Closing the Gender Gap in Education and Health
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keeping girls in school until graduation, in preparing them for the labor market, in reaping economic returns on education through paid employment, and in empowering women to make their voices heard in public policymaking. The reasons lie both within and outside the education sector.
Dramatic Increase in Years of Schooling and Literacy Among the total population in MENA over the age of 15, the average years of schooling rose from less than a year in 1960 to 5.3 years in 1999—the largest gain of any region in the world. For women, the increase was more dramatic: from 0.5 to 4.5 years. This increase is large in all countries for which data are available (figure 2.2). Nonetheless, a gender gap remains, with average years of schooling in 1999 of 6.2 years for men compared with 4.5 years for women. Over the past three decades, MENA has achieved impressive increases in the literacy rates of both women and men (figure 2.3). Fewer than one in three adults could read and write in 1970; two out of three can now.
FIGURE 2.2
Average Years of Schooling for Women in MENA Countries, 1960 and 1999 Years 8 7
1960
1999
1960
1999
6 5 4 3 2 1 0 All developing countries
MENA
Iraq
Tunisia
Iran, Algeria Egypt, Syrian Bahrain Jordan Islamic Arab Arab Rep. Rep. of Rep. of
Note: Figures for Egypt are for 1980 and 1999. Regional averages are weighted. Source: Barro and Lee 2000.
Kuwait