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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 July 1999 Issue No. 436
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Special Interview Travel Living Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Private tuition
By Fayza Hassan
Hamda came in the other day in a great state of agitation. Her son Mohamed had just passed all his exams and graduated to the next class. Her joy at the boy's success had been short-lived, however: on the evening of the same day, Hagg Abdel-Qader had come by her house to congratulate them but, before leaving, so as not to spoil the festive atmosphere, he had followed her into the kitchen as she was pouring more sharbat for the well-wishers and whispered in her ear that her daughter Eida had "slept" in the social studies exam, and would have to take it again in September.
Once she had explained that Hagg Abdel-Qader was their neighbour, who taught French at her daughter's school, and that "slept" meant failed, I was able to understand the extent of her predicament. "Abdel-Qader is a Sa'idi," Hamda told me. "They [Sa'idis] have no malice, they are not like us, wilad al-balad who have learned the skill of telling without telling. He gave it to me straight: 'Look, Umm Mohamed', he said, 'you have to admit that you tried to save on the girl's private lessons. You only let her have a few, and none in social studies, not even one. How do you think that we teachers can make a living? I am not talking about myself, of course; we are neighbours, and I know that you and your husband work hard for the sake of these two children of yours. But be honest, Mohamed had lessons in every subject and this is why he passed. You did the right thing and you were justly rewarded, but you have short-changed Eida. Now is the time to make it up to her, especially that the social studies teacher is about to get married. He has a lot of expenses and has been forced to let many of the children in his class sleep this year. You have to send your husband Sayed around to ask him to give Eida private lessons. I'll tell you what. I am sure that if you give him 150 pounds in advance, Eida will not even have to sit for the exam. You can tell him I sent you'."
I was kept informed of the developments day by day, of course, and Hamda told me next that her husband had called on the teacher and Eida was going to get her lessons. Mohamed would be apprenticing with a mechanic for the summer, to help raise the money. "The teacher did not accept the 150 pounds, though," she said, shaking her head in wonder; "he said that for Eida it was going to be 250, because she is not among the bright ones who understand quickly. She needs a lot of help. Especially in something that is called ghoghrafia [geography]. When her father came back and told us, I had to smack Eida a bit, so that her father wouldn't. Sayed gets carried away and forgets that her bones are still soft. Hagg Abdel-Qader went to see the teacher and he has accepted to lower his price to 200 pounds. They have no shame," she added after a pause. "They don't make any difference between poor people like us and the rich who can really pay." Hamda reflected for a while then her smile returned and she made a sucking, contemptuous sound with her lips: "Of course," she said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, "we have to keep our children's teachers in style. Sayed tells me that this one has a new car now, and a mahmoul [cell phone] exactly like yours."
