I’m writing about the five most important elements missing from Arab educational curricula, and I would like to see if what I have thought of so far is accurate enough (Think Jordan for now):

1- Skills of debate
2- Scientific research
3- Sex education
4- Practical, hands-on, active learning
5- Therein lies the puzzle — Help needed on this one.

Any thoughts?

A new project promising change and progress; Alt School Arabia.

The way we educate our youth is the way we shape our future.

In a region such as the Arab World, where education suffers from major gaps in promoting key values such as democracy, tolerance, and the skills of debate and scientific research, it is imperative that the situation be remedied.

Because inanimate information transfer is the dominant technique used across Arabia, poor education results and mediocre levels of progress distinguish the outcome of schools and universities. It is not the brains nor the desire to learn that are missing; it is quality education that allows active learning and student participation in the educational process.

Luckily, advances in technology and telecommunications provide outlets and ways around obvious educational glitches. Online courses and discussion boards are one form of this ongoing revolution, search tools and interactive applications are another.

The AltSchoolArabia Project is an attempt at providing a trusted source of interactive learning tools for Arab learners via the World Wide Web. It is a project that aims to bridge the gap between current educational policies in the Arab World and what learners need to learn to be active citizens of the 21st century.

Alt School Arabia (1.0) is launched. Suggestions and ideas are welcome!