Education In Egypt

There is a gender gap in education in Egypt described as “persistent” in several sources. (Loveluck &Unicef: 2012) Let’s consider some overall statistics. The total population of Egypt is currently about 91 million. It is divided equally between sexes with about 45 million each of males and females. (Ahrahm Online: 2012) According to Unicef, the enrollment rate in primary education is 95.4% with 96.1% boys and 94.7% girls. The more disturbing statistic is that 2.8 million children between the ages of 6 and 18 have never enrolled in school or have dropped out. This represents 8.1% of children in that age group according to Unicef.org. These children don’t typically live in urban environments and often are wage earners for their families and come from poor households. They may have disabilities. Boys are enrolled in school in numbers 2.8% higher than girls nationally. As we’ve noted in past posts, quality of education is a serious challenge. Unicef.org states that less than 10% of schools (most of which are government funded) meet quality standards that have been set by, however rarely enforced, by the government. Other studies have indicated that female enrollment ratios are as much as 20% lower than for males with higher dropout rates. (Loveluck: 2013)

The title of the article accompanying this photo was “Let us Learn”: The cry of Egyptian Women (Ahram Online) http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/37923/Egypt/Politics-/“Let-Us-Learn”-the-cry-of-Egyptian-Women.aspx

We take a closer look at an area that is known as “Upper Egypt”. Beginning on the southern tip of Cairo, the massive expanse of land covers the area to the border of Sudan at Lake Nasser. This area includes severe poverty – up to 80% of the country according to The World Bank, while it has only 40% of Egypt’s population. Alarming statistics from The World Bank give a picture of the current reality for women tere:

• 70 percent of young women in Upper Egypt are jobless.
• Illiteracy rates for young people in Upper Egypt are at 17 percent, higher than the national average, with illiteracy rates for females more than twice those of males.
• Less than 4 percent of illiterate females are employed.
• Almost all young women in Upper Egypt with no formal education are jobless

On the brighter side, The World Bank article also states that, “Returns on education in Upper Egypt are high, with labor force participation rates for female university graduates as high as 58 percent, higher than the national average of 47 percent, and 84 percent for male university graduates.”*

* All statistics from World Bank, Report #71674

Revolution in Egypt has brought many fluctuations and challenges for its people. The educational system, as we have learned from previous posts, is a product of multiple factors. Leaders have changed regularly and as they’ve done so, political, economic and educational ideologies have shifted as well. Population growth has impacted the reach of governmental education funding, while other influences, such as religion or international education providers have filled the gaps and created new forces in the system. The privately funded education system, which includes private tutoring, is running side by side the state-run, dilapidated system. With this as our backdrop, we will very briefly consider the ethnic make up of Egypt, then explore educational matters of accessibility, gender equality and living with disabilities in Egypt. We look in detail at the average Egyptian’s access to private education, which is deepening the economic disparity among Egyptians issues related to gender inequality education, which is persistent, and the theory and practice of disability policies.

First a note on the ethnic landscape of Egypt: It is argued that between 91% and 99% of the inhabitants of Egypt are Egyptian. (Lewis: 2011) They are by far the largest ethnic group, however there are subtleties in language classification that are quite complex. Because other topics garner much more debate, public attention and criticism, especially in light of Egypt’s revolution, language will not be further addressed in this study and we will consider access to education.

Quality, private education is available to Egyptians if they can pay for it. The private system, with better teaching resources and spacious, well-kept schools, offers education that is far superior to government-funded schools. Access to quality jobs is easier with private school degrees as graduates are considered “better prepared” for the job market. (Loveluck: 2012) With a somewhat broken public education system that is quite fragmented, lacking a working, honor driven holistic governmental plan, issues like equity, gender equality and disability education are perhaps not given the highest priority in day to day matters.

Let’s consider who can afford private education in Egypt. Compare the average Egyptian salaries on the chart below to the cost of private education from three English language private schools operating in Cairo, Egypt.

CIEsalaryEgypt

Now take a look at a cost comparison of three private English schools in Cairo.

