18 - 24 January 2001
Issue No.517
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 18 - 24 January 2001 Issue No.517 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Child torture
By May El-Rakhawi *
Discussing education increasingly resembles an exercise in futility for, however much has been written on educational issues, action has not been taken. Commentators complain about the problems of the curriculum, but the authorities have done nothing. No amount of writing, it seems, will bring about the desired reforms. But one must keep fighting hopefully, however uncertain the prospects.
To delve into issues of rote learning and cramming would be superfluous. What is the curriculum doing to our children, though? The imperative of memorisation kills any creative impulse and renders material not only irrelevant but, apart from the amount of memorisation involved, virtually interchangeable. This is impeding our children's growth, and therefore social development. Studying for exams has become one long exercise in agony. It is poisoning our children's lives. Family get-togethers, bed-time and leisure activities: despite their overriding importance, all these are sacrificed to exams. The end result is inevitably a life-long revulsion for formal education and all that one has "learned" in one's school years. Exams are making Egyptian families miserable. Yet education officials have refused to do anything at all about this.
A recent example of such disregard is the fact that the mid-year exams were held directly after the Muslim Eid and through the Coptic Eid, followed by a three- to four-week midyear vacation -- a development that has prevented children from celebrating any Eid at all. Why is this necessary?
* This week's Soapbox speaker is a specialist in child psychology.
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