Education in Egypt

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The Egyptian educational system is highly centralized, and is divided into three stages:

• Basic Education - (Arabic:Marhalet Al-Taaleem Al-Asassi)
  • Primary Stage
  • Preparatory Stage
• Secondary Education (Arabic:Marhalet ElTaaleem Al-Thanawi)
• Post-Secondary education

Since the extension of the free compulsory education law in 1981 to include the preparatory phase, both the primary and preparatory phases (Ages 6 through 15) have been incorporated together in what is called Basic Education. Education beyond this stage depends on the student's abilities and capacities.
The Education system in Egypt is further subdivided into two systems; State System and the Azharite Religious System.
Schools of the private sector are found in all phases. They are supervised by the Ministry of Education and teach State-approved curricula. But they are permitted to use additional textbooks. They differ considerably from one another in their goals and quality, as well as in the fees they charge. Roman Catholic Girl Schools are a famous and predominant type of schools, along with other church affiliated schools that provide education to all Egyptians.
The literacy rate is about 57% of the adult population. There are 20,000 primary and secondary schools with some 10 million students, 13 major universities with more than 500,000 students, and 67 teacher colleges.

Contents 1 Primary Education 2 Secondary Education 2.1 General Secondary Education 2.2 Technical Secondary Education 2.3 Vocational Secondary Education 3 Azharite Education System 4 Post Secondary Education 5 Types of Schools 5.1 Government Schools 5.2 Private Schools 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Primary Education

Primary education used to be six years, was reduced to five years in 1988, and restored to six years again in 1999. Primary education covers ages six to twelve.
Ninety-three percent of children enter primary school and about one-quarter drop out after the sixth year; in 1994-95, 87% entered primary school and about half dropped out after the sixth year.

[edit] Secondary Education

Secondary education consists of three different types: general, technical, and vocational.

[edit] General Secondary Education

This type of secondary education extends over three years, of which the first serves as a preparatory year for the other two.
In this first year the student studies both humanistic and scientific subjects. At the end of the year, and on the basis of his or her grades, the student enters one of three streams in which he 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.
At the end of final two year, students sit for a highly centralized final exams. Depending on the student's score on these exams, the student chooses the university the student wishes to continues the post-secondary stage.
Private tutoring is a common issue at this stage for student wishing to ensure admission to the country's "Top" universities as a college degree is of high-esteem in the Egyptian society. Private tutoring is estimated to be multi-million pound industry and have proved to be a huge stress on egyptian families, regardless of their social class.

Since this system is well-known to impose tremendous psychological and financial stress on the students and their families, a need to refine or even over-haul the entire system is always on the agenda of every consequent 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.

[edit] Technical Secondary Education

Technical education, which is five-year programs, includes schools in three different fields: industrial, commercial, and agricultural.

[edit] Vocational Secondary Education

Technical education, which is given in three-year and five-year programs, includes schools in three different fields: industrial, commercial, and agricultural.

[edit] Azharite Education System

The Azharite education system is supervised by the Supreme Council of the Al-Azhar Institution and is independent from the Ministry of Education. But the Al-Azhar Institution itself is placed under government supervision, and its educational system is actually supervised by the Egyptian Prime Minister.
The Al-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. The bulk of the curriculum, however, consists of religious subjects as described below. All the students are Muslim, and males and females are separated in all phases. The Azharite schools are spread all over the country, especially in rural areas.
The graduates of the Azharite secondary schools are eligible to continue their studies at the Al-Azhar University only. The Azharite schools accounted in the early 2000s for less than 4 % of the total enrollment.

[edit] Post Secondary Education

Main Article: Egyptian universities

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, and the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar University, one of the world's major centers of Islamic learning.

[edit] Types of Schools

[edit] Government Schools

Generally speaking, there are two types of government schools: Arabic Schools, Experimental Language Schools.

• The Arabic Schools provide the governmental national curriculum in the Arabic Language.
• The Experimental Language Schools teach most of the government curriculum in English, and add French as a second foreign language.

[edit] Private Schools

Generally speaking, there are three types of private schools: Ordinary Schools, Language Schools, and Religious Schools.

• The Ordinary schools do not differ much from government schools so far as the curriculum is concerned, but they pay more attention to the students' 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 extremely high.

Some of these schools provide French or German as their main language of instruction, in addition to another second foreign language.
Many of the private schools were built by Missionaries and are affiliated with churches and provide quality education.
Many private schools offer additional educational programs, along with the National curriculum such as the American High School Diploma, the British IGCSE system, the French baccalauréat, the German Abitur and the International Baccalaureate.

• The Religious Schools are religiously oriented private schools that are sponsored by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood movement, especially in the western delta region. Their curricula are different from those taught at the state or the Al-Azhar schools.

[edit] See also

• Egyptian universities
• List of Egyptian universities

[edit] External links