Last week, I shared with you alarming results from the Brookings Institution’s Arab World Learning Barometer. Related to those findings on the connection between lack of learning and youth unemployment in the Arab region, is the latest release: Arab Youth: Missing Educational Foundations for a Productive Life?. Here are some of the main findings from the study:
- Most governments have so far concentrated on stimulating labor’s demand side but have not been paying attention to the supply side (e.g., ensuring that youth have the skills to compete in the labor market).
- Despite signifigant investment and better performance in education, young adult women are much less likely to be employed than are men.
- 40 percent of employers in the formal private sector in the Middle East & North Africa region identify skill shortages as the major constraint to business operation and skills growth.