PrivateSchoolComparison

Based on the comparisons, we see that the tuition for the New Cairo British School for the 2011-2012 year was the equivalent of $18,298.91 US dollars, or $127,483.00 Egyptian Pounds.

See the graph below listing common salaries. It appears that the survey was conducted by use of the data from the 429 people who responded to this web site. The data crosses multiple professions, and shows minimum and maximum salaries for all cases listed, along with mean and median salaries from the respondents. (Salary Explorer: 2012)

2011-2012 Data Multiple Professions

Annual Salary (429 cases)
converted to USD

Minimum $ 1893.00
Mean $ 11,708.17
Median $ 8604.94
Maximum $ 43,045.01

Annual Salary by profession

Accounting and Finance professional
$9421.92 USD

Teacher
$3,372USD*to $22,297.25**

Real Estate & Development Professional
$43,045.01

Median Cost of Private Education $11,192.00***

The School cited in the statistic: Canadian International School of Egypt

(* Loveluck: 2012, **Salary Survey: ***2012,ebookbrowse, CISE: 2012 )

It is clear that the average Egyptian would have trouble paying for private education and is therefore forced to attend government schools. Their education is considered of “lesser quality”, resulting in fewer job opportunities.(Loveluck: 2012) According to a recent World Bank Report focused on Egyptian Youth in one of the highest poverty stricken areas in Egypt, “Private tuition is the single largest expense faced by households with children in school. Neither young people nor their parents feel that they are allowed any role in improving the quality of teaching, and this lack of community involvement appears to be one of the main reasons for the deteriorating quality of public education.” (World Bank: 2012)

We can therefore conclude that the current system is perpetuating economic inequality, but echoing the ideas of Egyptian MIIS student Fatema Talaat Fouda, perhaps we should not have different expectations in systems that promote the free market. (Fouda: 2012)

I conducted an email interview with MIIS student Fatema Talaat Fouda in May, 2013 on the topic of education and accessibility, gender issues and disability. Here is what she told me:

PL: With the current system in Egypt (public, private and religious lines of education) do you feel that all Egyptians (all economic classes) have equal access to quality education? If so, why?

FTF: All Egyptians have access to education for free since the 1952 as it was one of its six mandates but the quality of education everyone is offered for free to is really questionable. Good quality education is hard to find and if found, it will only be found in the private schools. Private school fees can range from $ 400 – $ 10,000 per year and the fees will be proportion to the quality of education.

PL: Do you see that the current system supports inequality?
FTF: Yes it supports inequality but is not that free market in all types of industry?

PL: What could eventually overcome inequality?

FTF: I don’t think that the government can offer the $ 10, 000 quality education to all for free anyway but I believe that major improvements can be done to current system in terms of process and context to ensure that the money spent on education is money well spent at least.

PL: Do you see a gender gap in education? Specifically, do you think boys are more likely to be educated than girls? Why or why not?

FTF: I believe in rural areas that might be true as parents might send out one kid (usually the boy) to school under economic pressures. For example, even if the school is for free, it might be costly to incur transportation costs for multiple kids. I believe families from this socioeconomic class will always prefer males. It should be mentioned that the legal system ensures equal access to both sex with no differentiation.

PL: How are people with disabilities currently perceived in the Egyptian education system? What about in society in general? Are there special schools? Or are people with disabilities ever taught beside people without disabilities?

FTF: I have no idea about special disabilities in schools but in society in general, there are witnessed improvements on how disabilities are perceived. Every workplace is obliged to employ at least 5% of its work from the disabilities sector but I don’t have further information on the subject.

“Most of the problems are well known; the issue is fundamentally one of political will. Improving education is of great importance to the public, but overhauling the large bureaucracy is a difficult task. Senior business people can and should press Egypt’s newly elected parliamentarians and forthcoming new government to tackle the challenges of the education system with urgency.”

