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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Development Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Dream dropouts
Imagine. A place for every four-year-old in kindergarten; a clean, modern school for every six-year-old; and a 13-year-old capable of using modern educational technology and mastering a foreign language. This, writes Mariz Tadros, is Education Minister Hussein Kamel Bahaeddin's dream: basic education provided to youngsters. At an education workshop, Bahaeddin spoke extensively about what he believed was a model teacher, pupil and school but failed to explain in detail what the Education Ministry will do to turn the dream into reality.If the reports coming in from various governorates are true, then the sad truth is that many children do not stay long enough in school to learn how to read and write. In working papers submitted to the conference, most governorates cited high drop-out rates as the major problem threatening the national educational system. Most papers associated this phenomenon with a parallel problem -- child labour and an alarming increase of street children.
The Egypt Human Development Report of 1998, released last year by the Institute of National Planning, estimated that as many as 27 per cent of all primary school pupils dropped out of school in 1993-1994. It has been suggested that the high rate of pupils giving up on education results not only from poor performance but economic deprivation. Parents cannot afford to keep their children at school, especially when a few extra pounds made by their offspring from work makes all the difference for the family's subsistence. While some governorates call for eliminating child labour altogether, others urge more flexible school hours to allow children, especially those working on the land in rural areas, to earn and learn at the same time.
Economic pressure, cited in all the governorates' papers, seems to confirm the fears of the Human Development Report that "despite government efforts at making greater budgetary allocations for education, it is possible that economic hardships may erode past achievements."
As expected, Bahaeddin pointed to private lessons as the chief problem facing the educational system. He described the lessons as the "new AIDS that threatens social peace" and urged society to fight it. But parents retort that the poor quality of education and unsatisfactory teaching methods force them to resort to private tutors.
Private lessons take up a large chunk of a family's budget. So, too, do extra-curricular books, stationery and the supposedly optional donations to a school. They all influence a poor family's decision as to whether to keep all its children at school. Despite the minister's declarations at the beginning of every school year that admission to public schools should not be contingent on the payment of fees, many schools simply ignore the instructions.
photo: Sherif Sonbol
The governorates' papers also referred to the need for more schools and complained of overcrowding and inadequate resources and infrastructure. The problem, according to the 1998 Human Development Report, is not necessarily a shortage of government resources but how to allocate and utilise them. The report said the percentage of GDP spent by the government on education is higher than the average spent by some developing countries of comparable income. In 1997-1998, the average spent on each student was LE561 (LE1,007 in urban areas and LE285 in rural areas). The government's expenditure policies, however, tend to favour higher education despite the need for investment in basic school infrastructure.
Also speaking at the education workshop was Minister of Higher Education Moufid Shehab who conceded that the standard of university graduates has dropped. He said he was aware of suggestions that the number of students accepted into universities be reduced but had decided against change. "Despite the large number of university students being enrolled in Egypt, the figure is still low when compared to many other countries."
Moreover, in addition to producing a work force for the market, higher education has an important social role to play, he said, alluding to social mobility. Shehab stated that government policy is to increase the number of students enrolled in universities and balance this with increased allocations. However, a university degree does not guarantee a job. A significant proportion of unemployed are university graduates. The average period of unemployment is 24 months.
Both Bahaeddin and Shehab urged the business community and NGOs to contribute to financing education. But given the already negligible aid from the two sides, it seems parents and pupils are more likely to foot the bill.
Related links:
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Development milestones
