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"The EGYPTION EDUCATION SYSTEM" Education reform Movements ECONOMIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 30th OCT to 31st NOV 2007-Malisia PRESENTED BY: ABEER EL FIEKY LEGAL AFFAR RESERCHER CENTRAL AGENCY FOR ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION EGYPT 2007

Abeer Elfieky, Egypt Economic Planning & Management Malaysia, 2007

Table of Contents

Page 1.Introduction 2.Education system and stages 2.1 Basic and primary Education stages 2.2 Secondary Education
3 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 9 10 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 15 16 17

General Secondary Education (Thanawya) Technical Secondary Education Azhar Education System 3. Tayp of Egyptian schools 3.1GovernmentSchools 3.2 Private Schools 4. Post-Secondry Education 4.1 Public Universities 4.2 Private Universities 4.3 Admission 4.4 Funding 4.5 University Life 5. Females Education 6. Education problems 6.1 Vocational Education problems 6.2 Higher Education Problems 6.3 Education Financial Problems 6.4 Training, capacity, curriculum and equipments 6.5 Females Educational problems 7.What needs to be done? 8.Movemensts have been taken

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8.1 Education Reform Program 8.2 UNICEF 8.3Females educational Improvements 9. Summary
17 17 19 22

1. Introduction
Illiteracy is the most difficult problem facing our society it is not just a challenge to education, but is also a tremendous stigma; as well as a tremendous waste of the capabilities and potential of the present and future.It is represents an obstacle to social progress and prosperity and we must get rid of it as soon as possible. What ever the cost of defining illiteracy will remain much lower than the country losses from economic, social, and political illiteracy. It may be worth mention that the percentage of illiterate women is higher than the percentage of illiterates and this prompts to direct special attention to female literacy, because of their significant impact on the evolution of society and youth education.

Over the 1990s the principle of education for all begins at the global level, this principle was a reflection of the global effort to grow continually under joint recognition since education was considered as a human right, and so is the view today that it is part of human development and that it is necessary for the protection of groups as it is add important benefits for the individual and society. One of the key factors in the progress of nations is the decline in the female illiteracy rate; obvious example for that is Japan. The percentage of female illiteracy in Japan up to 0%, and the Japanese mothers are foundations supporting their children in education and considered as a password of real revival in Japan's education system. Womens education is considered as The most single influential investment that can be made in the developing world. many governments now support womens education not only to foster economic growth, but also to promote smaller families, increase modern contraceptive use, and improve child health. It is strongly believed, that education of females provides substantial benefits for girls and women, their families and the societies in general. Meanwhile, it is an important means for better employment opportunities; it leads to the transfer of females from low paying, low productive activities to activities of higher economic value because Women with more schooling tend to have smaller, healthier families. Throughout the world, more education is associated with smaller family size that will have effect on the ability of women to contribute to the labor market which well led at the end to effective economic growth. Concerning the educational status of Egyptian women, despite the fact that Egypt started public education for girls from the mid nineteenth century, female illiteracy in Egypt is one of the highest in the Middle East in comparison to other countries, especially the Gulf countries, which just started the education of women in the mid of this century. The relationship between education and employment for women is indirect, the reason behind this is that other socio economic factors "in addition to education" affect the employment status of women, which have to be taken in consideration while implementing a policy for educational and employment promotion of
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women. There is no doubt that women are half of Egyptian society and sponsor the other half, Therefore, the governmental and nongovernmental organizations doubling the effort to strengthen the role of Egyptian women to increase their participation in economic and social development in Egypt. Due to specific gender policies females access to certain types of secondary vocational schooling is restricted. Nevertheless, inadequate vocational training for women placed them in a subordinate position in the labor market, especially after privatization and the attempt to release some workers from the public sector and retrain them. Females in secondary education are concentrated in commercial education and general secondary education at the expense of vocational training. This is a natural consequence of some prevailing norms, as general education is considered the appropriate education for girls. As a result girls are usually restricted to sectors, which are more vulnerable to decrease of economic crisis. Although the education of women is considered to be very important, most Egyptians believe that the Egyptian educational system does not have the capacity to provide anyone, men or women, with an adequate education. While many Egyptians feel positive about the recent efforts to expand adult literacy programs they do not consider the public school system to be efficient. The strategy of educational reform in Egypt is a prospective dual strategy which stresses education as one of the basic human rights that exerts benefit to the citizen and the country. Providing access to basic education of all citizens is forms an essential part in the development processes that are designed to achieve National Security, manpower development and facing the challenges and unexpected changes of the future.

- The purpose of this paper is to discuss the status of the Egyptian education system in general, highlighting the conditions of females 'education, education problems in general and female education problems in particularly and what steps the government had been taken to improve the statue of education. Due to the limited data and time frame the report depended on existing available documentation as well as date.