Chatham House
MENA Programme: Meeting Summary
“Education in Egypt”
January 2012

Egypt is in the midst of a revolution where the ruling party is reexamining every aspect of life. The recently elected Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has never been mentioned in history books or educational texts, as it didn’t exist. It’s another pivotal moment in history for a country whose major transitions have impacted not only its own citizens, but also people of the Middle East region and the rest of the world. Decisions made today become part of the changing face of the Middle East, as it navigates the era of “the Arab Spring”, a period which Foreign Affairs Magazine has likened to “a pan-Arab awakening” (Ajami: 2011) We will look at Egypt specifically through the lens of education and consider some disturbing trends. We will see how shifting policy and political change have shaped the complicated educational landscape today. We’ll identify the structure and features of the education system in our effort to understand the multiple challenges facing Egyptian educators, policy makers, students and families.

There was a period not too long ago when Egypt’s well-trained professors and teachers set the professional education standards for the Middle East. Many were recruited to neighboring countries, lured by higher wages and the accompanying prestige, as outside educators looked to them as role models for effective teaching practices. The educational picture looks vastly different today. In state run schools, students can show up to class to find no teacher and teachers can show up to find the majority of their students missing without repercussions on either side. Students feel that they aren’t missing much; they will prepare for state administered tests with private tutors. Many teachers care about their students and their responsibility to prepare them for the future, while others support learning for test taking results alone. Some withhold their knowledge for a tutoring venue where they’ll receive higher pay than in school. Others allow cheating to take place unchallenged. Students and teachers alike are quoted as saying that they don’t need to know the materials; they simply need to pass the test. Stories of corruption, physical and psychological abuses are emerging. Some teachers being paid as low as the equivalent of sixty-seven cents per day in poorer neighborhoods (Sobhy: 2012). Teaching, at least in some parts of the Egyptian education system, has lost its moral compass and its position as a respected art in the region.

These are unfortunate trends inherent in parts of the public Egyptian education system. Meanwhile in the private sector, educational institutions are thriving, with teachers making a living wage. The lack of quality education in government funded public schooling has forced the whole system to right itself through a more capitalistic mode of operation that serves the laws of supply and demand. The societal impact is the expansion and reinforcement of class distinctions in education, employment, and daily life. Illiteracy has been an ever-present theme in Egyptian culture, particularly during times of the British Occupation, which only ended officially in 1952. While difficult to measure, recent estimates place overall illiteracy rates at about 1/3 of the population (Fakhouri: 2010). With strong leadership and clear focus on literacy it will take many decades to balance inequities in society, but unfortunately leadership direction and consistency have not traditionally gone hand in hand in Egypt. How did Egyptian education fall from its highly regarded place of respect to its current state?

Regime change has been a constant in Egyptian life. The Egyptian people have experienced multiple leaders in the last 150+ years, and have been forced to adapt to the inevitable policy changes that accompany governmental change. This concept was introduced in the first project and will be addressed more deeply here. Specifically in education, the constant change mimics shifting sands, where the wind of change gives shape to a new, appealing form that is subsequently blown to dust by the next storm. Citizens experienced everything from state funded free schooling, which had the masses flocking to educational institutions, to the abandonment of the social system of education and a required free structure during British occupancy. The British wished to provide quality higher education solely to an elite sector that would mainly support the rule of the Monarchy. Not surprisingly, a period of Arab Nationalism followed, with multiple social programs under Gamal Abdel Nassar. Free education returned with the promise of government jobs for all university graduates. Civic pride was renewed, and a cohesive Egyptian voice emerged. Nasser’s programs endeared him to the public but did not prepare the country for the resulting economic shortfall or the next wave of change, which took place a short 15 years later.

Nasser died unexpectedly of a heart attack, making his second in command, Anwar Sadat, Egypt’s new leader. To address the strain on the economy from Nasser’s social programs, Sadat opened the country to foreign investment, including private international schools, more liberal policies, and a peace treaty with Israel. He did not live long to see the fruits of his labor, as fundamentalists whose resurgence began during Nasser’s tenure, assassinated him.

Hosni Mubarak took his place, serving as Egypt’s leader until 2011. He inherited a weary population with a very complex social make up. Society had varying degrees of religious fervor, high illiteracy rates, and strong class distinctions primarily as a result of the educational system itself. A brief review of the structure of that system is in order, as it is the system that still exists today. Then we will consider the impact of Mubarak’s leadership, bringing us to a current state of education today.

