Hdr- Egypt 1998-1999

EGYPT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1998/99

inp Institute of National Planning This report is the major output of the Human Development Project, executed by the Institute of National Planning (INP) under the project document EGYØ96Ø012 of technical co-operation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of The Institute of National Planning.

Printed in the Arab Republic of Egypt Preface

The Egypt Human Development Report girls. Hence, it was our decision to prepare (1998/99) is the fifth in a series of reports and produce a deeper, more comprehensive published by the Institute of National and detailed analysis of education in Egypt. Planning since 1994. These reports were guided by the conceptual framework and Previous reports on human development in methods developed by the United Nations Egypt have earned a high reputation for Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990, their credibility as a result of their when they were used in its first international commitment to balanced analysis of report on human development. The concepts transparent information and facts. As a and indices first used have since continued result, they have had a perceptible influence to be modified in the light of the valuable on policy-oriented research towards contributions of a large number of experts development problems in Egypt. It is a and specialists in development. matter of pride and gratification that the Egypt Human Development Report 1997/98 Human Development Reports, whether earned one award for excellence in quality national or international, are not merely of analysis and a second award for economic or technical when dealing with excellence in participation and policy development issues. They cover all aspects impact at the UNDP Second Global Human of development likely to widen people's Development Forum held in Rio de Janeiro choices, develop their capacities and in November 2000. enhance the quality of their lives. This holistic approach is evident in all of the The most important merit of this report is reports, and is the criterion applied to test that it is the outcome of collaborative work, problems, issues and strategies of as were the previous reports for Egypt. It development. reflects the time and effort given to studies, research and discussions by a team of The Egypt Human Development Report researchers and specialists, all of whom 1998/99 focuses on education from the worked together under the auspices of human development perspective. There are Egypt's Institute of National Planning and several reasons behind this choice of supported by the United Nations subject. One is that education plays a critical Development Programme, as well as a role, not only in laying out and enlarging the number of affiliated UN agencies. However, base for human capital in any given country, the views and conclusions expressed in this but also in the redistribution of human report are those of the authors and are not wealth, and can be considered the most necessarily shared by the authorities of the important, if not the only, asset for the poor. contributing agencies, and do not Previous Egypt reports have pointed to the necessarily reflect those of the government link between poverty and the level of of Egypt, the Institute of National Planning, educational attainment, and the importance the individual researchers and resource given by both government and families to persons. expenditure on the education of boys and Authors of the Report Acknowledgement

The authors could not have produced this Our sincere thanks and gratitude therefore fifth Egypt Human Development Report in go to all those who participated directly or its consecutive series without the indirectly with their experience, expertise, encouragement, support, and confidence of analytical skills and insights towards the production of a quality Report. We are the national and international communities, specially grateful for the remarkable team and the dedicated group of national/ spirit shown by all. This Report is the international individuals whose dedication, outcome of a truly collaborative effort and specialized capacities and high competence team enthusiasm which was invaluable to its made this task possible. production.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99

Authors of the Report Abdel Fattah Nassef-Project Team Leader and Osman M. Osman - Project Coordinator

EHDR Advisor Administrative officer Soheir K. Habib Hamed M. Ryhan

Contributors of Background Papers

Dessouki Abdel Galil Mahmoud Abdel-Hai Sayed Abdel Maksoud

Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid Hammed Ammar Mohammed Abdel Aziz Eid

Mona El Baradei Ola Soliman El-Hakim Heba El-Laithy

Magda Ibrahim Abdel Salam Noweir Soad Kamel Rizk

Samir Lewis Saad Zinat Tabala Table of Contents

Overrrvii ew 1

Education and Building Human Capabilities 1 Implementing HD Policies Passes through Education 1 Education for the Future 1 Diversification of Education 2 The Trapezoid 3 How Far Egypt will succeed in Implementing a Future Oriented Reform 3 Is Education Policy of Egypt Consistent? 4 Challenges to the Education System 4 Education and the Overriding Challenge of Eradicating Illiteracy 4 Illiteracy Rate Pulls Down Egypt’s HDI 4 The Dropout Problem 4 Why Spending on Education doesn’t pay off? 5 Spending Inequality 5 Inefficiency of Spending 5 Inefficient Targeting in the Provision of Education Services 5 Inefficiency in Resource Utilization and Allocation 5 Policy Measures for Financing Education 6 Does Education Determine Earnings? 7 Is Education a Safeguard against Unemployment? 7 Is Progress Shared by all Egyptians? 7 Is Private Education a Solution? 8 How Should the Relation between Education and Democracy be Viewed? 8

Chapttterrr One:::: An Educatttii on ffforrr ttthe Futtturrre:::: The Human Devell opmenttt Perrrspectttii ve 9

Human Development: The Change in Paradigm and Policy Implications 9 Is Income Constraining Human Development? 10 Deprivation is more than Income Poverty 11 Is Progress Shared by All Egyptians? 11 This Report Addresses Education 12 Education and Human Development 13 National and Global Settings 13 Previous Efforts for Educational Reform 17 The International Level 17 The Arab Regional Level 17 The National Level 18 Societal Objectives of Education for the Future 19 Building a Dynamic and Self-Confident Society 19 Consolidating Social Justice 19 Improving the Individual's Productivity 19 Development of a Democratic Way of Life 19 Underscoring Egypt's Role in the Arab and Outside World 19 Intensifying and Broadening Societal Rationality 19 Environmental Awareness 20 Addressing Educational Disparities 20 Historical Problems and Their Repercussions 20 Moving Towards Education for the Future 21 The Horizontal Dimension 21 The Vertical Dimension 21 The In-Depth Dimension 22 Comprehensive and Integrated Knowledge 22 Maturation of Abilities and Skills 22 Development of Thinking 23 Utilization of Technology in Learning 23 Development and Promotion of Scientific Research 24 The Ultimate Aim 24

Chapttterrr Two:::: The Educatttii on Systttem:::: Stttrrructtturrre and Objj ectttii ves 28

Pre-University Education 28 The General System of Pre-University Education 28 Kindergartens 28 Basic Education 29 Primary Education 29 Preparatory Education 29 Secondary Education 32 The General Secondary Education 32 The Technical Secondary Education 34 Al-Azhar Pre-University Education 35 Al-Azhar General Institutes 35 Al-Azhar Special Institutes 35 Higher Education 37 Admission Policy in Higher Education 37 Structural Aspects of Government Higher Education 38 General University Education 38 Increasing Numbers of the Admitted Students 38 Academic Staff 39 Students/Academic Staff Ratios 41 Al-Azhar University Education 42 The Students 42 The Academic Staff 42 Students/Academic Staff Ratios 42 Females in Public Universities (Including Al-Azhar) 44 Specialized Academic Education 45 Non-University Higher Education 46 The Specialized Pedagogic Faculties (SPFs) 46 Kindergarten Facilities 47 Industrial Faculties and High Institutes 47 The Middle Level Technical Institutes 47 Private Higher Education 47 Private Universities 47 The American University in Cairo (AUC) 48 Universities Established under the Law 101 of 1992 48 The Private Institutes 49

Chapttterrr Thrrree:::: Effffffii cii ency offf ttthe Educatttii on Systttem 50

Major Constraints to Educational Attainment 50 Education and the Development Strategy 51 Condition for an Efficient Educational System 51 Education for Learning 52 Participation and Perceptiveness 52 Democracy in Managing the Education System 52 Commitment to Long Run National Objectives 52 Educational System as a Model of Values 52 Education Policy and Objectives 52 The Broad Lines of Egypt Education Policy 52 Operational Principles of the Education Policy 53 Operational Principals for the Pre-University Education Policy 53 Operational Principles of Higher Education Policy 55 University Education 55 How Far Education Policy is Consistent with Development Strategy? 56 How Far is the Education Policy Self-Consistent? 57 Inputs of the Education System 59 The Financial Inputs 59 The Private Expenditure on Education 60 Informal Private Education Expenditure 60 Physical Assets 60 The Human Resources 61 The Personnel 61 The Pre-University Level 61 Teachers' Qualifications 62 Gender Distribution 62 Enrolment Ratios 64 Enrolment Ratios in Basic Education 64 Enrolment Ratios in Preparatory Education 65 Enrolment Ratios in Secondary Education 65 Enrolment Ratios in Higher Education 66 Drop out and the Internal Efficiency of Education 66 Curricula 68 The System in Operation 69 Class Density 69 Students/Teacher Coefficient 70 The Repetition Rates 70 Output of the Education System 71 Challenges to the Education System 71

Chapttterrr Fourrr:::: Fii nancii ng Educatttii on:::: Chall ll enges and Optttii ons ffforrr Reffforrrm 76

Impressive Increase in Public Spending on Education During the 1990s 76 Why Spending on Education doesn’t Pay Off? 76 Compensating for the Past Deterioration 76 Misallocation of Resources 77 Inequality of Spending 78 Inefficiency of Spending 78 Inefficient Targeting in the Provision of Education Services 81 Inefficiency in Resource Utilization and Allocation 82 The Cost to Reform the Education System 83 The Costs of Eradicating Illiteracy 83 The Costs of Reforming Pre-University Education 83 Costs of Reforming University Education 84 Sources of Financing of the Education Sector 85 Policy Measures for Financing Education in Egypt 86 Policy Measures for Improving Efficiency of Spending in Education 86 Improving the Delivery System 86 Making Education More Equitable 87 Improving Resource Utilization and Allocation 88 Policy Measures for Mobilizing Additional Resources to Education 89 Diversifying the Structure of Financing for Higher Education 91 NGOs and the Private Sector 91 Mortgage Loans with Income-Dependent Grant 92 Graduate Tax 92 Income-Contingent Loans 93 Vouchers 93

Chapttterrr Fii ve:::: Empll oymenttt,,,, Earrrnii ngs and Rettturrrns ttto Educatttii on 94

Education, Human Capital, and Economic Performance 94 Education, Poverty Reduction, and Social Equity 94 Approaching Reality 94 A General Diagnosis 95 Pattern of Employment and Educational Status 95 Rates of Participation 96 Participation Rates and the Educational Status 96 Sector of Employment 96 Sector of Employment and Region 97 Sector of Employment and Age 97 Sector of Employment and Education 98 Sector of Employment and Earnings 99 Unemployment 101 Educated Persons Prefer Work in the Government and Public Sectors 102 Higher Educational attainment but Lower Ability to be Self-Employed 104 Does Education Determine Earnings 105 Returns to Education 105

