Arab World Higher Education Ministers have endorsed a screening card tool to benchmark university governance across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Developed by a higher education program at the World Bank supported  Marseille Center for Mediterranean Integration, it is aimed at benchmarking university governance and identifying different patterns and “fitness for purpose” to help higher education institutions understand how they can improve performance.
Tertiary education enrollment is high in MENA compared to other countries at same development levels. On average, more than 30 percent of the population aged 18 to 24 is enrolled in higher education and that number has been growing rapidly.  Current demographic trends and the rapid expansion of secondary education suggest that this growth will continue through the current decade.  This will stretch countries’ education budgets and their capacity to deliver high quality and relevant learning opportunities.