It has been established that for each additional year of education a person’s income increases by 10% and raises a country’s GDP by 18%. What’s even more striking is that research estimates if all children learned to read, approximately 170 million fewer people would live in poverty.
Let that sink in for a minute.
These figures are just some highlights of why we should be investing in education at a greater pace.
Imagine a scenario where investments are pouring into a country’s infrastructure, its technology, it’s financial market, but investment in education is being neglected in favor of other areas with easier short-term returns.
What would you get with this type of policy?
You would have wasted investments in all areas because your human capital is unable to efficiently utilize the infrastructure or the technology that’s available to them.
Another hindrance to economic growth are inefficient education systems where the system is falling short of providing students with adequate skills to enter the job market. Not just math, reading, and science, but vital skills such as critical thinking, creativity, empathy, and teamwork, which are not being taught to many children around the world.
Education is the foundation on which every aspect of our economy depends. Education is absolutely critical to personal, social, and economic development. An empowered and capable population will generate more economic returns through increased productivity, greater innovation, and higher standards of living.
I personally believe, education needs to receive the same amount of investment as other areas to unlock sustainable economic growth in the MENA region.
In a report published by the Brookings Institute in the United States that analyzed the impact of investing in education programs designed to prepare students for future jobs as early as preschool could add $2 trillion to the annual GDP by 2080. The report also analyzed the cost to the US government at approximately $59 billion, but as you can see, the returns are substantially greater.
If this model is implemented in the Middle East, combined with investment in infrastructure, updating legal frameworks, greater access to equal opportunities, and financial literacy programs, we can make significant strides toward fast tracking economic development.
When we consider investing in education, we also need to consider what kind of job market our children will enter in the future. The future landscape of the labor market will also shift. Right now, and for the foreseeable future, the bulk of demand will be in science, technology, engineering, and math-related (STEM) jobs. Preparing for these jobs needs to start at childhood for more effective results, not just at the university level.
With higher prevalence of automation, the future job market will require capable and enterprising individuals. Traditional employment opportunities will no longer be enough for our population, especially since both the public and private sectors will not be able to create enough jobs to keep up with demand. This will lead to greater growth in the free-lance and entrepreneurial sectors, a key aspect we need to begin integrating in our education system.
A smart investor will tell you that you don’t cut costs when it comes to your largest potential business line; generally speaking, our youth in the region are our most promising business line for the future. If we fail to invest in education now, we will be failing an entire generation and condemning their children to even more difficult lives.
The time to act is now.
We should be investing in innovative ways to advance our education systems as the most promising way to create a progressive and cohesive society and bring sustainable growth to our economies.