Soapbox:

Betrayal of conscience

By Mohsen Zahran

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The latest embarrassing disclosure of wide-scale cheating and a labyrinth of corruption in secondary education examination in Minya governorate, and perhaps elsewhere in Egypt, exposed not only flagrant deception but also a betrayal of responsibility, trust and conscience.

Officials at various levels in the education, security, health and other sectors, as well as parliamentarians, have been implicated. Although the attorney-general and his staff rushed to the scene to investigate, the episode remains scandalous to the government and the Egyptian people, for it revealed beyond doubt that the education system is in crisis. Although cheating is not new, this tragic breakdown of conscience has sent tremors everywhere in Egypt and abroad.

The sorry state of Egypt's education system has been the subject of many studies, media exposes and conferences, it being deemed unfit to propel Egypt forward and to meet the challenges of poverty, the pressing demands of population explosion, and long awaited progress and prosperity.

Corruption in education is known to involve teachers, administrators, officials, parents and society in general. It is mirrored in a heady mix of poor standards, archaic curricula, exorbitant private lessons, profit- seeking private schools and universities, poor salaries, a shortage of facilities and resources and over population. Diplomas and certificates continue to be awarded at the expense of quality of education. Students are trained in repetition and enter higher education with scant comprehension or proper learning.

This crisis is not limited to education but finds parallels in the service and production sectors, and in the political system itself. Waste and temporary fixes abound, and society continues to flounder. The current situation is akin to the bell tolling loudly -- a call for all to wake up and act conscientiously without hesitation. The nation is in danger.

Any hope for a promising future must rest on dedicated leadership to institute urgent reform, coupled with a renaissance of attitudes in service of extensive, intensive and comprehensive development on all fronts and at all levels. The time is now and the place is here.

This week's Soapbox speaker is a professor of planning at Alexandria University.