Chapttterrr Sii x:::: Educatttii on and Democrrracy ii n Egypttt 107

Official Policy and Democracy of Education 107 Aspects of Educational Inequality 109 Access to Education 110 Educational Survival Rates 110 Upward Mobility in the Educational System 111 The Outcome of Education 111 Is Private Education the Solution? 113 The Educational System and Democratic Values 117 Decision-Making in the Educational System 117 Content of the curricula 117 School Environment 119 Full Respect for Teachers and Academic Rights 120 Technii call Notttes and Sourrrces offf Dattta 121

Bii bll ii ogrrraphy 129

Human Devell opmenttt IIIndii catttorrrs 133

National Indicators 134 Governorate Indicators 143

Boxes

1.1 Egypt Human Development Report/s: Accessed Links of the New Human Development Paradigm 10 1.2 An Eye on Egypt Human Development Reports 1994-1998 15 1.3 Getting Back to Basics 25 2.1 Development of a Modern Education System in Egypt: A Historical Background 30 2.2 The Legal Framework of the Education System 33 2.3 Mubarak-Kaul Project for Developing Technical Education 36 2.4 Special Education 37 2.5 The Education System and Illiteracy Eradication 40 2.6 Management of Pre-University Education 43 2.7 Providers of Higher Education 44 3.1 How Girls benefit from Quality in Traditional Communities 72 3.2 Illiteracy Eradication: A Pioneering Project of the NCCM 75 4.1 The World Bank Education Enhancement Program 90

Tabll es

2.1 Number of Preparatory Classes and Students 1991/92-1998/99 32 3.1 Distribution of personnel by type of work and levels of Pre-University Education, ( 1998/99) 62 3.2 Females' participation in Pre-University Education Personnel (%) (1998/99) 63 3.3 Dropout related efficiency indicators of primary education by some cohorts (1989/90-1992/93) 67 3.4 Dropout related efficiency indicators of preparatory education by some cohorts ( 1991/92-1994/95) 68 3.5 Average class density in pre-university education (1991/92-1998/99) 69 3.6 Repetition rates in general certificates (1994/95-1998/99) 70 4.1 Government expenditure on education 1990/91-1998/99 77 5.1 Participation rates by age, gender, and rural/urban (1997/98) 96 5.2 Participation rates and the educational status (1997/98) 96 5.3 Distribution of Labor Force by Sector of Employment and Gender (1997/98) 98 5.4 Earnings by Educational Level, Sector of Employment, Gender, and Region (1997/98) 100 5.5 Unemployment Rates by gender and education status (1997/98) 101 5.6 Average private cost of educational levels (1997/98) 106 5.7 Estimated average return to education and rates of return, (1997/98) 106 6.1 Relative importance of educational equality in governments’ discourses during the 1990s 109 6.2 Policy-makers number of references to education gaps 6.3 Survival rates in pre-university education in Egypt, 1991/92-1997/98 (proxy measures) 111 6.4 Students/Teacher ratio in public and private universities in Egypt (1998/99) 115

Fii gurrres

1.1 Fastest and Slowest Progress in HD 11 1.2 Human Development and Income Change (1975-1998) 11 1.3 Human Poverty and Income Poverty in Egypt 12 1.4 Disparities in Basic and Secondary Enrolment by gender and governorate 12 1.5 Adult Literacy Rate: Progress and Disparities 13 1.6 Priorities for Action: How Egypt’s HDI can be raised 14 2.1 The numbers of kindergartens, their classes, and pupils (1989/90-1998/99) 29 2.2 The numbers of primary schools, their classes and pupils(1979/80-1998/99) 29 2.3 The numbers of general secondary schools, their classes and students (1980/81-1998/99) 34 2.4 Numbers of technical secondary schools, their classes and students (1980/81-1998/99) 34 2.5 Distribution of secondary schools’ students 35 2.6 Technical secondary students by type of education (1998/99) 35 2.7 Number of Al-Azhar Pre-University Institutes, classes and students ( 1991/92-1998/99) 36 2.8 Newly admitted and graduate students of government universities (1991/92-1998/99) 38 2.9 Numbers of students enrolled in government universities (1992/93-1997/98) 38 2.10 Percentage distribution of students among social and physical science faculties (1992/93-1996/97) 39 2.11 Postgraduate students and awarded postgraduate degrees(1992/93-1996/97) 39 2.12 The teaching and assistant staff in government universities (1992/93-1997/98) 41 2.13 Percentage distribution of students and graduates in Al-Azhar University (1991/92-1997/98) 42 2.14 Percentages of female students and graduates in some groups of faculties (1992/93-1996/97) 44 3.1 The increase in number of schools in different stages of Pre-University Education (1991-1998) 61 3.2 The number of classes in different stages of Pre-University Education (1994/95-1998/99) 61 3.3 Distribution of teachers by their qualifications (1998/99) 62 3.4 Acting and Non-Acting Teaching Staff in the Government Universities (1997/98) 64 3.5 Enrolment ratios in the first class of primary education (except for Al-Azhar) (1992/93-1998/99) 65 3.6 Male-Female dropout in Primary Education (1990/91-1997/98) 66 3.7 Male-Female dropout in preparatory education (1990/91-1997/98) 67 3.8 Percentage of the two-shift schools (1995/96-1998/99) 70 4.1 Government expenditure on Education, (1990/91-1998/99) 76 4.2 Real expenditures on Pre-University Education, (1981/82-1989/90) 4.3 Functional distribution of total government expenditures on pre-university education, (1982/83-1998/99) 78 4.4 Proportional distribution of resources between levels and types of education 80 4.5 Total government expenditure by level of education (1998/99) 80 4.6 Allocation of government expenditure by level of education (1998/99) 81 5.1 Where the Educated Work: Distribution of labor force by type of Employment 98 5.2 Human Capital Base in the Economy, Public and Private Sectors Distribution of Labor Force by Education Status 99 5.3 Most of the Unemployed are Educated: Distribution of the unemployed by education status 101 5.4 The youngsters may find jobs in the private sector: Probability of different age brackets being wage earners 102 5.5 The educated prefer to work in the state sector: Probability of wage earners to work in government and private sector 103 5.6 Enterprenership and Education: Probabilities of different educational levels’ holders being self-employed/employer 104 5.7 Estimated earnings by educational status and sector of employment 105

Charrrttts

* Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Education 43 Abbreviations

ALESCO Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science AUC American University in Cairo CASSED Council for the Affairs of Society Services and Environment CESA Council of Education and Student Affairs CPSR Council of Postgraduate Studies and Research EHDR Egypt Human Development Report EIU Egypt International University ERSAP Economic Reform and Structural Program GALAE General Authority of Literacy and Adult Education GDP Gross Domestic Product GNP Gross National Product GSSC General Secondary School Certificate HD Human Development HDI Human Development Index HDR Human Development Report ICL Income-Contingent Loans MENA Middle East and North Africa MOE Ministry of Education MOHE Ministry of Higher Education NCCM National Council for Children and Motherhood NEP National Employment Program NGO Non-Governmental Organization OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development SCU Supreme Council for Universities SFD Social Fund for Development SPAS Semi-Participatory Assessment Survey SSHS Social Spending Household Survey UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNICEF United Nation’s Children’s Fund WB World Bank WDR World Development Report Overview

The human development approach viewpoint of the human development emphasizes that people’s ability to read and strategy. write, be knowledgeable, capable and healthy should be considered as ends in This strategy consists of building human themselves, with positive effects on labor capabilities, fostering and enlarging productivity, physical environment and sustainable development to ensure the best reduced poverty as welcomed consequences. use of these capabilities and their continuous enhancement, distributing the Indeed, human development sees education fruits of development in a more equitable as a value in itself and as a means. As a way, and democratizing the decision making value in itself, education counts for process so as to stimulate people’s developing human personality, self-learning participation on a large scale. ability, objectivity, tolerance, and the willingness to participate in all aspects of Accordingly, it is not sufficient, in Egypt as elsewhere, just to acknowledge the human development. As a means, education importance of education, more important is is a powerful instrument of achieving and how the education system will lead to the sustaining economic growth, reducing achievement of national objectives and poverty and enhancing equity. whether it proves, or not, to be the catalyst for human development in all its aspects. Education and Building Human Capabilities Implementing HD Policies Passes through Education It is commonly agreed that education is the principal tool of building human capabilities, Educated people are always apt to make finding remunerative employment, and reasonable choices within a well-designed acquiring the knowledge necessary for human development strategy. Moreover, developing individuals and societies; three they are the most likely to translate the objectives that are not automatically human development policies into effective achieved once an education system is in and sustainable actions, creating upward place. Success depends on multiple factors achievements in all areas of human life. that range from individual to societal Well-educated persons are more productive, awareness of, and attitudes towards, healthier, more creative, and ultimately education and its usefulness in achieving richer in all dimensions of the word. these objectives. Clearly, the core objective of effective education is to promote those It is obvious that, higher standards of capabilities that are the driving force for education are needed to produce a spearhead progress and, equally, to benefit from the of scholars, and eventually help create a development of various resources of the knowledge-oriented society that provides society in a continuous and complementary high value and marketable learning and way. teaching opportunities for its citizens. Such an environment is likely to produce inventive leadership and trained human In fact, education policy in Egypt, as in capital capable of creating wealth as well as almost all other developing countries, needs the conditious for sustainable prosperity and to be less politicized and to focus on welfare. building human capabilities on neat pedagogical bases that aim at preparing Education for the Future successive generations to deal with ever - changing national, regional, and international There is, thus, a great and pressing need for circumstances while confirming their national an urgent and sustained development of the identity and social, moral, and cultural educational system. This calls for further values. and additional resources to meet the high goals of development both at the societal Given that human development is defined as and individual levels. There is, indeed, a the “process of enlarging people’s choices” strong faith that human development lies at and given its focus on people, it is quite the core of Egypt’s future. legitimate to evaluate the performance of the education system in Egypt from the Globalization is a multifaceted process that

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 1 Overview

crosses all borders - geographic as well as Underscoring Egypt’s Role in the Arab socioeconomic, political, and cultural- and and Outside World by emphasizing the fast - growing communications and positive cultural role that Egypt plays accumulated knowledge are at the center of within the Arab nation, Islamic countries, this process. Education for the future in the developing world, as well as engaging Egypt must cope, quantitatively and in mutual cooperation with the industrial qualitatively, with the prerequisites needed countries. to interact positively with this process. Intensifying and Broadening Societal It has also become more evident than ever Rationality which demands the creation of a before, that there is no room for survival rational, scientific and technological culture and progress in the New World unless capable of assimilating the sciences of the education adopts new concepts and future, their technologies, and making use methodologies for teaching and learning of them in development activities to satisfy combined with new cultural perceptions and the requirements of Egyptian society. values to support education’s progress. Environmental Awareness based on a In light of this and taking the present common consciousness of the need to quantitative and qualitative assessment of preserve a healthy, clean and unpolluted the educational structure, into account, environment, as well as the rational use of progress in education towards a sound and its resources. thriving future can be posited under a number of dimensions that need to be Diversification of Education considered in the development plans until the year 2017. In brief, as the general Pre-university education in Egypt involves objective of education is to expand the several types of educational institutions and society’s access to new and renewable schools. Public education still figures as the knowledge by acquisition, assimilation, most important provider of the pre-university dissemination and utilization, education for educational services. However, public the future should help achieve: education itself provides a diversity of educational disciplines: general, experimental, Building a Dynamic and Self-confident and technical (industrial, agricultural, and Society by reaffirming the prerequisites of commercial). Al-Azhar education (which social integration that is characterized by combines general programs with different solidarity, cohesion, and a common culture branches of Islamic knowledge) is also as based on shared values but also providing an important provider of pre-university the necessary space for differences and for a education in Egypt. Private education ranks dialogue guaranteeing the balance of third in providing pre-university education interests. in Egypt.