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Abeer Elfieky, Egypt Economic Planning & Management Malaysia, 2007

2- Education system and stages

Education is very important for individuals as it is for countries, it has been considered as a human right and it is part of human development and that it is necessary for the protection of individuals and societies. The Egyptian educational system is highly centralized, and is divided into three stages: Basic and Primary Education Stage-(Arabic: Marhalet Al-Taaleem Al-Asassi) Secondary Education (Marhalet ElTaaleem Al-Thanawi). Post-Secondary Education

2.1 Basic and primary Education stage:

Primary school in Egypt is institutions where children receive the first stage of compulsory education. Children are mandated to attend primary school by law since the extension of the free compulsory education law in 1981. The preparatory phase; both the primary and preparatory phases (Ages 6 through 15) have been combined together under the label Basic Education. Education beyond this stage depends on the student's ability. The vast majority of children do attend but some working children and street children do not attend. A primary school exam is taken at the end of the sixth year of schooling to test students' basic knowledge. The preparatory school exam at the end of the 9th year will determine which school the student moves on to. Students with high scores continue on to a general secondary school, which qualifies them to attend universities later. Those with low scores are directed to technical secondary schools, where students study commercial, industrial, or agricultural education and pursue careers as technicians, salespeople, secretaries, etc. In the general secondary education, students choose either the science, mathematics, or arts branch after their first year.

2.2 Secondary Education

It is the final stage of compulsory education, preceded by primary education and followed by higher education. It is characterized by transition from the typically compulsory, comprehensive primary education for minors to the optional, selective tertiary, "postsecondary", or "higher" education (e.g., university, vocational school) for adults. The boundary between Egyptian primary and secondary education in generally is around the fifth to the twelve year of education. Secondary education occurs mainly during the teenage years. The Secondary School Certificate Exam is the most important and is taken in the last two years of secondary schooling. Students study eight different courses each year. The exam is administered nation-wide and is based on this coursework. University admittance is dependent upon the results of this exam - a student should obtain at least 94% in the science branch to get into medical school, and 91% in the mathematics branch to get into engineering. Female students in Egypt get better grades and achieve more success
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than males, as well as occupy most of the top ranks in all the general exams in all stages of education. The purpose of secondary education can be to give common knowledge, to prepare for either higher education or vocational education, or to train directly to a profession. Secondary consists of three different types: general, technical, and vocational.

General Secondary Education (Thanawya)

Students in the first year study both humanities and scientific subjects, At the end of the year, and on the basis of their grades, students enter one of three streams in which he/she will study for the next two years: humanistic, scientific, or mathematical, each with its specific curricular focus, although some subjects, such as Arabic and Religious Education, are taught in all streams. - Since this system is known to impose marvelous psychological and financial stress on the students and their families, refining or even overhauling the entire system is always on the agenda of every Minister of Education. A new Secondary Education system is being proposed and in a current advanced stage of planning. The new system has many similarities with the American High school diploma providing more choices in the student in choosing the academic courses. Technical Secondary Education - Technical education, which is provided in three-year and fiveyear programs, includes schools in three different fields: industrial, commercial and agricultural. Vocational education prepares learners for careers that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation, hence the term in which the learner participates. It is sometimes referred to as technical education, as the learner directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques or technology. It is considered in its own form to fall under the traditional definition of a higher education. Moreover one of the critical problems facing the Egyptian economy during globalization is the status of the technical and vocational training in Egypt. This kind of education is facing several problems such as shortages in qualified teachers and instructors; outdated programs, outdated curricula, training material and teaching methods; and lack of flexibility with failure to adjust in the face of increasing modernity, new technological developments, emerging new occupations and changing existing occupational and job profiles, lack of an accreditation and certification system and high drop outs. In general the objectives of technical education and vocational training were to set the qualifications needs and manpower distribution of graduates and school-leavers in line with their training and employment. Besides technical education in secondary schools, which is affiliated to the Ministry of Education and post-secondary technical education in Technical Institutes (Ministry of Higher Education) there are more than 3468 vocational

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training centers (VTCs) with different standards, curricula and systems supervised by several Ministries. -However, as the labor market becomes more specialized and economies demand higher levels of skills, governments and businesses are increasingly investing in the future of vocational education through publicly funded training organizations and subsidized apprenticeship or traineeship initiatives for businesses. Vocational education has diversified over the 20th century and now exists in industries such as retail, tourism, information technology services and cosmetics, as well as in the traditional crafts and cottage industries.

