The policy discussion in the Arab world has rarely focused on the social and political returns of education, areas of keen interest in more democratic countries. This is unfortunate. The evidence uncovered in the author’s recent research, and summarised here, is that the social and political returns to education are in fact much lower in the Arab world than in the rest of the world – in other words, educated Arabs are much less emancipated by their education on political and social values compared to their global peers. This means that unless policymakers start focusing on reforming the type of education Arab youth receive, it will remain difficult to foster more open societies in the Arab world.
Arab societies urgently need to start looking at how to improve education systems, not just in ways to improve the marketability of individuals, but as importantly, to improve their social and political impact on society, such as by strengthening a sense of community, beefing up values of civic engagement, inculcating democratic prin – ciples, supporting gender equality, and promoting social tolerance.