The arid areas of the world, especially the Middle East and North Africa, need to develop an educational system that is attuned to the needs of the people in order to improve human and institutional competencies required to solve social and economic problems. Since arid areas have special characteristics, it is necessary to find applicable solutions. For example, many of these countries have many villages that are isolated from urban centers. Teachers, who usually want to work and live in the cities, have no desire to go to isolated areas. Therefore, radio could be used as an effective instrument, especially for adult education. In the field of institutions, 2-year technical institutes are more practical in developing countries than 4-year schools. More engineers are not needed, but rather more technicians to apply the theories. Agriculture will be the base for many years to come for most of the arid areas. Consequently, agricultural and vocational schools that teach practical skills are greatly needed. It is not enough to simply have the knowledge available, instead it is the useful application of knowledge that is important. (RH)