Consolidating Social Justice through the Pre-university education in Egypt consisted provision of universal educational of two major levels: basic and secondary- opportunities and the right of access to all since the implementation of Law 139/1981. educational institutions, thus basing social But in the early 1990s the Ministry of mobility on ability rather than family, Education (MOE) formally introduced a wealth or influence. further pre-school (kindergarten) level within the general education system. Thus, Improving the Individual’s Productivity by it is convenient to deal with pre-university providing individuals with knowledge, education as consisting of three educational skills, problem-solving abilities needed to levels: kindergarten, basic, and secondary. act effectively and efficiently, and to Only the basic education component is upgrade standards and raise levels of mandatory. national production while using appropriate technology in the work place. Higher education in Egypt falls under two groups: university education and Development of a Democratic Way of Life non-university education. University covering the various aspects of democracy education includes public universities in terms of freedom of thought and (within which Al-Azhar University has a expression, participation, organization and specific status), foreign universities, and action. private universities. Non-University higher

2 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Overview facilities education includes public and characteristics of the labor market, as well private technical institutes under the direct as the appropriate policy for different supervision of the Ministry of Higher activities, call for a certain balance and Education (MOHE), in addition to proportionality in the relationships between specialized higher education facilities in the different stages and types of education. some academies, faculties, and institutes This explains why a good education system affiliated to other ministries (for example, resembles a trapezoid with basic education the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the at its broad base and higher education at its Interior, and the Ministry of Transportation narrow end. and Communication). How Far Egypt will succeed in This diversification in the institutions of Implementing a Future Oriented higher education reflects an awareness of Reform? the importance of providing a wide range of higher education opportunities to match Present and future perspectives of human students’ capabilities and ambitions. development in Egypt depend largely on Diversification is more than justified by the how far it will succeed in implementing wide variety of activities in which graduates dynamic and forward looking reform in its can be employed. Notwithstanding, education system. This reform is diversification is not sufficient by itself to indispensable to maximize Egypt’s potential ensure that present higher education to benefit from the ongoing globalization graduates satisfy labor market needs process, while avoiding, or at least reducing, quantitatively and qualitatively. the negative impacts of this process on the country's human development. The Trapezoid Education has always been a top priority in Like any other productive system, the the values of the overwhelming majority of Egyptian education system can be generally Egyptians. But, there have always been evaluated in terms of inputs, outputs as well strong constraints on translating this priority into effective educational attainment as process. Each of these components whether across society or for important impacts on the education process and the segments of the population. Among these efficiency of the system as a whole. Hence, constraints are: (i) The low income levels of the efficiency of the education system a significant proportion of the population. remains largely obscure unless the (ii) The relatively high costs incurred by performance of this system is elucidated at families, directly and/or indirectly, for the three levels: the inputs, the system in education of their children. (iii) The operation, and the outputs. relatively low absorption capacity of the education system, which is a major But unlike most other productive systems, constraint to universal enrolment. (iv) The the education system should neither modest quality, and the lack, of an attractive minimize inputs nor maximize outputs. On environment in most educational facilities the one hand, a good education system tries or in instruction materials, which impact to increase most, if not all, inputs up to negatively on internal and external saturation levels. Pupils and students, efficiency of education and encourage high teachers, school and class buildings, basic drop out rates. (v) The high density of and auxiliary educational materials and classes combined with lack of enough space facilities, curricula, and instructional for physical and recreational activities. (vi) courses and materials are all examples of Neglect of individual differences, and inputs that must not be minimized. On the preferences, and a disregard of the different other hand, the efficient output mix of an kinds of learning environments in designing education system excludes, by definition, the curricula is also a major factor that the comprehensive output maximization for makes education less attractive to many all stages and/or all types of education. students and less useful in terms of knowledge, employment and earning Except for basic education output that capacity. should be maximized in terms of the number of persons successfully achieving A major objective of reforming the Egyptian this stage, outputs from other stages and education system over the last fifteen years, types of education should be proportionately has been to resolve these problems but a expanding according to the anticipated number of constraints have continued to objectives of society. Moreover, the impact negatively on the system’s

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 3 Overview

responsiveness to citizen’s high expectations employment opportunities for the of education. Constraints explain, to a large educated. extent, the still significant illiteracy rates How to increase retention capacity so as among both males and females, the high to reduce dropout ratio. drop out ratios, the relatively high failure How to bridge gender and regional gaps and repetition rates, the educational gender in education. gaps, in addition to other manifestations of the undistinguished record of the education Education and the Overriding Challenge system. of Eradicating Illiteracy

It is only recently that the government has Egypt is facing an overriding challenge to adopted a broader vision of education’s eradicate illiteracy. Some progress has been progress and goals linking it closely to achieved in this respect. In 1992 almost half essential socioeconomic, political and of the Egyptian adults were literate. By cultural progress, and making it, as such a 1996 the literacy rate had risen to 56 top priority on its agenda. percent. But breaking data down by region for example reveals the continued Is Education Policy of Egypt Consistent? disparities between the urban and rural areas and between different regions. Despite Theoretically speaking, it is difficult to the fact that the urban-rural gap had qualify the education policy of Egypt as narrowed, rural Upper Egypt has made inconsistent, but in reality this policy suffers slower progress in literacy achievement. from serious inconsistencies. At present, The gap between the bottom (worst education policy in Egypt, as in many other performing governorate) and the top (best developing countries, needs to prepare performing governorate) remains wide. successive generations to deal with fast - changing national, regional, and international Illiteracy Rate Pulls Down Egypt’s HDI circumstances without losing sight of national identity and social, moral, and If the level of per capita income cannot cultural values. In short, it must focus on provide an explanation for the slow pace of building human capabilities on a clear human development in Egypt, the questian pedagogical basis. arises to what has constrained progress? An examination of the three key indexes of Challenges to the Education System human development (life expectancy, educational attainment and per capita The government of Egypt has recently made income) helps identify both areas of success education a top priority on its agenda. and shortfalls. The way HDI is constructed Looking towards a bright future necessitates presents the relative share that can be positively facing and overcoming the attributed to each of its components. If persistent challenges holding back effective countries were ranked according to life reform. The most important of the expectancy alone, Egypt would have ranked challenges could be : in the 104th position instead of the 119th. It appears that it is largely the illiteracy rate How to make the education system a that pulls down the average value of the model for democracy. HDI and lowers Egypt’s rank. How to instill a positive value system and moderate current materialist values. The Dropout Problem How to relax the resource constraint to education. Students who stop their education, in any How to increase public expenditure on grade and at any stage of education, for education, particularly on investments in reasons other than decease, are defined as educational infrastructure. dropping-out of education. Reasons for How to enable the poor and low income dropout are various but all of them point to groups to enroll their children and keep the inability of the education system to be them in school. sufficiently attractive to halt this How to improve the training and motivation phenomenon and/or the inability of the of teachers. system to mobilize general support, material How to treat quantity/quality trade off in as well as moral, for vulnerable groups to higher education. keep their children in education. Some How to develop curricula in line with might argue that many of these reasons stem

4 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Overview from socioeconomic conditions rather than - Bias against females (gender gap), and the education system itself. This is true but - Bias against the poor. one of the most important indications of the education system’s efficiency is how far it Furthermore, the direct and indirect succeeds in attenuating the impact of out-of-pocket expenses concomitant with unfavorable conditions on its performance. the use of educational services also makes delivery biased against the vulnerable Why Spending on Education doesn’t pay groups in general and females and the poor off? in particular.

Like any other activity in modern societies education needs finance as one of its major Inefficient Targeting in the Provision of inputs. Without finance it is impossible to Education Services recruit and use such inputs for achieving The share of the poor in public expenditure education’s targets. on education matches their percentage share in total population. The rich, on the other Notwithstanding the prime importance of hand, benefit from a larger share of public finance education’s growth in volume is not education expenditure. per se a guarantee for a parallel growth in its effectiveness. The unsatisfactory achievement The distinction between different education of the Egyptian education system-in spite of levels is more revealing: public expenditure the remarkable resources allocated to it on basic and secondary education is during the 1990s - cannot be attributed only reasonably distributed among different to its performance during this decade. groups, favoring low and middle-income Various socioeconomic factors have groups. Nearly 31 percent of the benefits in negatively impacted upon education for pre-university education go to the poor, several years before the 1990s. while the rich receive 19 percent. The pattern is reversed in higher education: 54 For many years education in Egypt suffered percent of the benefits of tertiary financial shortages as well as misallocation expenditure go to the rich group, 36 percent of available resources. This to a great extent to the middle income group, and only 10 undermined, the performance of the percent to the poor. education sector during the 1990s themselves in spite of the increase in public Inefficiency in Resource Utilization and expenditure on this sector. Indeed, large Allocation shares of financial resources were allocated during the nineties just to compensate for - Since the early 1990s the government has past deterioration in education facilities and directed increasing resources to eliminate to address many of its serious problems illiteracy. The effectiveness of government inherited from earlier lapses.These include: literacy programs is open to question however, since the numbers of illiterates Spending Inequality have increased during the same period.