Azhar Education System: The Azhar education system is supervised by the Supreme Council of the Al-Azhar Institution. The Al-Azhar Institution itself is nominally independent from the Ministry of Education, but is ultimately under supervision by the Egyptian Prime Minister. The Azhar schools are named "Institutes" and include primary, preparatory, and secondary phases. All schools in all phases teach non-religious subjects, to a certain degree, although not as intensively as the state schools. All the students are Muslim, and males and females are separated in all phases. The Azhar schools are spread all over the country, especially in rural areas. The graduates of the Azhar secondary schools are eligible to continue their studies only at the Al-Azhar University. In the early 2000s, the Azhar schools accounted for less than 4% of the total enrollment.

3.Types of Egyptian Schools

3.1 Government Schools Generally speaking, there are two types of government schools: Arabic Schools and Experimental Language Schools. The Arabic Schools provide the governmental national curriculum in the Arabic Language. The Experimental Language Schools (Tagrybi) teach most of the government curriculum in English, and add French as a second foreign language. Private Schools Ordinary Schools,

3.2

There are three types of private schools: Language Schools, and Religious Schools.

The curriculum of the Ordinary schools is quite similar to that of the government schools, but the private schools pay more

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attention to the students' personal needs and to the school facilities.

The Language schools teach most of the government curriculum in English, and add French or German as a second foreign language. They are considered to be much better than the other schools but their fees are much higher. Some of these schools use French or German as their main language of instruction. Many of the private schools were built by missionaries, are currently affiliated with churches and provide quality education. lots of private schools offer additional educational programs, along with the national curriculum, such as the American High School Diploma, the British IGCSE system, the French baccalaurat, the German Abitur and the International Baccalaureate. The Religious Schools are religiously oriented private schools that are sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood movement, especially in the western delta region. Their curricula differ from those of the state or the Azhar schools.

4.

Post-Secondary institutes)

Education

(universities

and

higher

There are both private and public institutions of higher education in Egypt. Public higher education is free in Egypt, and Egyptian students only pay registration fees. Private education is much more expensive. Major universities include Cairo University (100,000 students), Alexandria University, Ain Shams University, and the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar University, one of the world's major centers of Islamic learning. Universities in Egypt are generally either state-funded or privately funded. As mentioned before that Education in Egypt is free by law, however there are very small fees paid for enrollment. Public institutions, with few exceptions are generally overcrowded with a student body of several thousands. Private universities are either Egyptian or foreign, and usually have a much smaller student body and with a much higher tuition rates. Different types of foreign universities exist, such as American university in Cairo, French university, Canadian and German university. The number of female students in Egyptian universities has increased remarkably over the years as shown in Fig.1

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Female' graduate students with excellent academic records have the opportunity to study abroad via government scholarships or scholarships from foreign universities. Although the government sent the first group of women to study abroad in year 1925 until now, some parents may object to this because they often do not want daughters traveling alone .some times parents make their daughters married before going abroad for studies to make sure they will be protected if they face critical situations or to insure they will come back again. If the woman is married, her husband may not want to stay at home waiting for her, and it can be difficult for him to find a suitable job in the same country where his wife is studying. International experience does not necessarily help in finding a job upon returning to Egypt, but it does offer a way for the candidate to distinguish herself from other job applicants. Given that education is state-sponsored and that progression through school is dependent on test scores, the number of women in science and engineering colleges has increased remarkably. The female students in year 2002 reached 55.4% in pharmacology, 45.5% in medical schools, 58.1% in dentistry, 45.4% in veterinary, 45.8% in science colleges (physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, and geology), 37.4% in computer science, and 24.5% in engineering .Women getting accepted into science and engineering schools are not likely to drop out because they have reached this position after a tough competition that screened all students and proved that they are capable of pursuing these studies. Moreover, higher education in Egypt is free. The ratio of female students in engineering in Egypt is higher than most advanced countries, but still far below the parity, not because female students are not qualified for engineering study but because cultural stereotypes still classify engineering as a "hard" profession for girls. Many parents try to direct their daughters into arts and humanities, even if they get the required grades for engineering colleges, in order to have an easier time combining career and family. It is important to note that the first female students to join an engineering college in Egypt were in
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1945. Three female students graduated in 1950. The percentage of female students in engineering colleges remained very low in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s it rose to approximately 15%. It is now about 25% in 2002.

4.1 Public Universities

Public universities are under government administration. Public Higher education is free in Egypt, and Egyptian students only pay registration fees. International student pay full tuition 1,500 a year. and fees that reach up to In 2004, the Egyptian government announced its plan to create new public universities from splitting multi-branch universities (Cairo University, Tanta University). This should allow the expansion of these much neglected smaller rural branches and provide space for the increasing number of students.

