This report examines social development in Jordan with respect to childhood education and literacy. The survey presented examines the status of children’s literature and encouraging reading in Jordan. The report assesses the promotion of children’s literature in Jordan through various axes;; including the quality and prevalence of libraries;; the effectiveness of policies;; and the existence of civil institutions active in the field of children’s literature. The report also identifies various trends with respect to children’s literature through concentrated discussion groups with families;; teachers;; children;; and writers of children’s literature.

This report surveys children’s literature in the Arab Republic of Egypt and the promotion of child literacy. The survey examines the promotion of children’s literature through various axis;; including official state policies;; the role of the private sector;; and the role of institutions and national programs in promoting child literacy. The report also examines Egypt’s childhood education system;; the quality and distribution of public libraries throughout Egypt;; and the nature of the publishing industry. Finally;; this report makes a number of recommendations which aim to further promote literacy among children in Egypt.

This report concerns the results of a survey on children’s literature and the promotion of reading in Palestine as represented by the West Bank and the Gaze Sector. Emphasis is placed on a number of axes regarding children’s literature;; including policies and legislation;; programs and institutions;; libraries;; elementary schools and universities;; and the publishing and distribution of children’s books. Upon analysis of the state of children’s literature in Palestine;; this report identifies certain trends regarding child culture. It also identifies a number of problems facing the promotion of reading among children;; including financial constraints;; the quality and availability of libraries;; and the overarching challenges influenced by Israel occupation.

This report concerns the results of a survey on children’s literature and the promotion of reading in Syria. Emphasis is placed on a number of axes regarding children’s literature;; including policies and legislation;; programs and institutions;; libraries;; elementary schools and universities;; and general information regarding children’s books. Upon analysis of the state of children’s literature in Syria;; this report identifies certain trends regarding children's literature. It also identifies a number of problems facing the promotion of reading among children and makes a number of recommendations for the development and improvement of children’s literature.

The study aims to evaluate the concepts of water;; energy and solid waste that exists in the curriculum and the manner in which they are tackled by mapping the current textbooks based the three themes of the study – water;; energy and solid waste. The report is based on a comprehensive study of 104 school textbooks from grades 1 – 10 in fourteen subjects. The survey finds that the environmental education concepts were vastly covered in all subjects of he study in a total of 1777 concepts;; and most of them focused on scientific facts and information with repetitive energy concepts and lack of sequential flow. This research was conducted as part of the Public Action for Water;; Energy and Environment Project (PAP);; which aims to encourage water and energy conservation and to support behavior change towards more conservation and efficient practices both at the household level and in the commercial;; industrial and civil society arenas using social marketing behavioral methods. Based on the finding that there is little space allocated to the synthesis and application of information and knowledge and therefore the concepts remain superficially tackled;; the report recommends that support material should be prepared for the different grade levels and training programs should be developed for the teachers as real agent of change and role models.

This report provides an overview of the status of early childhood care and education (ECCE) in Jordan;; Lebanon;; Sudan;; and Syria. It examines the contextual factors influencing ECCE;; highlighting current policies;; challenges;; and strategies for improvement and expansion. The report underscores the paucity and limitations of available data. Findings show that ECCE services have improved but regional disparity and dominance of the private sector prevail. None of the four countries but Jordan has a full-fledged national strategy and policy on ECCE. Challenges identified include lack of qualified teachers;; societal misconceptions about the unique features of early childhood;; and lack of research-based studies. Innovative projects show that NGOs have been instrumental in addressing the needs of marginalized children.