Data on the distribution of educational - The students/teacher ratios reflect overstaffing expenditures among different education in the Egyptian education system as levels in Egypt reveal a bias towards compared to other countries. The secondary and higher education, compared non-educational cost items (housing, food to the ratio of students at those levels, and and subsidized meals, health services, against basic (primary and preparatory) transportation... etc.) are other issues also education. to be considered.

Spending Ineffieiency - The Egyptian education system is highly centralized at both the Ministry of This has manifested itself in a delivery Education and the Ministry of Higher system characterized by: Education which impedes initiatives, and - Bias towards current expenditure as also works against the efficient use of opposed to investment expenditure, resources. - Bias in favor of tertiary education to the detriment of basic education, It is evident that there is need of much - Bias to urban areas at the expense of rural thought , resources and action to reform the areas. Egyptian educational sector. The Report

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 5 Overview

tackles some estimations the objective of Higher education in Egypt benefits which is to draw the attention to the mainly higher income groups while financial resources needed to achieve this public expenditure on basic and reform and, hence, the magnitude of the secondary education benefits mainly challenge ahead for the government and the poor and the low-income groups. society as a whole. Financing university education can be Policy Measures for Financing Education diversified and supported from in Egypt alternative sources of funding to the state budget. There exists a wide gap between needed financial resources for reforming the By allocating more resources to basic education sector and the financial resources education the likelihood of transition available to this sector. Bridging this gap to secondary and higher levels of could be accelerated by sound policy schooling would be more probable. measures for improving efficiency of spending in education. Reallocating Resources towards Rural Areas: ❖ Policy measures for improving efficiency of spending in education. Achieving equality between urban and rural areas is possible at low fiscal impact by Considerable savings can be achieved targeting the most disadvantaged through improving efficiency of spending governorates and areas. In Egypt the most which can be achieved in Egypt by disadvantaged areas, in general, are Rural improving the delivery system, and Upper Egypt governorates, followed by improving resource utilization and Urban Upper Egypt governorates, then allocation. Rural Lower Egypt Governorates.

- Improving the Delivery System: - Closing the Gender Gap: Egypt would Considerable gains can be achieved by gain substantially by paying special improving the delivery system of attention to bridging the male/female gap education in Egypt by spending well in education. Specifically, policy without spending more. i.e. eliminating measures should address obstacles, on the biases mentioned earlier. both the supply (bringing schools closer to girls, making schools attractive) and - Increasing the share of Investment demand sides (reducing the direct costs of Expenditures: This can be achieved by schooling, reducing the opportunity cost reducing the proportion of current of girls’ education), at the same time. expenditure through reducing the ratio of administrative and non-teaching staff- ❖ Policy measures for mobilizing whether in pre-university or university additional resources to education. education-which absorbs a high proportion of the wage bill. Transparency Improving the efficiency of spending in the and accountability are also of prime education sector could enhance the quality importance to ensure the efficiency of of education in Egypt. However, a real public investment allocation which reform of education in Egypt requires should be based on human development additional resources over and above what perspectives without neglecting could be saved through more efficient socioeconomic factors, and targeting the elimination of regional disparities. spending. Several options can be considered in this respect: - Reallocation of Resources in Favor of Basic Education: Favouring basic 1. A public campaign towards “Education education is justified on several grounds as the National Project of Egypt”, using among which are: the media to raise public awareness of the importance of education to both boys The social rate of return to basic and girls. the participation of all sectors education is usually higher than for of society towards ensuring a high profile secondary and tertiary education. project is an essential component to In Egypt, there is still much to be success. achieved whether in quantity or 2. Increasing the available resources / quality in basic education. diversifying finance, and reallocating

6 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Overview

resources in favor of education which the unemployment rates are registered among government of Egypt has called a matter the illiterates and those who barely read and of “national security”. write, be they males or females with a 3. Shifting between budgets (particularly gender gap in favor of females. The those associated with training to be spent unemployment rate jumps to a peak for the by other ministries other than that of holders of secondary education (14.2% for education). males and 45.0% for females), then 4. Reallocation of public resources between decreases for the holders of above levels of education (from higher to basic). secondary education (8.0% for males and 5. Establishment of a development fund for 23.5% for females) and the holders of education. Contributions may come from university education (6.9% for males and private and households sectors, NGOs, 14.0% for females). foreign donors and private donations. 6. Promoting new ways of financing It is therefore difficult to consider education university educations, e.g. setting tuition as a safeguard against unemployment; not and fees according to cost per student. withstanding its indispensable able value for human development. Moreover, Does Education Determine Earnings? unemployment is not simply a function of educational outputs that do not correspond Education is only one of multiple factors to the labor market needs; other factors determining earnings. These factors include, might be equally important. among others, type of economic activity, occupation level and responsibilities and the Is Progress Shared by All Egyptians? risks involved, the job stability and related fringe benefits, the accumulated experience It is clear that if a better link is to be created and skills of the employee, in addition - of between income and human development, it course - to the educational status. is mandatory to adopt policies that distribute economic and social assets and opportunities When assessing the impact of education on more equitably. earnings, while assuming other factors constant, we find that earnings in the In urban Egypt, for example, the combined government and in the public and the enrolment ratio is around 60 percent for the private sector are significantly correlated poor and 80 percent for the rich. Thus, the with the educational levels of the low human development level of the “poor” wage-earners in these sectors. For example, a wage-earner in the state sector is not only because they are below the (government as well as public sectors) earns poverty line, but also because they have about 4.2 times when he holds a university lower literacy rates (at only 53 percent that degree than just a basic education. In the of the rich). private sector, for a wage earner, the gap is narrower (about 1.6 times). In the As it is widely recognized that the national self-employed category, education doesn’t average of different indicators fails to reflect seem to make a difference between the the advances made by all groups in the levels of basic and secondary - plus country, better understanding of the process education (indeed, the estimations show a of development necessitates measuring the descending trend of earnings); but the gains and losses of various social groups average earnings. for a university degree and regions. holder in this category is about twice as high. Earnings of employers follow a regular In brief, there are no limits to the horizons ascending trend as their educational level of balanced progress as long as the moves upward on the educational ladder. development of the human factor remains its A university degree holder, in this category, engine of growth. In this respect, it is earns 1.97 times as much as basic education education that is the human face of progress. holder, 1.6 times that of the holder of secondary education, and 1.5 times that of Many performance indicators of the holders of “above” secondary education. education system reflect inequities among different types and levels of education. The Is Education a Safeguard against most salient of these indicators are; class Unemployment? density, accessibility to education, the retention capacity, upward mobility in the Available data indicate that the lowest education system, the outcome of education.

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As for the impact of government policy on national universities, in addition to the equity of educational opportunities, there creation of more foreign and private are usually three dimensions of equity in universities that teach also in foreign education; namely, equity in access to languages, is likely to widen the social and different cycles of education, in survival in cultural gap among young people who these cycles, and in educational outcome. belong to the same nation. This would Indeed, education policies should aim to aggravate problems of national integration raise the private benefits of education by in the country, rather than contribute to its fostering quality (affecting the supply side enhancement. Some compromise is needed of education), and lowering the to draw on the benefits of both types of out-of-pocket costs (affecting the demand higher education without prejudicing side of education). national cohesiveness.

Is Private Education a Solution How Should the Relation between Education and Democracy be Viewed? Time will tell whether private schools and universities in particular are matching the Education is a formal process that takes expectation that their higher tuition fees are place according to well-defined rules in met by better service. While it is not certain both public and private institutions, and in that private universities provide their this respect may help us understand the students with a better quality education, relation between democracy and education they, might offer them better employment through answers to the following questions: prospects, This is not necessarily because students are more qualified than graduates Should education and democracy go of national universities, but more together? Or should one precede the importantly because students possess some other? specialized labor market skills that are in What does commitment to democracy demand for example, knowledge of foreign entail to the educational system? languages, familiarity with the elementary Does the educational system in Egypt use of computers, good communication fulfil requirements for democracy, skills etc. These specifications are, however, namely equality of opportunity and no longer limited to graduates of foreign political freedoms? and private universities. Does it ensure, to all young people, effective and equitable access to Needless to say that the economic and social educational opportunities? development of Egypt require more than Does it equip them to practice political such skills. Without underestimating the freedoms in a responsible way? importance of acquiring these skills, two How do educational policy-makers essential remarks are noteworthy: First, understand the dimensions of equality of economic and social development of the opportunity in access to, and country requires more than such skills. performance in, the educational system? Second, in its search for providing opportunities of acquiring these skills the This Report addesses these issues as they education policy seems to neglect relate to education in Egypt, and explores potentially. serious negative impacts. the challenges facing the development of Multiplying foreign language sections in education .

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8 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Chapter One

An Education for the Future The Human Development Perspective

Human Development: The Change in It emphasizes the need to put people-their What matters is Paradigm and Policy Implications needs, their aspirations, and their not the income capabilities-at the center of the development effort. and the The 1990s have witnessed an impressive commodities that shift in development paradigm. An The human development perspective has a person can alternative approach has been emerging, now moved into the mainstream of the possess, but which encompasses both different concepts development debate. It is now widely and measurements of development. The accepted that it provides an alternative and rather the quality change in conceptualizing development has more comprehensive view of development of life that can be also a deep impact on policy formulation. to that equated exclusively with economic led This is based on the way the objectives of growth. What matters is not the income and development are considered. the commodities that a person can possess, but rather the quality of life that can be led. A holistic approach to human development As emphasized by Nobel Laureate Amartya has a two-pronged message: Sen, what is valued are people’s achievements - their “beings” and “doings” u Human development is the objective - or their “capabilities”. while economic growth a means. u While income growth is absolutely This contrast between the income-centered necessary to meet human objectives, there approach to development and the human is no automatic link between economic development capability approach is growth and human development. instrumental in distinguishing the ends and means of development. The 1997/98 Egypt Development was taken-for a long period of Human Development Report (EHDR) cited time-to mean rising income. A common the example of how the income-centered view used to equate development with approach assesses investment in “human growth in average income, though since the capital” entirely in terms of the extra 1970s there was a shift in emphasis on income the investment generates. By income distribution and poverty reduction. contrast, the human development approach Although, the role of social services - emphasizes that people’s ability to read and particularly basic health and education-also write, be knowledgeable, capable and received greater emphasis in the 1980s, healthy should be considered ends in these services have been viewed mainly as themselves, with positive effects on labor instruments for raising the incomes of the productivity, physical environment and poor. It is only since the inception of the reduced poverty as a welcome consequence. Human Development Reports (HDRs), that the view has been that human development- The human development approach also defined as enlarging people’s choices-is the treats the meaning of poverty differently. overriding purpose of income growth and Capability and human poverty, the concepts economic development. introduced in the UNDP Human Development Reports, see impoverishment This approach towards improving human as multidimensional. It is more than a lack well being covers all aspects of human life of material well being; it can also mean the for all people, both now and in the future. It denial of opportunities and choices to lead a goes far beyond the narrowly defined long, healthy, creative life and a decent concept of economic development to cover standard of living, enjoying dignity, and the the full development of all human potential. respect of others.

