Making the grade
As summer holidays approach, students are scrambling to prepare for end-of-the-year exams. Yasmine El-Rashidi investigates how students and their families are coping with the demands
"Exam time is hell," says Murad Mustafa, a banker who has three school-aged children. "Chaos", he exclaims, shaking his head. "Everyone in the house is screaming -- my wife, the children, the teachers that come for the children, the household helpers."
In addition to the onerous academic requirements for students, Mustafa says that Egypt's educational system places heavy financial burdens on students' families, many of whom hire private tutors to prepare their children for final exams.
"I have a good salary and am lucky that I can give my family a comfortable life, but during exam time you do feel the pressure." During final exams, household expenses often increase because of the fees for private lessons. Mustafa's family, for example, spends an extra LE300 a week.
"That's over LE1,000 more in expenses per month!" he says. "It's impossible not to feel it. And like I said, I am privileged with the opportunities I have. My bawab's daughter failed the year."
In Mustafa's opinion, she failed not because she didn't want to study but because her father simply did not have the financial means to pay for additional tutoring.
"These magami' al-taqwya (revision/strengthening lessons) are out of my budget," Amm Mohamed, Mustafa's bawab, says. "I have three daughters and a son. I can't afford to pay all the extra money."
For Mohamed, the extra fees associated with preparing for exams add up to approximately LE120 per month.
"I make LE400 a month," he says. "How can I be expected to pay LE120? And that's just for one daughter!"
The despair on his face is clearly marked by the wrinkles spreading across his forehead.
"If my children fail," he says, "there's really nothing I can do. Without the lessons, there is no way they will pass."
Mustafa explains, "That's how the education system works now, through private lessons and these magami' al-taqwya. The teachers aren't really teaching much in school, so the children are forced to stay after school and come in the evenings for the [tutoring] groups they've created. The public and private schools operate in a similar way, the only difference being that in public schools the lessons are actually organised by the school -- by the Ministry of Education."
According to some parents, private lessons form the core means of disseminating knowledge for the teachers. The fees from private lessons are divided; approximately 50 per cent go to the teacher and the rest is divided among education officials, including those in the higher ranks of the Ministry of Education.
"They're making good money out of this," Mustafa says, adding that it is "absolutely legal... however, it means that some children aren't getting the education and opportunity they deserve."
Many parents are unhappy with the situation because those who cannot afford private classes face a significant disadvantage at exam time.
"Someone like Amm Mohamed wants his daughter to pass [the exams] and wants her to be in school and do well, but you have to prioritise," says Mustafa.
"What am I going to do, pay for the lessons and not feed my family?" asks Amm Mohamed, shrugging his shoulders in frustrated discontent.
"As a father, it's very difficult to be in my position," he laments. "It's my daughter's right to go to school and have a good education. It's her right to get a good free education, as well. Instead of making us pay extra for private lessons, they should just make us pay school fees. At least that way you know exactly what you are getting."
The teachers, of course, have other thoughts.
Madame Suzanne, who teaches private mathematics classes, says the extra fees for private lessons are justifiable. "Any public education system needs to obtain money from somewhere," she says. "This is how the Egyptian system is getting it. There are salaries to pay. The free system gives students a basic service -- a fundamental level of knowledge and information. Anything beyond that is an additional service. That's why the extra classes must be paid for. It's common knowledge. It's a concrete part of the educational system."
"The problem is the sources of funding," Mustafa says. "Abroad, the words 'public school' imply quality education -- free quality education. The quality is high because the teachers are well paid from other sources of funding. People pay taxes. Other economies are better, and if more money is needed, it comes from the government or from foundations, not from the people that are being offered a service which is meant to be their basic right. Children go to school and learn there. The afternoons are for a little homework, a little studying and some activities. It seems simple enough."
Regardless of the sources of funding, lifestyles during this time of year are radically altered for both students and their families. Exams take precedence over all other events. Activities are cancelled, exercise programmes are put on hold, and family routines are disrupted.
"During exam time everything else stops," says Titi Saad, mother of two teenage girls. "It's a must. The girls need to focus on their studies. After that, they can have fun."
To mothers like Titi, focussing on studies means hours of studying after the regular school day.
"They come home, have lunch and rest for a little bit. Then, their private teachers come. At around seven or eight, they finish their lessons, have dinner and then study. Of course they waste time," she continues, "so there's no way they can go to the club for an hour and play sports. That would waste even more time."
On a cool May night in the basement of an old Zamalek villa, a young girl is surrounded by her books. "I have exams," Amal says. "I'll sleep a bit later."
Amal is 10 years old. Her father, keeper of the villa, is unable to pay for all the extra lessons she needs, so she studies for hours alone.
"If I don't study this much I'll fail," she says. "I usually sleep at midnight or 1am. I study about 10 hours a day."
Poring over her lessons by herself is the only way this little girl believes she can pass her exams and succeed in her education. She is scrawny and pale, and her body craves sleep.
"Exams are very stressful for the family," her mother, Aisha, says. "The more she studies, the better she'll do. She's a good girl. She goes to school and works hard." She has no private teacher, however, nor guidance in her studying.
"We could pay for her lessons," her mother says. "But then we won't live. We can't afford to do both."
Many find themselves in a similar predicament. And with Egypt's demanding exam system, many students make sacrifices and plunge into their lessons, papers and books.
"It's too extreme," says Mustafa. "We're basically asking our children to memorise... They spend hours and hours learning. They go into the exam, write out everything they remember, and the minute they walk out of the exam room it's gone."
"This system suits my daughter perfectly," Mustafa laughs. "She doesn't really want to think. But when you think of it in the context of a whole country...that's something scary."
