr Esam Zabalawi. These technologies allow information to spread quickly and widely, and link to distant places and diverse areas, said Dr Zabalawi.

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By Siham Al Najami and Manal Ismail, Staff Reporter

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The knowledge conference