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Box 1.1 Egypt Human Development Report/s Accessed Links of the New Human Development Paradigm

H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak The Egypt Human Development Report v Links between concepts. initiative has been identified as one of the v Policy and program formulation most successful from among more than 100 v Implementation, and such national Human Development Reports vInstitutionalization across the developing world. Here, the essential bridge between concepts of human development and their practice was built Each bridge was strengthened by focusing on and a common language consequently the production of accurate and meaningful evolved between researchers and information, generating awareness and policymakers. consensus among thinkers and practitioners and on building a constituency that would This allowed for four essential links to be made so as to reach the ultimate ensure national ownership of the Human beneficiaries of the new human Development Report that combines autonomy developmentparadigm: with legitimacy.

Address to the UN Association of the United States of America New York, 7 June 2000

The human development concept was given a series of UNDP HDRs as well as national a strong impetus by the construction of the HDRs, such as the (EHDR). Human Development Index (HDI) to measure both the level and evolution of Is Income Constraining Human Development? progress. The HDI has been successful in serving as an alternative measure of Egypt is in the medium human development development, replacing GNP per capita. It is category, with an HDI value in 1998 equal based on several distinctive components; to 0.623. Thus Egypt has to make up a indicators of longevity, educational shortfall in human development of about 38 attainment and income. Within the limits of percentage points, for example, while these three components, the HDI has served Canada, at the top of the HDI, has to make to broaden substantially the empirical up for only 7 percent, and Sierra Leone, at the bottom, has to make up 75 percent. As attention that the assessment of the unsatisfactory as it might be, the HDI development process receives. indicator of a faltering human development status raises the question of whether it is the As a composite index HDI not only avoids income level or the inadequate provision of It is now widely some of the inadequacies of other indexes, social services are constraining human recognized that such as GNP, but measures the distance development in Egypt. It is now widely between the best and worst performers and recognized that the link between economic the link between avoids a ranking by income averages. It can prosperity and human development is economic be disaggregated by gender, region, and neither automatic nor obvious. However, prosperity and socio-economic groups. The index, which is the comparison between the ranking of a constructed every year, measures average country on the HDI and by its level of human achievements in basic human development income per capita, may reveal the links development is in one simple composite index and thus between economic growth and human neither automatic enables ranking a country among other development. According to the UNDP countries of the world. In other words, the Human Development Report, Egypt is nor obvious HDI value for a country shows the distance placed at the 119th position out of 174 that it has to travel to reach the maximum countries. However, this rank is eleven value of 1, or its shortfall, and also allows places lower than its GDP per capita rank. for inter-country comparisons. These and This can be interpreted to indicate a other related issues have been the subject of considerable scope for reallocating the

10 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 An Education for the Future The Human Development Perspective available resources to the improvement of people’s lives. In other words, effective Figure 1.1 : Fastest and slowest progress in HD policies are required to translate the benefits of economic growth into the well being of HDI all the Egyptians. 0.700 Thus a combination of both factors, income Tunisia growth and sound policies, determines 0.600 human development and its enhancement. Examining the trends in human Egypt 0.500 development, the Report shows that Egypt Zambia was the second fastest country in achieving progress in human development. Starting 0.400 from low human development with an HDI value of 0.430 in 1975 Egypt improved its 0 HDI to 0.623 in 1998. (See Figure 1.1) 1975 1998 The links between human development and economic growth can be mutually Figure 1.2 : Human Development and Income change reinforcing. But these links can also be unbalanced as a result of rapid human (1975 - 1998) development with little growth, or of fast Index % growth with slow human development. 250 Figure 1.2 shows the trends in human Per capita development and per capita income in 200 Egypt. Generally, the index of GDP per HDI capita has been higher than the HDI. With 150 3.5 percent annual growth in real GDP per 100 capita in 1975-98 Egypt achieved a near 34 percent reduction in the shortfall of the 50 non-income components of the human development index. However, it is 0 indicative that while the Egyptian economy 1975 1980 1985 1990 1998 was growing at slow rates during the 1985-1995 period, human development was also improving at a slow pace. 15 million Egyptians are income poor, more than 23 million are capability poor. Deprivation is more than income poverty The Report found that population in rural Just as human development encompasses Upper Egypt is the largest deprived group aspects of people’s lives that are much (Figure 1.3). Obviously great efforts are broader than income, so poverty should be needed to provide wide and improved seen as having many dimensions. Poverty education, health, and public work programs from a human development perspective to the rural areas, especially in Upper Egypt. focuses on a denial of choices and opportunities for living a tolerable life. Is progress shared by all Egyptians? Therefore, the human-or capability-poverty does not just consider income, but rather the A thorough analysis shows that Egypt indicators of the most basic dimensions of experienced relatively high-income growth deprivation: a short and unhealthy life, and in most years between the 1960s and the lack of basic education and a lack of access 1970s, with below average human to public and private services and resources. development. It was however, unable to fully translate its growth into better The Egypt HDR 1996 has estimated the education and health, and by the 1980s, the measurements for both income and lack of broadly based human capital acted capability poverty. These estimates as an important break on rapid growth. It is suggested that capability poverty is clear that if a better link is to be created generally higher than income poverty in between income and human development, it Egypt. While 23 percent of the total is mandatory to adopt policies that distribute population live below the national poverty economic and social assets and opportunities line, more than one-third falls in the more equitably. category of human deprivation. Thus, while

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country. Better understanding of the process Figure 1.3 : Human poverty and income poverty in Egypt of development should measure the gains and losses of various social groups and People who are People who are regions. Figure 1.4 shows a wide gender capability Poor income Poor gap in school enrolment. While the average % for Egypt is 82 percent, the average for females is about 76 percent, and the female 60 enrolment ratio is as low as 52 percent in Fayoum, whilst the highest ratio for girls is Rural Upper Egypt achieved in Suez (97 percent). 50 Egypt is facing an overriding challenge of 40 eradicating illiteracy. Some progress has Rural Lower Egypt been achieved in this respect. In 1992 30 almost half of the adult Egyptians were Urban Upper Egypt Urban Governorates literate. By 1999 the literacy rate had risen Urban Lower 20 to 56 percent. But breaking data down by region for example as shown in Figure 1.5, 10 reveal the extent to which the differences were reduced between the urban and rural areas and between regions. Despite the fact that the urban-rural gap had narrowed, rural Figure 1.4 : Disparities in basic and secondary Upper Egypt made slower progress in enrolment by gender and governorate literacy achievement. The gap is wide between the bottom (worst performing 100 Suez governorate) and the top (best performing governorate). Male 90 Cairo This Report addresses Education Average 80 1998/99 Female The usefulness of the HDI goes beyond its absolute level, and beyond changes in this 70 level in the long run. The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three 60 basic dimensions of human development-a Favoum long and healthy life, knowledge and 50 educational attainment, and a decent standard of living. Countries are ranked in the global HDRs on the basis of HDI Various human development indicators can be values. A challenge for every country is to helpful to examine inequalities between poor and rich, between genders, and between rural proceed towards the highest level of and urban areas. Disaggregation of these achievement on each of the human indicators not only reflects disparities between development components. Hence, from a groups (by gender, region and urban or rural policy perspective both the value of the HDI areas) but also reveals who are the most and its component and the relative position deprived and the extent to which they have of a country on the human development shared the benefits of progress. In urban ladder can advance our understanding of Egypt, for example, the combined enrolment development achievements as well as ratio is around 60 percent for the poor and 80 challenges ahead. percent for the rich. Thus, the low human development level of the “poor” is not only Since Egypt began producing its national because they are below the poverty line, but Human Development Reports it has become also because they have lower literacy rates (at clear to all those concerned with the well only 53 percent that of the rich). Similarly, the being of the Egyptian people that Egypt’s poor have less access to infrastructure (only ranking is unsatisfactory and indicative of two-thirds of poor households have water an equivocal human development status. pipelines to their homes). Successive Reports suggest that this result contradicts Egypt’s economic performance It is widely recognized that the national and could reflect on the government’s average of different indicators fails to reflect commitment to social considerations of the advances made by all groups in the development.

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If the level of per capita income cannot least minimizing, the negative impacts of provide an explanation for the slow pace of this process on the country’s human human development in Egypt, what has development. constrained progress? An examination of the three key indexes of human National and Global Settings development (life expectancy, educational attainment and per capita income) helps The reform and development of education identify areas of success and the shortfalls. are necessarily linked with the needs, In fact, the way HDI is constructed presents ambitions, pressures and challenges to be the relative share which can be attributed to faced by Egypt in the future and in the light each of its components. In other words if of the continuous and ever accelerating countries are ranked according to life forces of change in this century. Indeed, the expectancy alone, Egypt would have been core objective of effective education is to ranked in the 104th position instead of the promote those capabilities that are the 119th. As shown in Figure 1.6 it is the driving force of progress, and equally, to illiteracy rate that pulls down the average benefit from the development of various value of the HDI and lowers Egypt’s rank. resources of the society in a continuous and Many developing countries with similar or complementary way. even lower levels of per capita income enjoy higher literacy rates than Egypt. The figure indicates that if the literacy rate Figure 1.5 : Adult Literacy Rate : Progress and Disparities would increase to the levels achieved in (% age 15 and above) China or Jordan, Egypt’s HDI would 80 significantly increase, reflecting an improvement in human development. Thus, 70 facing the challenge of education development is the subject of this EHDR. National 60 Average 50 Education and Human Development 40 The educated are always apt to make reasonable choices within a well-designed 30 human development strategy. Moreover, they are the most likely to translate the 1992 1999 human development policies into effective Urban and sustainable actions, creating upward 1992 Denrivation perspective 1999 achievements in all areas of human life. 80 80 Well-educated people are more productive, Urban gov. Urban Urban Gov. Lower Urban healthier, more creative, and ultimately 70 70 Upper Urban richer in all dimensions of the word. Indeed, Lower Urban 60 education stands at the top of those factors Upper Urban60 determining the human development level. 50 50 Low As such, education is both an input and an Rural Rural Lower output of the human development process. 40 Rural 40 Upper Rural As input, education is indispensable for Rural Upper progress in all spheres of human 30 Rural 30 development. As output, education is the Average Disaggregated axiom for building-up human capabilities, a focal interest of human development, given its primary role in enabling people to fully Port Said best-off Cairo participate in socioeconomic and political Cairo development. 39.6 Inequality perspective Present and future perspectives of human 36.8 development in Egypt depend largely on Fayoum how far it will succeed in implementing a future oriented reform in its education Worst-off system. Moreover, such a reform is Fayoum indispensable for maximizing Egypt’s 1992 1999 potential to benefit from the ongoing globalization process, while avoiding, or at