The Egyptian educational structure is quite similar to the American one. Children attend Kindergarten, though for two years, then primary (elementary), preparatory (middle school or junior high). This is compulsory schooling. It is followed by secondary school (high school). If a child completes this level of education (and many do not as they are pulled into the work force to support large families) parents have three choices. They can select state-funded religious education, and as most Egyptians are Muslim, it’s based on the Quran, and feeds into a state funded religious university founded in 972 called Al-Azhar Mosque. The second option is the over-burdened, state funded General School system. It falls under the central direction of the Ministry of Education (MOE), which dictates what will be learned and when through prescribed lessons. For those who can afford it, private schooling is the third alternative. Private schooling can cost many times the average Egyptian’s salary and the growth of the private education industry has served to deepen class structure in Egyptian life. Wealthier families’ students enjoy smaller class sizes in well-maintained buildings with key features such as technology, access to the arts, sports, and foreign language. Private university graduates also have better access to well-paying jobs, as society places high emphasis on standardized test scores and credentials, with less concern for critical thinking or lifelong learning.

All private schools loosely follow the specific curriculum designed by the MOE, but state funded schools are more rigid in instruction, allowing little flexibility in lesson planning. Government inspectors come periodically to the classroom to ensure compliance with state-approved materials, which can be politically motivated. With this understanding, we return to the events that impacted the educational climate of Egypt.

During Mubarak’s time, the state funded education system became the victim of economics, as the population expanded at an alarming rate – approximately 105,000 births per month from 1985 to 2000 (Hartmann: 2008). The Egyptian people of Mubarak’s era were accustomed to state-paid education and other subsidies, but had also sampled the opportunities of the free-market economy and the potential for entrepreneurialism, creating a desire to have the best of both worlds.

It would have taken forward thinking leadership and very serious financial commitment to keep the state funded education system in tact during this period. Mubarak opted to allow privatization to fund Egyptian education as a means of relieving economic burden, a choice that heavily impacts society even today. Instead of investing in the existing infrastructure, state funded education expenditures were kept constant, while classroom sizes doubled, placing 40-50 students in a space designed for 25. Teacher training standards were relaxed to meet the demands of the expanded classroom, birthing a system of decline in the quality and reputation of instruction. Combined with low wages and low teacher self-esteem, professional standards and respect for the craft eroded. As infrastructure has crumbled, corruption, sometimes at the hands of the Ministry of Education itself, has followed. (Sobhy: 2012).

Only the wealthy flocked to private or international schools leaving the majority of the population, teachers and the state system to support multiple times the people it was ever designed to accommodate. Families, desperate to provide quality education to their children, became committed to the growing idea of private tutoring, and/or committing large portions of their family income to private education. Tutoring itself has become a kind of educational track of its own, where most students commit to some form of it throughout their schooling, to make up for deficiencies in the system or to feed the social norm that “we are getting behind if we’re not being tutored” (Fouda: 2013). Teachers have participated in the perpetuation of the tutoring system, seeing it as an option to increase their pay. In some cases, teachers teach to the standardized tests only in tutoring sessions, in effect coercing students to pay for the additional services. The MOE has unofficially supported tutoring by allowing teachers to “teach to the test” that they administer only in tutor sessions as opposed to in classrooms. They have not required accountability or penalties for lack of attendance. They have insisted that students purchase MOE authored texts, which are rarely used. (Sobhy: 2012) In poorer schools, physical violence and psychological abuse have been reported as tactics by teachers to force tutoring and insure their own livelihood. (Sobhy: 2012)

