Countries across the Arab region are currently experiencing a period of change. However social unrest represents an opportunity to address continuing challenges. New strategies for sustainable economic development and employment creation, as well as for high-quality education accessible to all learners, will be vital to future progress.

This session focused on some of the common challenges in Arab countries, including the causes of economic stagnation and growing unemployment, as well as of poor education outcomes. Renewed efforts will be needed to develop synergies across sectors, to strengthen the content and delivery of education to better meet needs, and to benchmark school performance and improvement. But what models from other countries might be relevant to the region, and how should these be adapted to different contexts? What new models might emerge?