4.2 Private Universities

Before 1993, only two private foreign institutions were established decades ago. The American University in Cairo (AUC), founded in 1919 and the Arab Academy for Science and Technology (AAST), founded in 1972 with the aid of the International Maritime Organization and under the administration of the League. Under a new law in 1993, Egyptian private universities were established starting from 1996. These new universities are accredited from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Universities every 3 years, in addition to accreditation from foreign educational bodies in the US and Europe. Some examples of these universities are L'Universit Franaise d'gypte (UFE), German University in Cairo (GUC) (which is actually situated about 50 kilometers north of Cairo), and the Canadian International College (CIC). However, certain problems are facing CIC's diploma, thus decreasing its popularity in the eyes of the public.

4.3 Admission
Admission to public universities and institutions operates through a centralized office, The Admission Office of Egyptian Universities (Arabic: Maktab Tanseek Al-Jame'at Al-Masriyah). This office receives applications after the results from the General Secondary Education Certificate are announced in any of its offices or online (also in the new system for Admission student can apply for their desirable university through online).The Application dates are announced every year but usually take place every August. The Application is discipline-based rather than universitybased. Students are asked to fill the admissions application that listing their choices of their desired schools in a descending order of priority. Students with higher scores have a better chance of securing a place for themselves in their desired school of choice. While lower-scoring student may "get stuck" in a school or discipline different from their desired, which might lead to them seeking admission in private universities where competition for places is less fierce.

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Admission to private universities is different and is similar to enrollment procedures world wide. A student applies to a specific university and goes through its admission process. However restrictions on the admission to certain schools, especially medical school and engineering, are put by the ministry of education to add some balance and equality between the rich and the under-privileged, by putting a minimum score limit for each discipline.(Medicine, pharmacy, engineering schools) Several reforms are currently being studied, that includes canceling the free tuition rule for Egyptian students in public universities, and making this rule work for the underprivileged, honor students or based on merit. 4.4 Funding Public universities in Egypt get their funding from the state as they are state-owned. Egyptian Students receive their tuition free of charge but pay a very small registration fee. However, Non-Egyptians pay full tuition and fees that are estimated around 1,500 Pounds Sterling. Private universities in Egypt receive no state funding and are only dependent on their resources and supporting foundations and societies. Tuition and fees range from USD 2,000 to 11,000 per semester. 4.5 University Life Almost all public Egyptian universities provide rented accommodation normally for relocated students (typically rooms or dormitories in same sex campuses) though the majority of local students living in their parental homes. By a recent Higher Education law, students have a priority to frequent a local university 5. Females Education "If you educated a girl, you educated a woman, family and country" Investing in human capital is one of the most effective means of reducing poverty and encouraging sustainable development. Education is considered as key strategy for reducing poverty and contributes directly to the growth of national income by improving the productive capacities of the labor force. In the increasingly open global economy, countries with high rates of illiteracy and gender gaps in educational attainment tend to be less competitive, because foreign investors seek labor that is skilled as well as inexpensive. Women in developing countries usually receive less education than men although the benefits of schooling for women are not limited to increased productivity but it can also play a major role in improving the status of women and would significantly improve household health and nutrition.

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Various global trends pose special challenges to women who are illiterate or have limited education. Economies' export orientation and the growing importance of small and mediumsized enterprises create opportunities for women, but women need the appropriate education and training to take full advantage of these opportunities. In addition, the benefits of female education for women's empowerment and gender equality are broadly recognized. As female education rises, fertility, population growth, and infant and child mortality fall and family health improves. Increases in girls' secondary school enrollment are associated with increases in women's participation in the labor force and their contributions to household and national income. Women's increased earning capacity, in turn, has a positive effect on child nutrition. Children especially daughters of educated mothers are more likely to be enrolled in school and to have higher levels of educational attainment Educated women are more politically active and better informed about their legal rights and how to exercise them. Besides; Women's education has also improved reducing levels of illiteracy among women, increasing their access to education at different stages, decreasing drop-outs in the primary stage in addition to over passing education gender gap. Although the past decade has seen a notable increase in government commitment to education, with a three-fold increase in the national education budget, And the government's goal is to ensure that by 2015 every child has access to quality primary education. Still there are many underlying education problems in general and for females particular.

6. Education Problems
The dawn of the 1990s found Egypt facing serious problems in education. Problems compounded by low literacy rates and an exploding population. Educational quality, particularly in basic education and in technical and vocational education, had seriously declined. Increasing numbers of graduates were unemployed and virtually un-trained. In general the problems that all ministries of education must resolve is 1.Shortages of teachers, schools, and equipments. 2.Admission of students, selection and training of teachers. 3.Personnel, construction of buildings and classrooms. 4.Supervision and management of schools. 5.Provision and management of schools. 6.Development of curriculum. In particular Challenges facing technical education classified into technical and social Problems. can be

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6.1 Vocational Education problems From the technical point of view, secondary education faces several problems such as imbalances between general secondary educations, which represented only 30%enrollment, compared to the vocational secondary education70%).Poor quality, shortages in qualified teachers and instructors and outdated curricula are other examples. From the social point of view secondary education in general and technical education in particular has several drawbacks: First, this kind of education does not improve the average graduate's job opportunities. Second, intermediate education does not yet produce marketable skills and does not necessarily improve the earning prospects since wage rates for graduates of this kind of education is low. Third, prevailing tradition and norms in Egypt are a main challenge against increasing the efficiency of vocational education and training.