All schools rely heavily on rote memorization and test taking. At the conclusion of secondary school, standardized tests are administered in Egypt, the results of which will determine a child’s future. The importance of these scores in this system cannot be underestimated. Many will begin working in unskilled labor due to the lack of quality education in poor or rural areas, and could still be functionally illiterate by international standards. Others will go to vocational schools, preparing for a specific trade. These schools are not highly regarded for producing students ready to face the current demands of the workforce. Depending on the success of his or her scores, or the ability of his or her parents to pay for education, a student will either have the opportunity to go to university (state funded, state funded religious or private). In the secular universities, they will be divided into groups for the study of medicine and engineering or the humanities. For private university acceptance, students must not only be able to pay for the education, but also meet narrow criteria as defined by the school. For example, the New Cairo British International School will not accept more than 50% Egyptians in their school, and in years where applicant numbers are significantly higher than available seats, priority is given to British citizens, who have some affiliation with Shell Oil, as the company has donated significant funding to the school. With multiple private institutions promoting their own philosophies and cultures, a broken state system, rising unemployment, illiteracy, and poverty, Egyptian education is in desperate need of reform. Without an overarching government plan for the growth of the nation, multiple influences are impacting the fabric of Egyptian society. The country is grappling with its future on a grand scale, and education is merely one aspect of it.

For education specifically, analysts are very concerned about the emphasis on test taking, memorization, tracks, and university admissions policies. These practices have bred a general tendency toward a workforce lacking in “soft skills” such as critical thinking, problem, solving, and working together in teams. This is the topic of many educations forums today. Interestingly,in the midst of all of this chaos, revisions to texts are a high priority. In March of 2012 the MOE made public plans to remove 20% of sections from existing texts as they promoted the Mubarak regime’s successes. (Loveluck: 2012) They will also need to make mention of themselves, as Mohamed Morsi’s Freedom and Justice Party did not exist when textbooks were last printed. It was formed in 2011 by members of the Muslim Brotherhood after Mubarak’s fall.

Today, parts of the education sector are thriving, mainly where citizens can pay for their schooling. Other parts, typically available to the less fortunate, are caught in a broken system. But despite the current educational climate, the revolution has brought hope to many. A teacher recently interviewed in Egypt noted that for the first time students were finding their voices in expressing dissent, and the discussions of the political climate were happening between classes. She noted that this is something that never would have taken place before the revolution. (Kamal: 2013) We can only hope that the conversations will continue and that this new chapter in Egyptian history will bring reform not only to education but many other aspects of life as well.

Project 2 Sources:

Fahmy, Amina, Salehi-Isfahani, Djaved, Dhillon, Navtej, Brookings Institute, “Egypt’s Education System: Parents and Students Emerge as a New Force for Reform, Oct. 1, 2008.

Fakhouri, Hani, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan, Flint, Michigan. Middle East Today newsletter.“The Chronic Dilemma of Egypt’s Educational System”, Sept. 10, 2010.

Hartmann, Sarah, “The Informal Market of Education in Egypt. Private Tutoring and Its Implications”, Gutenberg Universitat Mainz, Institut fur Ethnologie und Afrikanstudien, Arbeitspapiere Nr. 88, 2008.

Ginsburg, M., Megahad, N.(2011) Globalization and the reform of faculties of education in Egypt: The roles of individual and organizational, national and international actors. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 19 (15) Retreived by MIIS Fall 2013, from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/795

Chatham House, MENA Programme: Meeting Summary, “Education in Egypt”, Jan. 2012.
http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/Middle%20East/0112egyptedu_summary.pdf

Loveluck,Louisa, Chatham House, Background Paper, Education in Egypt: Key Challenges, March 2012.

Sohby, Hania (2012): The De-Facto Privatization of Secondary Education in Egypt: a Study of Private Tutoring in Technical and General Schools, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 42:1, 47-67.

New Cairo British School, http://www.docstoc.com/docs/48383561/NEW-CAIRO-BRITISH-INTERNATIONAL-SCHOOL

Currency conversions: http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/
Ajami,Fouad, Foreign Policy, “The Arab Spring at One: A Year of Living Dangerously.March/April 2012. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/137053/fouad-ajami/the-arab-spring-at-one

Bard,Mitchell,Jewish Virtual Library, “Egypt Makes Peace with Israel”, The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2013. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/peace_with_Egypt.html

Kamal, Aya, email interview by Paula Larink, translated by Fatema Fouda. April 2013

Fouda, Fatema, interviewed by Paula Larink, April 2013

This email interview was conducted in April 2013, between Paula Larink (PL), and twenty-six year old Aya Kamal (AK), a teacher in Cairo, Egypt. Fatema Talaat Fouda, a visiting student from Cairo University who is studying in the MBA program at MIIS, graciously translated the email.

