The Muslim world's past contributions to science and education were extraordinary. The Islamic "golden age" — during which scholarship and learning flourished across the Muslim world — lasted many centuries and included the establishment of the world's first universities.
Today, however, Muslim-majority countries lag well behind the rest of the world in terms of education and research. This must change if they are to provide modern jobs and better lives to their booming populations and keep up with global development.
As it stands, only one university from the Muslim world — Turkey's Middle East Technical University — makes the top 100 in an international ranking, and only a dozen or so can be found in the top 400 in various other lists. While there are no international standardized tests in science and math at the university level, fourth-, eighth- and 10th-grade students in the Muslim world test below the global average in these subjects, according to the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and the Program for International Student Assessment. And the gap with students elsewhere is widening.