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the only hope for the poor and needy is to Figure 1.6 : Priorities for Action: be remembered by the rich! How Egypt’s HDI can be raised This disregard of the human dimension has Income(PPP$) Enrolment(%) Literacy(%) HDI(0-1) led one American commentator to state that the priorities of globalization are now 5500 90 100 0.740 Sri Lanka favoring the interests of Wall Street and not 5000 85 90 0.720 Jordan those of Main Street! Thus the “Global China Village” has been turned into “Global 4500 80 80 0.700 Pillage” that threatens the majority of the 4000 75 70 0.660 inhabitants of our planet. This form of 3500 70 60 0.640 globalization with its scientific and 3000 65 50 0.640 technological revolutions stands currently Egypt as the major concern of the international 2500 60 40 0.620 community in general, and of the 2000 55 30 0.600 developing South in particular. This is largely due to its negative impact on issues such as equity, cultural values and identity, When exploring education for the future it is environmental protection, preservation of necessary to refer, even briefly, to the natural resources, and on the very air we changes occurring in today’s world and breathe and the water we drink. which impact on life in a way that is unprecedented in the history of humankind. One of the main features of globalization The most important change, of course, has and its links with the market economy lies been the phenomenon of globalization in the sudden shift from production relying including the impact of the scientific, heavily on human labor and capital to one technological, and information revolutions relying on knowledge and intellectual accompanying it, both as cause and effect. creativity and their technological Though globalization’s initial trend appears, applications including the invention of at first glance, to be mainly concerned with technological instruments themselves. economic change, its implications will Scientific discovery no longer necessarily certainly be felt across wider areas in the precedes application; it is industrial need lives of societies and individuals, to span which generates the scientific agenda as increasingly to political, social and cultural new materials are created according to spheres. required specifications. This new intellectual power has led the accumulation In brief, globalization is no longer limited to of knowledge to become the most important geography, but affects cultural and component in the process of production, intellectual space, and the accumulation of while decreasing the relative importance of knowledge. With its new horizons, traditional factors, i.e. land, raw materials, mechanisms and achievements, it presents labor and financial capital. The The need immense opportunities for progress, preponderant factor in relative and becomes prosperity and welfare, but also numerous competitive advantage and added value lies perils, making it necessary to re-think and now in possessing intellectual capital with imperative for re-arrange many of the policies, plans and its capacity for accumulation and higher standards responsibilities involved in the ever-increasing effectiveness. This turning of education administration of society and the conduct of point in the production process has human life. abundantly shown the economic futility of designed to employing cheap labor with limited produce a Many of these challenges are the product of educational level in the production of goods vanguard of dangers inherent in the free-market system and services, as it cannot meet the quality and its speedy economic transfers without standards required for competing in the free scholars, and due safeguards to control its activities and world market. eventually create operations, and its impact on human aknowledge-orie development and people’s needs in the long In the light of these developments the need run. Also ignored are the effects of its becomes imperative for higher standards of nted society advanced technologies which widen the gap education designed to produce a vanguard between the rich who control resources and of scholars, and eventually create a the poor who are keen on consuming these knowledge-oriented society which provides goods. Indeed, promoters and advocates of high value and marketable learning and the free-market often appear to believe that teaching opportunities for its citizens. Such

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Box 1.2 An Eye on Egypt Human Development Reports 1994 - 1998

Four Egypt Human Development Reports (EHDR) have While the first 1994 Report contains extensive human been published during the period 1995-1999. While the development indicators disaggregated at the governorate Reports provided the quantitative indicators and qualitative level, the 1995 report introduced a further disaggregation analysis of the Human Development (HD) process, they of the Human Development Index (HDI) and other went further by analyzing the inter-and intra-sectoral indicators at the “Markaz” or “District” level. allocation of budget resources. Although existing in all countries at different levels, regional disparities in Egypt should not be neglected Conceptand Measurement because of their negative effects. Disparities encourage How to address different aspects of out-migration from rural to urban areas, which creates a HumanDevelopment without jeopardizing problematic type of demographic imbalance. its holistic spirit Rural development seems to be of prime importance in bridging these inter-and intra-governorate disparities. The long term strategic objective of integrated rural development includes two important elements: continuous The first EHDR (1994) focused on introducing the concept and self-sustained progress in the quality of life, and the and measurements in addition to an assessment of the sequential development of effective popular participation status of human development in Egypt. It gave some to achieve this. guidelines on how the concept of HD can be operationalized in Egypt. The Report attempted to explain the low level of HD in Egypt and to find solutions that Poverty could improve its position. It further went to measuring and We must attempt to see the poor as they analyzing the intra/inter governorate disparities and gender see themselves gaps.

Initially, the Report linked the human development The third EHDR (1996) was concerned approach to other development strategies. It noted that the mainly with the problem of poverty and concept advocates a new way of thinking, with a income distribution. More attention has development strategy that is more comprehensive and more been given to the impact of different reform policies on humanitarian than ever before. One of the important such socio-economic variables with a focus on the contributions of this Report was the study of the regional Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment Program (ERSAP). This is-in fact-the most important part of the disparities in Egypt. analysis concerning the Human Development (HD) process in Egypt. The most important conclusion is that rapid economic growth can be accompanied with modest HD and vice Furthermore, the Report covered the specially tailored versa. Also, the experience of Egypt compared with some Semi Participatory Assessment Survey (SPAS) which other countries that had the same level of HD, thirty years focussed on exploring people's perceptions regarding ago, shows that Egypt has fallen behind. living conditions as well as attempting to understand their behavior and attitudes. It revealed that poverty changes in Egypt are highly sensitive to economic growth. Economic Participation growth would enlarge opportunities of the poor to True Participation is a right as well as a participate in the benefits of output increase. Hence, responsibility poverty reduction requires enhanced growth.

The main theme of the second Report The Report demonstrated policy interventions for poverty (1995) was both the concept and the reduction such as: measurement of human development as a participatory process in Egypt. The focus of the Report was v Provision of basic social services to poor with emphasis accessibility to decision-making, services and markets. It on women. introduced notion of the 20/20 initiative for social v Developing gender sensitive policies and programs. development (progress on HD can best be achieved if v Eradication of illiteracy of women. international donors contribute 20 % of aid flows to human v Improving women's health. development and governments do the same with v Ensuring effective poverty alleviation programs/ safety government expenditure at the national level). nets, i.e. the diversified programs of the Ministry of

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Social Affairs, The Social Fund for Development, The longer seen as only increasing the production of the IntegratedRural Development Program (Shorouk),etc. different sectors but also confronting the problems of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and the deterioration of different social services. A balance must be SocialSpending maintained between human investment and physical Who Is Benefiting from Social investment, since the returns from the latter cannot be Spending captured without efficient human capital.

2- The impact of economic policies or the reform programs The fourth Report (1997/98) tackled on people should be continually assessed not only at the important dimensions concerning social economic level but also and mainly at the social level; spending for HD: the importance of the these policies should be human centered. The approach reallocation of public resources, the role to structural adjustment needs in itself to be adjusted. of social assistance and insurance in alleviating poverty. Market forces do not automatically favor the weak, the The Report notes that social protection in Egypt uses two poor, and the vulnerable groups. Corrective measures channels; on one hand, the assistance channel which should be adopted to protect and support such groups consists of direct transfers to the poor (cash payments, and improve their living standards. This should be a subsidized food and services programs), and on the other clear and explicit objective of any adjustment program hand, the income generation channel which aims at especially in developing countries, like Egypt. It is also increasing the income earning capacity of the poor. The important to undertake periodic identification of the Report concluded that to reduce cost and time of social poor, through field surveys, to provide policy makers services and to increase the efficiency of government with accurate information on the magnitude of poverty spending allocations to social assistance, the procedural and the dimension of change and level of improvement arrangements should be revised. over time in order to allow them to monitor areas of progress and to identify the required further Past development experiences have shown that market interventions. mechanism alone cannot ensure good and efficient HD. Government intervention is needed to correct market failures that tend to inhibit human investment. High public 3- Sustain improvement in HD requires strong partnerships social spending is not a guarantee of a high level of HD, between civil society, (NGO's), government, and the but the degree of achievement of human development private sector, and both economic and social policies objectives depends mainly on the priority attached to social must be geared towards promoting HD or improving the sectors, the priority of spending within the same sector, quality of life. and the degree of efficiency in using the resources allocated to those sectors. The reallocation of this public Poverty alleviation in Egypt should be based on a broader spending should have a balance at two levels: and more comprehensive human development (HD) strategy. This strategy is based on three approaches: v A balance among the different types of social sectors (e.g. education, health, housing). v A welfare approach to help the ultra-poor who cannot help themselves (the disabled, the mentally retarded....) v A balance of social spending within the same sector by v A human capital formation approach for those who can assigning human priorities concerning the levels and help themselves but who are hurt by economic types of education (commercial, agriculture, restructuring, and for whom access to healthcare, engineering, and so forth) the type and level of health education and employment services is crucial. care, (basic, in rural areas, or health centers). v An economic approach for the chronically poor who are engaged in economic activity but have insufficient The impact of the Economic Reform and Structural earnings. Adjustment Program (ERSAP) on Human Development has been an important part of The Egypt Human Policies that increase the productivity and earning capacity Development Reports (EHDR). Egypt embarked on of the poor represent the best alternative for both poverty (ERSAP) officially in 1991 in three stages: The reduction and growth. Poverty reduction programs and stabilization stage, structural reform, and finally the social social policies should be part of an integral approach not stage, which represents a new assistance program targeted just “added-on” policies to structural adjustment packages. to the poor. The poor should be integrated into the economy in order to help them to generate income. In other words, anti-poverty This review of the four EHDRs reveals that: programs should be designed to alleviate “income poverty” and “capability poverty” and growth should be oriented 1- The Human Development concept has placed people at towards enabling the poor to participate in productive the center of development, by shifting from means activities, while access of the poor to education, health and (economic growth) to ends (people). Development is no other social services expanded. A contribution by: Dr. Ihab Nadim, Professor of Economics, Ein Shams University

