Overspending on tertiary-level education in the Middle East
Table 4 shows the percentage of total girls enrolled in primary and secondary school through the Middle Eastern region. The highest value for both primary and secondary enrollment is in Bahrain, with 49 percent and 53.5 percent respectively. However, the lowest values are in Yemen, with only 28 percent and 21 percent. Overall, the average primary enrollment rate is 44.08 percent, and the average secondary enrollment rate is 44.81 percent.
But in examining the costs per student throughout the region, a trend becomes clear: Middle Eastern states spend much more on tertiary education than primary or secondary. For example, consider educational spending in Tunisia:
the unit cost at the tertiary level was 27 times in 1980, and 11 times in 1990, that of the cost of a student at the primary level. These numbers mean that, for the equivalent cost of educating one university student for one year, 27 primary school students in 1980 and 11 primary school students in 1990 could have received a year of schooling in Tunisia. Since the ratio of primary school students to tertiary level students is above 100 to 1, we can conclude that Tunisia spends a large proportion of its educational budget on a very small proportion of students enrolled at the tertiary level. (Tansel 83)
This trend continues in the Middle East region as a whole, where the average tertiary spending was four times that of primary spending in 1990 (Tansel 84). Because of this inequity of wealth distribution on higher levels of education rather than primary or secondary, it is clear that Middle Eastern governments are favoring a small amount of individuals at the tertiary level, at the expense of primary and secondary education for all students. This is also questionable, because tertiary-level students in the Middle East are more likely to come from wealthy backgrounds, though state universities are free. These students generally come from families who can afford for them to continue their studies, rather than work. This especially impacts female access to education. Girls’ schooling is harmed by this lack of government priority since it makes it harder, or sometimes more expensive in terms of opportunity costs, to send daughters to school rather than have them stay at home or go to work. Due to the traditionally patriarchal society, sons are more likely to be sent to school than daughters.