6.2 Higher Education problems The Higher Education Sector Faces a Number of Challenges Including such as: Out of date System-wide governance and management. Low quality and relevance at the university level. Low quality and relevance at the middle technical level. Limited financial resources. 6.3 Educational financial problems The problem of financially unsustainable enrollments is related to the dramatic increase in enrollments in university education. For example, enrollments increased by 42 percent Between 1997/98 and 1998/99 leading to an 8 percent decline in per -student spending .That worsen the gap in resource allocation between faculties(World Bank, 2002:41)

While the general expenses on education as a percentage has grown from 3.9 % Percent in 1991 to 5.9% percent in 1998 with higher education receiving a 28%percent share of total expenditure in 1998, the dramatic growth of the higher education student population in Egypt poses a serious problem in financing higher education. Given the high population growth in higher education to simply maintain the share of 18-22 age group at its present 20% percent level (this is an official policy) would require on average an additional 60,000 new enrollments in higher education for the next ten years ( according to the World Bank, 2000:2). The government has no financial ability to do this, let alone the overstretched limited capacity of the higher education sector.

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In 1985-1986, nearly 155,000 primary and secondary teachers served 9.6 million people, a ratio of about 62 students per teacher. An over-abundance of administrators depleted salary budgets. Serious un-defending was reflected in deteriorating buildings, overcrowded schools and classrooms, poor or absent libraries, and lack of technology.

6.4

Training, capacity, curriculum and equipments problems

In-service training, full of bureaucracy and inconsistent funding, was avoided by many teachers in favor of tutoring for extra income.

Free education coupled with the population explosion led to growing number of children at all education stages; an expansion beyond the capacities of the schools. Persistent teacher shortages problems, especially in rural primary schools, resulted from low prestige, low pay, and migration of teachers to better jobs in other countries.

Public schools in some cities operated two and even three shifts daily. Also crowded public classrooms held as many as 100 students in some Cairo public schools, which was not the case in private schools. That is affecting the result of collecting the information inside the classrooms and for many Egyptian children, the result was fragmented information.

The curriculum was generally irrelevant to the student and learning text books are encouraging memorization system rather than critical thinking and school quality was uneven, with better quality schools in urban areas where the wealthy could pay for tutoring.

Most secondary schools lacked scientific laboratory and computer equipment.

Pre-school assessment procedures did not exist. Required exams in primary and preparatory schools were often poorly designed.

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A serious mismatch between supply and demand produced incompetent degree-holders in unwanted subject's which is contributing in raising the percentage of unemployment.

Full educational planning tying educational programs and output to national needs was lacking

The mechanistic learning of concepts and textbookdependent learning and teaching are fixed in the system.

As long as testing is fact-dominated and doesn't cover higher order skills such as critical thinking and analysis of problems, teachers and tutors will continue to teach to the test and the lecture-rote system will persevere. In-service teacher training, distance learning, and technology may help, but so far they reach relatively few teachers.

The inflexible centralized bureaucracy stopped with excess seniority-promoted staff is awkward and slow moving and the highly centralized educational planning and policy-making tend to disenfranchise the very people at the local level who are entrusted with achieving its goals. Local districts need to be able to make adjustments suited to local needs.

Education in Egypt will continue to face shortages of teachers, schools, and equipment unless the state makes a far greater financial commitment. Two decades of dropping birth rates means that the school-age population peaked in 1997 that should help to prevent shortages from worsening, but there is still a tremendous shortfall.

6.5

Females Education problems:

Female's education is facing the same problems education suffers but in addition there are some other problems as following: Girl's dropout early education before obtaining sufficient amount of training and education to banish the ghost of illiteracy is an important problem where it needs special efforts to overcome.

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Egypt has a long history of limitations in the education of women. Even though education in Egypt is free and compulsory for girls and boys up to the age of 15 there is a general lack of enforcement of these regulations.

Wealthy families send their children to private foreign schools and universities, while poor families prefer to educate sons in the hope that they will support the family in later years. Poorer families also need the income from a daughters salary to pay for any additional school costs. In rural areas

Despite the fact that public education for girls in Egypt started in the mid-nineteenth century, female illiteracy in the country is higher than in Gulf States countries which only introduced education for women in the mid twentieth century. These factors and the Egyptian reform program that includes the release of workers from the public sector for retraining have affected womens participation in the labor market and placed them in a subordinate position.