16 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 An Education for the Future The Human Development Perspective an environment would produce inventive throughout life” is emphasized in both the leadership and highly trained human capital Delore and Dequillar reports, as well as the capable of creating wealth as well as need to re-think the different stages of sustainable conditions for prosperity and education and the link between them and the welfare, contrary to the claims of the first world of work. This principle makes Club of Rome in its report on the “Limits of allowances for different stages of education, Growth” with its dismal Malthusian diversification of educational courses, and predictions. This third wave of knowledge the continuing nature of acquiring crosses all the traditional barriers and knowledge and skills and enhancing the limitations of growth, lends support to the value of each. The challenge of claims of critics of those predictions as the future enshrined in the Club’s later report entitled The Dequillar Report, “Our Cultural depends on “No Limits for Learning”. Diversity”, deals mainly with different aspects of culture and its components, well-educated In this new world of soft, rather than hard including values and heritage, the darker citizens with the power, and given the relative failures of side of globalization in relation to knowledge, skills economic models of development planning development, and the problem of followed by most countries of the South, the inter-relations between the values of and concept of “human development” has globalization and national and cultural problem-solving emerged as a sine-qua-non for real overall identities. In this particular respect the abilities required sustainable development. This approach has report believes that world developments since become the chief concern of have led nations to use not only terms of for coping with development policies, priorities, and reference derived from Western values, but the modern world allocation of resources. Human knowledge universally accepted rules, and their own has therefore loomed larger to the forefront forms of modernity. These global trends of educational and training institutions as a have led nations to assert the value of their vital contributor to development goals at own cultural wealth and varied traditions world, regional and national levels. In brief, which cannot be measured by dollars or there are no limits to the horizons of centimeters, and also to try, at the same balanced progress as long as the time, to contribute to the establishment of development of the human factor remains its values for a global ethical system. moving engine for which education is highly responsible. The Arab Regional Level

Previous Efforts for Educational Reform On the Arab regional level, in 1990 the Arab Thought Forum (Amman) prepared a The International Level document titled “Education of the Arab Nation in the 21st Century” to which was Among international investigations on the added a “Amman Educational Declaration”. role of education in human development, These two documents were adopted by a which aim at enhancing the capacity to conference held in Amman and attended by respond positively to the challenges of 180 decision-makers, university professors, globalization, are reports prepared by two and experts in other related concerns. The UNESCO committees recruited from focus was the challenge of the future, which different regions and in different fields, to would depend on well-educated citizens review the role of education and culture in with the knowledge, skills and the framework of globalization. The first is problem-solving abilities required for known as “The Delore Report” and is titled coping with the modern world. This cannot “Learning, the Treasure from Within”; the be achieved unless societies work towards second is “The Dequillar Report” titled change, by developing and revising the “Our Creative Diversity”. educational system, its goals, structure, method, and practices, in appropriate ways The Delore Report states that in facing the to suit and respond to those changes numerous challenges expected in the future, provoked by the international, scientific, nations see in education an indispensable technological, and democratic revolutions as asset in the attempt to achieve peace, well as by regional economic blocks. freedom and social justice. Education is a deeper and more congenial way to serve The “Amman Educational Declaration” human development: it will help combat calls on the Arab world to recognize the poverty, exclusion, ignorance, repression necessity of joint action, and the value of an and wars. The principle of “education Arab regional grouping as requisites for

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economic, social, educational and of Primary Education (1993), Intermediate technological progress, referring to studies Education (1994), Preparation and Training and lessons gained by other regional blocks. of Teachers (1996). In higher education, a The outcome of joint action would be more mention must be made to the national than the total sum of its individual conference held by Cairo University on the components. In the Arab world the crucial “University of the Future” (1999). All these ingredients necessary for progress are reports, national conferences and seminars potentially present: a vast geographical show how keenly those responsible for space, a large population, a viable market education in different sectors of society feel It is through an that would encourage investments, and the about the urgent need for change and reform effective required labor force. Specialists estimate in its status and role in Egypt. It is through education system the minimum limit needed for a population an effective education system that Egypt size capable of survival and competition in will be able to meet the ever-changing that Egypt will be the 21st Century should not be less than one challenges of national development within able to meet the hundred million literate people, half of the context of globalization. ever-changing them, at least, with a secondary education, and at least a quarter with university and One important document dealing with the challenges of post-graduate education. future of education in Egypt was prepared national by the Ministry of Education in 1992, with development In addition, the Arab Organization for the title “Mubarak and Education - A Look Education, Culture and Science (ALESCO) At the Future”. It draws a detailed picture within the has prepared a document entitled “Towards of the educational system on the grounds context of a Future Vision of the Education of the Arab that education is, for Egypt, a national globalization Nation”, (November 1999). The document security concern, which makes reform reviews a vast range of issues concerning imperative at all levels, including teacher the future of Arab education, and warns training, the upgrade of buildings and against holding on to the present system facilities, curricula, and improved finances, as well as the introduction of modern with its inadequate content and practices. It educational technology. warns in strong terms that a new Arab educational system will be of no use if we Reference should also be made to a book content ourselves with ad-hoc reform here written by the Minister of Education, Dr. and there, or with just patching up aspects Hussein Kamel Baha Al-Din. He puts of the system. The whole educational forward his views on the education of the structure including content and methods future in the framework of global change. should be rethought. Such overall renewal Titled “Education and the Future” (1997), should start by creating an organic and this book reviews the challenges of the cohesive link between education and the scientific, technological and information new social, economic and cultural structures revolutions, which make it necessary to needed to build a new society. In short, the have a clear picture of the school of the document suggests that “Arab education future, its teachers, curricula, methods of must make use of its own resources so as to teaching and the application of new supersede itself”. technologies.

The National Level The President of Egypt has designated the 1990s as the “Decade for the Eradication of Moving from international and regional Illiteracy and Adult-Education” as well as levels to the national level in Egypt, the the “Decade for the Protection and Care of issue of education in the 2lth Century has Children”. This led to the creation of the been discussed in a large number of General Authority of Literacy and Adult conferences and seminars. These have Education (GALAE), as well as to the covered trends in planning for the education establishment of The National Council for of the future with a view to overcome Childhood and Motherhood, and the present problems. Some have dealt with the promulgation of a comprehensive law for educational system from an overall the protection and care of children. This perspective, while others with specific torrent of efforts, conferences and studies stages, curricula or components of the reflects President Mubarak’s conviction that educational structure. Worthy of mention, “Education is a national security issue as for example, are the reports of the well as Egypt’s principal tool to help her Specialized National Councils, of the reach for the future,” (from his speech on Parliamentary Shura Assembly, and the 15/11/1997 in the joint session of the National Conferences on the Development People’s and Shura Assemblies).

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Societal Objectives of Education for the holdings and industries, and to all other Future activities that help the national economy fulfill Egypt’s overall needs and satisfy In light of the above-mentioned, a summary those of its citizens. of the overall objectives of education can be made here. These comprise, in their Development of a Democratic Way of Life interactions, consistency and integration, a set of human development priorities that are This objective should extend to the various at the heart of comprehensive and normative aspects of democracy, whether in terms of societal objectives, which the education of thought, organization or action. It involves The principle of the future should help achieve: participation in decision making, equal opportunity shouldering the responsibilities of in education, Building a Dynamic and Self-confident implementation, follow up and evaluation of together with the Society action in the different spheres of national activity. This will enhance the rights of the right to work, This aim can be achieved by reaffirming the Egyptian citizen, as well as create a deep represent an prerequisites of social integration that is sense of belonging and involvement in the effective characterized by solidarity, cohesion, and a process of development with all its rewards common culture based on shared values but and sacrifices. instrument for also providing the necessary space for generating variations and for a dialogue guaranteeing leadership from the balance of interests. This will help in Underscoring Egypt’s Role in the Arab and achieving concord, common ground and Outside world all social levels communal solidarity both in times of want and of prosperity. This objective focuses on the positive cultural role that Egypt plays within the Consolidating Social Justice Arab nation, Islamic countries and the developing world, as well as mutual This will materialize through the provision cooperation with the industrial countries. of educational opportunities and the right of For Egypt to continue in this role it will access to all educational institutions, thus require an understanding of the necessary basing social mobility on ability rather than family, wealth or influence. What is needed prerequisites, the ways and means of successful interaction and effective at this stage, where poverty hits a significant negotiation skills. It also comprises the number of people, is to provide disadvantaged students with material aid to promotion of Arab cultural and scientific help them continue their studies. The creativity, integration and cooperation in principle of equal opportunity in education, common scientific research, in different together with the right to work, represent an fields of educational investment, and the effective instrument for generating establishment of a comprehensive Arab leadership from all social levels. Such Common Market to face the high diversified leadership with its broad competitiveness of other world economic interests and concerns is likely to push the blocks. process of development towards a future in the interest of all citizens. It will also Intensifying and Broadening Societal contribute to the prerequisites of political Rationality stability and social peace. This demands the creation of a rational, Improving the Individual’s Productivity scientific and technological culture capable of assimilating the sciences of the future and This target relates to the need to provide their technologies and making use of them individuals with the knowledge, skills, in development activities and in serving the problem-solving abilities needed to act needs of the Egyptian society. This effectively and efficiently, and to upgrade scientific and critical culture will provide the level of national production, making use citizens, in the information and of appropriate technology in the work place. communications age, with sound criteria for It is imperative that labor skills should not distinguishing between fact and fiction, only serve the requirements of large between a stagnant past-oriented outlook business projects and export competition. and an ever-changing futuristic perspective, Attention should also be extended to the leading to creative innovation instead of various agricultural activities of small servile imitation, or obsolete traditions.

