A system for Sisyphus
Educators say the decision to reintroduce a sixth year of primary schooling points to serious shortcomings in Egypt's educational system. Gihan Shahine reports
Eclectic is perhaps how many people would describe Egypt's educational system. Elementary level education has come under particular scrutiny once again following Prime Minister Atef Ebeid's endorsement on 14 July of a decree by the minister of education and the National Democratic Party (NDP) to reintroduce a sixth year of primary schooling in academic year 2004/5. The upshot of that move is that some two million students who are expected to pass fifth primary during the next school year will proceed to sixth primary instead of first preparatory, as students have done for the past 15 years.
The return of sixth primary met with mixed reactions on the part of parents and educators alike. While some think an extra year would make the "highly intensive" primary curriculum easier for students to assimilate, others mourn what they see as "the wasting of a year".
Most people who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly agreed that either adding or cancelling an academic year made little difference to the education system, from which it has been said that students "gain next to nothing" and are treated like "guinea pigs".
The reinstatement of the sixth grade has also brought out in the open the matter of who actually runs the Egyptian educational system -- be it the Ministry of Education, the NDP, or parliament -- as well as raising questions about the competence of those making decisions at the national level concerning education.
Sixth primary was abolished for fiscal reasons in 1988 by the then-Minister of Education Fathi Sorour with the blessing of the People's Assembly. The education budget at that time was deemed insufficient to provide the number of classrooms and teachers needed for six years of primary schooling, and it was argued that one less year would not affect the quality of education.
Five years ago, however, Minister of Education Hussein Kamel Bahaaeddin proposed the reintroduction of the sixth year to the People's Assembly on the grounds that the budgetary situation had improved and that skipping one primary year meant many students were ill-prepared for middle school. Bahaaeddin also argued that spreading the curriculum over six years would improve students' educational experience. He said that the addition of a year would not be accompanied by the expansion of the primary curriculum.
At the time, the assembly put Bahaaeddin's proposal on hold so as to allow the ministry time to make logistical and fiscal preparations to build the approximately 41,000 classrooms necessary to accommodate students taking an extra year.
This year, though, the NDP pushed for the resumption of the sixth year, and the People's Assembly approved the proposal.
Although the ministry announced it has added only 8,000 of the classrooms needed, the cabinet, too, endorsed the decree to add the year.
Local governments have been informed that they should prepare schools for the extra grade and the ministry announced that 15,000 teachers have been trained to instruct pupils in their sixth year of primary studies.
The return of the sixth year during 2004/ 2005 will result in a very small first preparatory class, and one largely made up of students who failed to advance to the second year. Educators wonder what the fate of those students will be when they take the all-important exams at the end of secondary school, Thanawiyya Amma, that determine which colleges will accept them. Some predict that students in that year will enjoy easier access to "top" colleges that typically require high grades.
Ministry officials are studying proposals to address the matter of a small first preparatory class. One possibility under consideration is holding an additional exam for students who pass the fifth year and permitting those with the highest grades to skip the sixth and proceed directly to first preparatory.
But such a measure is not without problems. "Forcing students to sit for another exam puts too much pressure on youngsters and their parents. It will also further encourage private lessons," maintained Basma Ismael, a first primary English teacher at Al-Orouba English-language school in Maadi. "Continual and haphazard changes to the educational system are only meant to distract people from politics and inflation. I don't believe such changes will simplify or improve the education system."
Almost all the parents approached by the Weekly expressed confusion about the reasons for the measure. Some, though, were nonplussed about the ministry's vacillation over the matter. Said one, "It is entirely possible the ministry will go back on its decision by next year."
Sherine, the mother of an 11-year-old boy, expressed aggravation that her son would matriculate a year later. To make the cancelling of the sixth year possible in the first place, she said, "The ministry removed one unit from Arabic and one from science in the fourth year, which are not worth wasting an entire year over," she complained. "Besides, teachers did not use the extra time for activities or to give students hands-on experience as officials claim. The extra time meant extra leaves for teachers and useless leisure time for students. It's disastrous."
"The educational system is all messed up," agreed Inas Mohamed, the mother of two primary-school girls. Unlike Sherine, however, Mohamed is not concerned that her daughters will have an extra year if it improves their education. "The curriculum is too heavy for primary graders, lightening it a bit is a good idea," Mohamed said, expressing doubt, however, that the ministry will not actually add to the curriculum. "We'll just have to wait and see what they do," she added.
Whether an additional year will improve the quality of primary education is a subject of debate among educators.
"Students forget practically everything they learn at school," lamented Nayra Tewfiq, the director of extra- curricular and cultural activities and the community development centre at Futures School in Nasr City. For the educational system to improve, Tewfiq said, would require radical measures.
"Teachers should be properly trained and given financial incentives to abandon rote-learning techniques and [ministry] decision-makers should be better qualified for the job and have access to information on the latest methods of education," Tewfiq insisted. "The curricula should all be revised and upgraded so as to interrelate all core subjects and provide students with hands- on activities and computer skills. The first three years should be fun for young pupils -- which is unfortunately not the case under the current system."
For Hussein Wagih, associate professor of negotiating and cross-cultural communication at Al-Azhar University's Faculty of Languages, the reintroduction of the sixth grade evidences poor management, specifically the making of decisions without adequate information and a slow approach to making and implementing decisions.
"The current system is based on taking decisions through trial-and-error," Wagih said. "There is actually no normative scenario or future-oriented planning for the educational process in Egypt."
Decision-makers, Wagih added, do not have enough information on which to suggest measures to make the system more efficient and the process by which changes are made to the system lacks transparency. "Even those in the field of education do not understand why such decisions are being taken and are given no share in the management of the process, which is further evidence of the absence of democracy."
Wagih laments the fact that it took the ministry 15 years to realise that removing the sixth grade was a mistake.
"We are still busy solving problems the advanced world tackled ages ago," Wagih complained. "We are bogged down at square one when the whole world is moving at an increasingly swift pace. Survival is now for the fastest, not just the fittest, and unless we abandon this turtle-like pace, we will never be able to catch up with the world and face forthcoming challenges."
To address the current situation, Wagih suggests focussing on eradicating rote learning, developing creativity, using human resources more efficiently and enhancing team-work.
"For now, though, let's just hope the next minister of education doesn't abolish the sixth grade again," Wagih laughed.