Women facing the same existing education problems in generally and in technical Education particularly which led to lake of skills which affecting the limitations of work chances women face in the labor market. Another side of the technical education problems appears because of traditional and social circumstances, the work isolation women face after marriage makes the first choice for them is to leave work. Lots of female's staff suffers instability due to social commitment, inability to cope with the physical requirements of technical jobs and finally female graduates from technical education suffer from the highest unemployment rates.

7. What Needs To Be Done To Improve Females' Education? Make schools accessible to families everywhere. Make basic education free to all children. Improve the quality of teaching and learning. Train sufficient profession. teachers and make teaching an attractive

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Encourage higher completion. enrolments but also better rates of

Ensure there are women teachers as role models for girls. Make schooling more relevant curriculum. attractive to girls, e.g. through a

8. Movements have been taken

In response, the Ministry of Education has initiated an ambitious educational reform programme designed to introduce an equitable, relevant and gender-sensitive education system. The most critical task is reviewing the educational standards currently applied to the formal system. 8.1 The Education Reform Program The Education Reform Program (ERP) at the request of the Government of Egypt and working under the umbrella of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is collaborating with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to promote system wide education reform. The Education Reform Program works with a wide variety of partners; government and non-government national, regional, and local to accelerate change within the education sector. It aims to create a dynamic educational system successfully linked with both local communities and the global job market; one that is capable of providing people of all ages and experiences access to quality learning opportunities. It is currently working toward this goal in seven governorates. It operates out of offices in Alexandria, Cairo, Fayoum, Beni Sweif, Minia, Qena and Aswan. In line with the Ministry of Educations strategic objectives, all activities of the Education Reform Program are organized around four themes: National Standards. Community. Participation/Decentralization. Professional Development, and Monitoring & Evaluation.

Each theme is supported by a working group, consisting of ERP and Ministry of Education staff. All ERP tasks and the four central themes that inform them focus on quality education for learners through all life stages. By involving everyoneparents and teachers, community and business leaders, academics and governors in both defining and implementing quality education and life-long learning opportunities for every citizen, that should improve the quality of life for every Egyptian. There are, however, experiences to build on. One example is the Community Schools initiative launched in Upper Egypt in 1992 by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education (MOE) which applies activity-based learning and promotes community participation. It also introduces low-cost hygiene and sanitation facilities in schools.

8.2 UNICEF Partnership

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UNICEFs long partnership with the MOE has shifted towards improving the quality of education and increasing school retention, completion and achievement rates. UNICEF supports the government's education reform programme, focusing on quality learning and teaching methods, an improved school environment, including sanitation and hygiene, as well as making progress towards achieving a 60% pre-school enrollment rate by 2010. UNICEF is supporting the development of a national strategic plan for the education sector. The sector plan addresses the learning environment in schools through setting standards for providing safe water supply; upgrading gender-segregated sanitation facilities and hygiene education, and introducing models to make schools free of violence including physical punishment. The standards also address interactive learning for building knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. School-based management is strengthened (granting more decision making authority to schools) by promoting more community and student involvement in school management, and developing quality assurance mechanisms. ICT is promoted for use in schools particularly in rural Upper Egypt. UNICEF continues to assist the MOE to apply the Community Schools approach in the formal education system. The government's "one classroom schools" programme (operated by MOE) and the Girl's Education plan (led by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), supported by UNICEF as lead agency in partnership with 5 other UN organizations) are being supported to enhance the quality of teaching and learning processes. In addition technical and financial support is provided for the geographic expansion of this plan. Egypt is in the midst of these changes as it implements a sweeping revision of its educational system; a revision aimed at upgrading and modernizing and transforming it into a reasonable, continuous educational process. The primary and preparatory curricula were redesigned to be more relevant and more scientific with emphasis on experimentation and critical thinking.

Texts and teaching manuals were revised. Kindergarten was designated as a part of the formal system and included in the comprehensive planning. Gender and rural/urban inequities and illiteracy are being addressed with special rural programs targeting girls, programs designed to be flexible and relevant to local needs.

To improve the quality and quantity of the teaching staff, preservice and in-service training was revised and performancerelated (merit) pay and changes in the technical standards of

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supervisors and inspectors instituted. Curriculum and texts are under revision in industrial schools with new specializations.

Medical insurance is provided for students in kindergarten and basic education, financed by charging the children four Egyptian pounds annually. (Private school students pay more.) These fees, plus fees for "additional services" and for taking primary and preparatory school exams, and the price of uniforms and tutoring costs (averaging 10 percent of family income per child in 1997) effectively removed the "free" from free education placing it out of reach for Egypt's poorest. No fees are charged however, in the rural community and one-classroom schools or to orphans whose fathers died in military or government service.

