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Top score for UAE in knowledge among Arab countries

Dubai - Arab Knowledge Index ranks UAE as top Arab country in education.

The UAE has scored the highest of all Arab countries in the newly released 2015 Arab Knowledge Index, a joint initiative between the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) and the United Nations Development Programme.
The index - which covers every Arab country - monitors the status of knowledge in the Arab world based on six main indices - pre-university education, technical vocational education and training, higher education, information and communications technology, economy, and research and development and innovation. Each of the indices is based on its own sub-set of criteria, which were identified by a team of experts and academics from across the region.
The UAE received high marks in all the aforementioned areas. In the pre-university education index, UAE scored 68.55, as well as 77.47 in information and communications technology, 77.59 in the economy index, 50.07 in research and innovation, 72.55 in higher education, 60.79 in vocational education and training, and 68.55 in pre-university education.
Other Gulf countries also scored well, for example, Qatar scored particularly well, with scores of 59.41 in higher education, 66.23 in pre-university education, 59.32 in vocational education, 40.45 in research and development, 66.22 in pre-university education, 75.58 in the economy index, and 76.22 in information and communications technology.
The listing also includes countries such as Iraq, Yemen and Syria - which are currently undergoing periods of political strife.
"We live in turbulent times and the region is losing focus in the area of knowledge, leading to spurt in extremism and other issues of concern," said Dr Sima Bahouth, the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States. "Qualitative education can help eradicate poverty and unemployment in the region and help establish development channels in the region."
The lowest score was Somalia, which only scored in two areas. In the pre-university index, the country scored 27.53, along with 9.74 in higher education.
Speaking at a Press conference to discuss the results on Tuesday, MBRF Managing Director Jamal bin Huwaireb said that the Knowledge Index is not meant to rank countries, as it takes into account national, historical and cultural characteristics of each country separately.
"This is not meant to give ranks and places. It is to be used as a road map to develop economic and social strategies in Arab countries," he said. "We can now show the level of each country and what it has achieved."
"We as Arab countries can help enable others to catch up, as we have the same culture and same language."
Additionally, bin Huwaireb said that the UAE's high score can serve as an example for other countries in the Arab World.
"The Arab countries can take the UAE experience as a model," he said. "One day they'll reach our level."
Dr Khalid Wazani, Strategy and Knowledge Advisor at MBRF, said that the Knowledge Index will be vital for countries that are seeking to develop "knowledge economies" in the future as the UAE is doing.
"If countries want to be a part of the knowledge-based economy, they need to transform themselves; otherwise they risk going extinct," he said. "The Arab Knowledge Index is a profiling of each country to help it form future economies, build on already existing capabilities and be able to effectively deal with areas of weakness."
Beginning next year, the Knowledge Index will be expanded to include Muslim countries outside the Middle East and North Africa region, bin Huwaireb added.
bernd@khaleejtimes.com