Conference 12: "Remedial Education", State of Palestine, November 2021,

Conference 12: "Remedial Education", State of Palestine, November 2021,

The twelfth (12th) Conference of Ministers of Education in the Arab World, chaired by the State of Palestine in November 2021, discussed the topic of "Remedial Education," on the basis of the main document titled "Remedial Education (in the context of COVID-19)," with the aim of exchanging good experiences in remedial education, setting controls and standards to ensure the quality of remedial education, formulating future directions and visions for developing remedial education, regulating the conditions of partnership with civil society and organizations related to remedial education, and strengthening cooperation among the Arab states in the fields of education.

Also presented to the conference's work were "ALECSO's Efforts to Ensure the Continuity of Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic," the document "Strengthening the Standing of Shared Arab and Human Values and Incorporating Them into Education Curricula in the Arab World," in addition to the State of Palestine's document titled "Remedial Education in Light of the Coronavirus Pandemic (the Palestinian Case)," accompanied by a video presentation "Education in Palestine, a Success Story," and the Arab Theatre Institute's document "Strategy for the Growth and Development of School Theatre in the Arab World."

The conference issued a number of recommendations arising from the documents submitted, which are:

• The special recommendation:

Calling upon the Arab states and the Arab and regional organizations to adopt mechanisms and strategies that would support education in Palestine in general, and Jerusalem in particular, to ensure the right to quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all, and to reduce learning loss caused by the occupation.

• Recommendations addressed to the Arab states:
• Calling upon the Arab states to:
• Develop policies and programs that strengthen the response to education in emergency and crisis situations, by supporting the ability of education systems in the Arab states to anticipate crises, prepare well to confront them, manage them well, and track their negative effects.
• Develop national action plans that help accelerate the shift towards inclusive and quality education for all.
• Work to develop an assessment framework at the level of each Arab state that determines the scale of learning loss due to COVID-19 and makes it possible to implement rapid remedial education programs.
• Support teachers and all members of the educational family and provide them with psychological and social assistance, to enable them to shift towards inclusive and effective teaching to help students access education and learning.
• Work to achieve the principle of fairness, equality, and equal opportunities and facilitate access to and benefit from remedial education by developing methods of caring for learners through simplifying administrative procedures and improving conditions of reception, guidance, and support, and responding effectively to the increasing needs of learners using modern methods and means.
• Strengthen programs for the holistic upbringing of the student, including their physical, mental, psychological, and social health at all stages of education and the early childhood stage.
• Develop strategies and methods of accelerated education within remedial education programs and integrate them to address learning loss.
• Support ALECSO's initiatives in the field of the various competitions and events directed at children, students, and teachers in order to strengthen their skills and knowledge in the field of science, scientific research, mathematics (Stem), logic, and the assimilation of modern technologies.
• Mainstream the "Strategy for the Growth and Development of School Theatre" as a common framework for developing school theatre in the Arab states, and call upon the Arab states to cooperate with the Arab Theatre Institute in implementing its contents according to the needs of each state.
• Encourage all parties, from governmental institutions, the private sector, and civil society, to contribute to strengthening remedial education, both formal and non-formal, to guarantee the right of all, including persons with disabilities, to quality, equitable, and inclusive lifelong education.
• Encourage states to complete their digital transformation in education in terms of management, organization, and teaching, and to mainstream the benefit of electronic platforms and make open educational resources available.

• Recommendations addressed to the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO):
• Calling upon ALECSO to:
• Introduce good Arab experiences, practices, and models in remedial education, such as the experience of the Second Chance School, and benefit from them in building future programs and projects.
• Develop a framework for financing the integration of distance education into education curricula, to strengthen joint Arab cooperation.
• Organize an Arab symposium "on the reality of formal and non-formal remedial education and exploring ways to improve and sustain it in the Arab states."
• Develop an Arab strategy for remedial education that takes into account the social and economic contexts of the Arab states and helps in developing policies and programs that ensure access to education and learning for all.
• Implement an Arab program in coordination with the ministries of education in the Arab states to strengthen the contents of civic education, such as education on citizenship, disseminating a culture of human rights, and human solidarity.
• Form working teams of specialized experts from the Arab states to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations addressed to them, with ALECSO acting as coordinator and facilitator for those teams.

Determining the place and time of holding the thirteenth conference:

The President of the conference presented to the Arab states the matter of hosting the conference in its next session, and His Excellency Professor Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Aya, Minister of National Education, Technical Training, and Reform in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, submitted a request to host the thirteenth conference in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

The resolution:

• Approval of holding the thirteenth conference in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, and extending thanks to His Excellency the Minister.
• The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization coordinating with the host state to determine the date of holding the conference, and consulting with the Arab states regarding its topic.