8.3 Females Educational Improvements Ministry of education trying to Increase opportunities for education of girls and provide equal educational opportunities for all children in Egypt through educating girls by working in cooperation with various bodies(UNCIF ,USAID ,local governmental and non-governmental Organization) to eliminate the gap quality especially in areas that exceed. The proportion of girls drops out of education, through the following efforts: 1. Support Initiative National Council for Childhood and Motherhood

This initiative aims to reduce the quality gap in seven provinces (Beni Suef Menya, Assiut, Fayyoum, and Sohag Giza-Qina). Education initiative aimed 281,123 girls (of the total 6130584 girls outside education) through Building 5119 classrooms 434 schools have been built so far restricted by the 10674 student.

2. Support and disseminate successful experiences in the education of girls and foremost Community-schools, which started in 1992 and now are numbering 339 schools in cooperation with UNICEF. since Egyptian government is keen to solve this problem the first lady Ms. / Suzanne Mubarak a doubt the movement of girls education for who did not join up with established schools and start up one class schools to accommodate girls who dropout of primary school and were not covered by the education plan and still at the age of obligatory education. The one chapter school consists of five classes in each row 7 students.

This kind of schools started in 1993 and now numbering 3146 schools. The most important objectives of these schools are:

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Overcoming the customs and traditions that deny girls from education. Mixing-acceptance both missed the train education from age 8- 14-year. Girls in this schools study basic education as well as vocational training and income-generating projects, where projects are flexible and are selected from the reality of the environment. Small schools, which started at the end of the 1990s and are now 46 schools in cooperation with international organizations and NGOs.

Program of the new schools for the education of girls, which began in 2000 in collaboration with the USAID America, in the provinces of Menya Fayoum and Beni Suef, where they were building 70 elementary schools, separated by 770, The establishment of 170 separate multiple levels, restricted by more than 30000 student.

as a result of this it was announced by Professor / Dr minister of education in the development of pre-university education that the school dropout rate of girls in 1990/1991 had shrunk 9.9% in 2000/01 to 2.3%.

By 2004 the total number of students enrolled in preuniversity education reached approximately 16.3 million. 2004/5 the total enrolment rate in all the categories of pre-university education totaled 90.1%. The total female enrolment rate of 90.3% showed higher levels to those of male enrolment at 90% for the same year.

In

Females now make up the majority of all students enrolled in higher education. The past few years have witnessed the narrowing of the qualitative gap between males and females. In 2003/2004 the total number of enrolled students in university and higher education reached 2.02 million approx.

There has been an increase in the percentage of females enrolled in university education which has now reached 49% of the total number of students. In 2004/05, there was an emphasis on developing school curricula, improving women's representation in educational establishments and providing health and social care during various educational stages.2

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Table: Educational level percentage of employed women and men in 2003 Year 2003 2003 Education level Intermediate University % of women 29% 21.3% % of men 27% 13%

Females in Egypt have played an important role economically since the 1960s. In 1998 women comprised 30% of workers in the formal economy, a small segment of which comprises a professional class of female doctors, lawyers, and business people. During 1998-1999, women made up 22.1% of the labor force; 35% were employed in agriculture; 9% in industry and 56% in services.1 Decrease in illiteracy percentage Illiteracy rates over the past three years show a decrease for both males and female. This reflects government efforts to spread awareness of the importance of education through the implementation of illiteracy programs.3 Table: Evaluation 2003/05 of illiteracy rates (+15) over the period

Year (as at 1st January) 2003 2004 2005

Males(+15) 22.0 20.4 18.3

Females(+15) 47.0 45.8 43.8

The following chart illustrates the levels of women in the labor force: 4

different

educational

Table: Labor force distribution according to educational status

Educational status

Labor force size

Number of females 1.196 0.23 0.99

Female % of total number 26.5 5.1 21.9

Illiterate 4.62 Read and 3.799 write University and 3.46 post university

3-4 Source

Source: United Nation Development Program on governance in the Arab region :Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS)

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Despite the fact that the illiteracy rate of employed females is greater than male workers, the percentage of females who hold an intermediate degree is 29% compared to 27% for males. The percentage of female workers that hold university degrees has increased to 21.3% whereas the percentage for males is only 31%.

9. Summary
The Egyptian educational system is highly centralized, and is divided into three stages, Basic and Primary Education Stage, Secondary Education, and Post-secondary Education.

A primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education. It is highly valued for children between the ages of six and fifteen. Education in this stage is free and compulsory.

Secondary education is the final stage of the compulsory education followed by higher education and it is consisting of three kind of education, General Secondary Education (Thanawya), Technical Secondary Education and Al -Azhar Education System.

A new Secondary Education system is being proposed and in a current advanced stage of planning. The new system avoids the old system problems and has many similarities with the American High school diploma that providing more choices in the student in choosing the academic courses.