PL: How long have you been a teacher in Egypt?
AK: I’ve been a teacher for five years.

PL: What kind of a school do you teach in?
AK: I teach in a private language school. I teach to KG1 and KG2 [Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2].

PL: Do you conduct any private tutoring? If yes, where does the tutoring take place?
AK: No I don’t. Many of my friends do though, and it usually takes place in the kids’ home.

PL: How important is tutoring overall in Egyptian education?
AK: Private tutoring is important for limited numbers of the students, since they usually don’t comprehend everything in the classroom and teachers’ availability outside of the class room is very limited. I noticed that many parents use private tutors in order to make up for their lack of effort toward their kids education – in a way to reduce their guilt.

PL: What training did you have to undergo to become a teacher?
AK: I have a Bachelor of Science degree from the faculty of kindergarten, Cairo University, so I don’t need to take the government training that constitute a prerequisite for working as a teacher. Colleagues with no degree in teaching though had to take some training to work as teachers.

PL: What do you like most about your work?
AK: I like dealing with the kids and how fascinating their opinions turn to be. It is very significant for me that the kindergarten stage is a fundamental stage for his/her life.

PL: What is most difficult in your work?
AK: The number of kids in my class can reach 36, which is a huge number for the kindergarten stage. It makes it hard to complete the class ensuring that every kid got what he deserved.

PL: Are there requirements for your teaching? For example, are there certain subjects you must teach in a standard way that all teachers in Egypt teach? If yes, does anyone check on you to be sure that you do what you need to do?
AK: Well, the curriculum is determined by the central administration and we often receive visits to ensure that we follow the curriculum, textbooks and exercise books. There are still some standards that are not enforced and can be arranged by the teachers’ initiative like field visits.

PL: If there were anything you could change about your profession, what would it be?
AK: I would wish that my job (or any job) is less prescribed and less routine. Also, I wish that the curriculum allowed for more interaction and activities with the students rather than indoctrination.

PL: Has an educational non-governmental organization ever worked in your school or in a school you’re familiar with? How did it work out? What changed as a result?
AK: No! I did not hear of already established private or public schools working with NGOs. However, many NGOs work, usually on their own or with minimal government support and supervision, to bridge the education gap that is growing in many underserved areas, especially rural areas.

Fatema found the link to one of these schools, established by an NGO, in the heart of Cairo to help the garbage collector community. Here is the link:
http://garbagedreams.com/downloads/Spirit_of_Youth_Brochure.pdf

PL: How has the revolution impacted education so far?
AK: Well, there are some insignificant changes to the curriculum itself. As with many changes of government, each new regime feels that they have to leave their print.

Significant changes though happened to the school environment as part of the changes that happen to society. Students are able to speak up for themselves more than ever. Side discussions between class sessions among students as well as among teachers often include discussion of the political situation with such diverse opinions! Students’ discussions can include criticisms of the presidents’ decisions! That is a thing that you could have never seen in the past.

A funny story that happened in another school was when the school decided to give the students one break instead of two, the grade four and five students arranged themselves in a kind of demonstration chanting against the changes, “We want two breaks! We want two breaks!” I can’t wait to see this generation that learned to speak up for itself since its early stages – what they are they going to be like in the future.

PL: If you could change anything in Egypt’s education system, what would it be?
AK: As I mentioned before, the most important thing for me is to change or arrange the curriculum so it is less dependent on memorization and more dependent on problem solving and engaging with students, encouraging them to interpret the material critically!

[middmedia plarink plarink Cairo%20University%20.mp4 width:400 height:300]

Walking around campus at the American University of Cairo during the MIIS faculty visit

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