The Al-Azhar Institution is nominally independent from the Ministry of Education, but is ultimately under supervision by the Minister. Schools in all stages in this system teach nonreligious subjects, to a certain degree, although not as intensively as the state schools.

Tow types of schools and universities are provided in the Egyptian educational system governmental and private schools/universities.

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Universities in Egypt are generally either state-funded or privately funded. However, Education in Egypt is free by law,

Admission to public universities and institutions operates through a centralized office. Students are asked to fill the admissions application that listing their choices of their desired college (schools) in a descending order of priority. To enrollment procedures world wide. A student applies to a specific university and goes through its admission process. Problems of the Egyptian educational systems are consisting of shortages of teachers, schools, and equipment, admission of students' selection and training of teachers and other personnel, construction of buildings and classrooms, supervision and management of schools, provision and management of schools, development of curriculum.

Technical education is facing same normal education problems in addition the lack of flexibility and failure to adjust in the face of increasing modernity.

Although the notable increase in government commitment to education, with a three-fold increase in the national education budget, still there are many underlying education problems in general and for females particular.

Some of the girls are still excluded from education, and even the rest enrolled in school are learning too little to be prepared for job markets.

Females graduate from technical education suffer from the highest unemployment rates. Social circumstances after marriage and due to social commitment, inability to cope with the physical requirements of technical jobs females become isolated at work To Improve Female s Education The Egyptian government should :

a. Make basic education free to all children and schools accessible to families everywhere. b. Improve the quality of teaching and learning. c. Train sufficient teachers and make teaching an attractive profession. d. Encourage higher enrolments but also better rates of completion. e. Ensure there are women teachers as role models for girls. f. Make schooling more attractive to children and girls in particular through a relevant curriculum.
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Female's education provided families and society some gains such as:

a. Improving of the social and health status of women. b. Increasing awareness in the various fields (politicaleconomic). c. Increasing private income for the family, which provides a better life quality. d. meeting their own needs for self-fulfillment and increasing their self-reliance and the ability to make decisions

Egypt recognizes the weaknesses and problems and toke some movements towards education reform systems.

The educational reform program is a step from the government towards reforming the education system. It is working in seven governorates and operates out of offices in Alexandria, Cairo, Fayoum, Beni Sweif, Minia, Qena and Aswan.

The Egyptian Ministry of Education has a partnership with UNICEF and one example of the accomplishment of their work is the Community Schools initiative launched in Upper Egypt in 1992 by UNICEF and the Ministry of Education (MOE) which applies activity-based learning and promotes community participation. It also introduces low-cost hygiene and sanitation facilities in schools.

UNICEF Partnership with the MOE has shifted towards improving the quality of education and increasing school retention, completion and achievement rates and supporting the development of a national strategic plan for the education sector. The sector plan addresses the learning environment in schools through setting standards for providing safe water supply; upgrading gender-segregated sanitation facilities and hygiene education, and introducing models to make schools free of violence including corporal punishment.

Steps have been mad to improve female's educational states. The government's "one classroom schools" programme (operated by MOE) and the Girl's Education plan (led by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), supported by UNICEF as lead agency in partnership with 5 other UN organizations) are being supported to enhance the quality of teaching and learning processes. In addition technical and financial support is provided for the geographic expansion of this plan.

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The ministry of education made a complete revision of its educational system; aiming to upgrading and modernizing and transforming it into a logical continuous educational process. Kindergarten was designated as a part of the formal system and included in the comprehensive planning. The primary and preparatory curricula were redesigned to be more relevant and more scientific with emphasis on experimentation and critical thinking.

The government had provided Medical insurance for students in kindergarten and basic education.

The reform program included a plan for Improving the quality and quantity of the teaching staff and started curriculum and texts revision in industrial schools with new specializations.

Unfortunately, there is still quite a high drop out rate due relatively to levels of poverty, and adult literacy levels in Egypt are only around 57.7%.

There is a vast difference between idealized plans and implementation. A system short on resources, stifled by bureaucracy, and lacking in local expertise moves slowly. Only time will tell how well the comprehensive efforts of to make education more relevant to national needs are working. Egypt has a long expensive road to travel given the enormity of illiteracy and vast educational shortages. The financial improvement at the millennium, stemming from rising oil revenues and better fiscal management, gives the education future a rosier glow than a decade ago.

We should mention at the end that The value of education in Egypt is highly prized, but while there exists such a huge discrepancy between the standards of living, amenities and facilities available to those from wealthy and poor and city and rural backgrounds there will continue to exist a barrier between those who can afford to send their children to school and those who dont even have access to teaching staff or learning materials. Egyptian parents all want the very best for their children but not all can afford to send them to school.

THANK YOU

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