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Environmental Awareness rather than real changes, or to the inability to discern the complexity of considerations The creation of a common consciousness, in the process of real change. It may also aware of the need to preserve a healthy, lead to a gap between the official position clean and unsullied environment, as well as with regards renewal and development and the rational use of its resources, has become what can be actually achieved on the imperative. Special attention must be given ground. The result may well be old oil to priority problems such as the scarcity of (with minor changes) in new bottles, that is, water, the depletion of traditional energy old measures or institutions carrying new The general sources, and the misuse of agricultural land. names and labels. objective of education is to These are the key elements in the set of Historical Problems and Their general objectives through which the Repercussions expand society’s education system is expected to participate, access to new and in the achievement of overall development. Below are some of the critical issues renewable Again, it is a set or group of objectives each prevailing in the current imbalances in of which is fundamental yet not sufficient in education, namely: knowledge by itself to reach society’s developmental acquisition, target. The balance of these elements over u Between the values of human assimilation, time must be made between society’s development and those of the economic demand on education and its functions, on sectors as regards priorities, investments dissemination, the one hand, and the private demand of the and long term returns. Developmental and utilization individual family and other interest groups efforts and modernization programs have on the other hand. To achieve this balance remained captive to economic concepts it is absolutely necessary not to let one of economic growth. The goal now is to category of demands or interests to be met pay human development more attention than was paid since the beginning of the at the expense of others. seventies with the understanding that education is a vital national enterprise. In sum, the general objective of education is to expand society’s access to new and u Between the role of different social, renewable knowledge by acquisition, cultural and elite segments of the assimilation, dissemination, and utilization. population in formulating the objectives, Knowledge should also be availed to the policies and strategies of education, on largest number of scientists, scholars, the one hand, and the executive state innovators and teachers, and reach a critical machinery’s monopoly on educational mass of the labor force to guarantee its reform, on the other hand. In recent continued growth and utilization. By so years a measure of broader national doing a crucial condition for competing in participation in the development of the world market would be achieved. The curricula and some educational policies cultural equation would also be changed, has been observed. This trend, however, with innovation replacing the prevailing needs more broadening and elaboration, current traditional mode. with continued debate and consultation, supporting this development. Addressing Educational Disparities u Between societal demand for education Some chapters in this Human Development and the needs of self-development Report deal with different types and forms vis-à-vis the family and individuals of disparities in education, for example looking for social mobility, personal between different educational levels, profit and higher incomes through between rural and urban areas, between institutional certification. males and females, between short and long-term goals, between revenues and u Between utilizing education to increase expenditures, as well as other indices. overall production and productivity in different spheres, such as goods and These disparities should be carefully services, or science and culture, and examined to ensure understanding and education’s role in generating, diagnosis of the realities in their historical, consumption, status symbols, and social and technical context. It is essential to influence peddling. avoid superficial, misleading diagnosis and vagueness which may lead to the adoption u Between decentralized administration, of a limited policy of reform, to formal with its attendant freedom, and flexibility

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in school administration, teacher, and the market with their requirements and educational methods, combined with their technological, media and cultural parental participation in school activities, effects, and the exigencies of nationalism, and centralized administrative control patriotism, development of an Arab governing the process, operations and culture, renewal of its institutions and activities of the educational system, and dynamics, and a positive and critical the inflexibility of its bureaucratic interaction with the Third Wave and its regulations and measures. scientific, technological and information achievements. u Between the educational curricula with It is hoped that their fixed syllabi, text book principles Moving Towards Education for the the number of and reliance on rote learning as opposed Future years for basic to curricula for the development of thinking, innovation and inventiveness or In light of the present quantitative and education would self-education, including the use of qualitative assessment of the educational reach twelve, technological and information systems structure, education’s progress towards the and library use. with the future can be delineated in five major secondary level dimensions. These should be considered in u Between support for equal opportunities the planning of the seventh development included by the in education and for the principle of education for all on the basis of ability plan until the year 2017. The dimensions are end of the and talent. Also, between the sifting and horizontal, vertical, in-depth, related to seventh exclusion of students depriving them of policies, and concerned with democracy and development plan their right to continue their studies, on culture. The following discussion will one hand, and private fee-charging elaborate on the first three aspects. schools and universities in which education depends on financial power The Horizontal Dimension and social status of students. It is envisaged that the system will allow for u Between the role of education in educational opportunities for all, young or promoting a common national character illiterate adults, with no consideration to with enriching variations, thereon leading family, social or economic status, whether to the consolidation of national unity, and in urban or rural regions, boys or girls, or the variety of sectoral and foreign adults in different fields of work. This is to educational institutions that serve the decrease, to the utmost possible degree, interests of their founders. Experience regional and gender discrepancies. has shown the difficulty of efficiently supervising the curricula of these private The Vertical Dimension institutions and their influence on the formation of basic requirements of This dimension refers to opportunities citizenship. provided for extending the number of years of education following the primary and u Between the commitment to the physical, preparatory levels; that is, educational mental, social and spiritual capacity of opportunities at the secondary and students, on one hand, and a university levels, as well as post-graduate concentration on the intellectual and studies. It is hoped that the number of years informational aspects on the other. for basic education (primary and preparatory) would reach twelve, with the u Between basing education on the principle of team-work and the value of secondary level included by the end of the group effort and basing it on individual seventh development plan. This extension of effort and inventiveness in the age of schooling will constitute an adequate base institutional production and innovation. for university education and will help level the educational pyramid. u Between increasing concentration on a scientific and technological orientation, An attempt will be made here to identify change and regard for the future, vis-a-vis ways towards estimating the quantitative concentration on heritage solutions of the indices of the future growth of education in past, linear, non-relational or absolute both the horizontal and vertical dimensions. facts and judgements. Indices of average educational enrollment and extension are illustrated in the following u Between the values of globalization and table:

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Average Average Average Average crux of the goal for improving the quality of Present Growth Growth Growth Growth education. Subject indices Rates Rates Rates Rates 1999 2002 2007 2012 2017 Comprehensive and Integrated Knowledge (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) Adult Illiteracy (15+) 40 30 15 5 3 Knowledge has been organized into the Kindergartens (4-6) 9 11 15 25 30 Basic Education : following disciplines: religious education, u Primary 92 95 98 100 100 language, humanities, social sciences, u Preparatory 75 80 85 90 95 physics, mathematics, technologies and Secondary Education 55 60 70 75 80 aesthetics. It is supposed that all curricula University/High Education 19 21 30 33 35 should include selected topics from these Average years of 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 disciplines at all levels of education and Schooling should be revised with the renewal and growth of knowledge therein. Each of these Such expectations of growth, whether too disciplines has its own basic concepts that ambitious or too limited, represent help understand nature, life, society, human quantitative objectives, both horizontal and relationships, and the percepts of religion. vertical, and are necessary for any All help promote understanding, analysis assessment of the possibilities of human and interpretation of knowledge and could, capital formation during every five-year if interrelated, provide a comprehensive and plan. Planning should not stop at defining integrated perception of reality. This is objectives, using general expressions such exactly what is meant by the concept of as “growth orientation” or “expansion” or interdisciplinarity where a subject is “extension” without fixing certain standards understood within a total perspective. for qualitative and quantitative ratios. Material, human and organizational It is therefore necessary to formulate resources can be known, the volume of curricula and select subjects so that the achievement or inadequacies in performance student should recognize the basic concepts can be measured, and the related reasons of each of these disciplines, as regards their and factors can be diagnosed. rationale, methodology and interrelationships with other disciplines. It is to be noted that both the horizontal and The emphasis is on providing a coherent vertical dimensions will benefit from framework rather than unrelated detail. As educational technology and distance the saying goes, “learning is what is left in learning. These new mediums will increase the mind after forgetting the details learnt at the opportunities for education and learning, school.” and help disseminate programs for adult education and eradicating illiteracy. Maturation of Abilities and Skills

In sum, emphasis is set here on the need for This depth-dimension factor lies in what defining quantitative targets and good can be achieved through good curricula, planning of educational activities. The which take into consideration physical, The emphasis is absence of such targets leaves no room for mental, social, spiritual and aesthetic following up and evaluating achievements. maturation as well as that of skills. It means on providing a Reference should also be made to the the development of “the total person” and coherent futility of comparing quantity with quality, his/her capacities. This integrated growth is framework rather as both contribute to the process of the sum of curricular activities, development and social and cultural student-teacher relationships and than unrelated mobility, thereby broadening the relationships between the students detail. “learning distribution base. themselves. In other words, it is the is what is left in outcome of the whole school climate. A The In-Depth Dimension “total person” grows from one year to the the mind after next, from one educational stage to the next, forgetting the This includes the targeted qualitative and from one knowledge horizon to greater details learnt at development with its five interlaced factors: and broader inter - linked and comprehensive knowledge, awareness of complementary horizons. school” basic concepts of knowledge systems, development of thinking, learning through In today’s cultural, scientific, and the technology of education, and, lastly, the technological context, an educational practice of scientific research. These aspects philosophy that is predicated on the deserve further thought as they form the immutability of human abilities, has

22 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 An Education for the Future The Human Development Perspective become completely discredited. The true limitations of verbal, oratorical and function of teaching and learning activities past-oriented cultures facing the competitive is to provide the means, circumstances and challenges of continuously new knowledge motives to help students improve and ripen in our globalization age. The emphasis on their abilities in a continuous way. Abilities verbal skills still prevails to a large extent in and talents are not immutable. They are our educational curricula, and is sometimes dynamic, progressing or receding according considered the most valuable attribute in the to circumstances which help them grow and selection of leaders. develop, or wither and die. The desired Furthermore, the concept that defined All of the factors mentioned above are pattern of intelligence as one attribute, frequently related among the priorities to be considered in the scientific and to academic skills or acquisition of programs to prepare, train and qualify knowledge has been recently discredited. teachers in teacher-training colleges, as well rational thinking Educational, psychological and biological as in-service training such as that provided leads the mind to studies indicate variations in human through the “Video Conference” system new frontiers of intelligence, speaking of intelligence in the available at the Ministry of Education with knowledge, and plural not in the singular. There are many receiving centers in different governorates. kinds of intelligence: social, motor, verbal, It is hoped that training teachers to become represents the abstract, mathematical, musical, plastic and computer-literate will help increase their ultimate goal inspirational intelligence. The new concept attention to the importance of rational and behind good of “excellence for all” in education is based scientific processes and provide an incentive on this understanding. It demands new to make their students aware of and curricula strategies to help develop the different kinds committed to this new perspective. of intelligence students possess, and guarantee their utilization in those spheres Utilization of Technology in Learning of work suitable to each individual. It is evident that learning through the Development of Thinking electronic medium (computers and the internet) combined with learning and Emphasis is put here on the development of acquisition of English language skills (while scientific thinking. Scientific thought not confounding the idea of learning a comprises well-known skills in learning, foreign language with that of making it the understanding and interpretation, starting language of instruction) has become an from the collection of sufficient data, educational imperative. The vital definition of objective, sorting out, analysis, importance of the English language is comparison, contemplation, experimentation, derived from its being the most widely and cause/effect relations. It also includes known tool to master the technological considerations of the impact of factors of media at all stages of education. space and time, societal forces, understanding complex relationships and Up to 1998/99, a number of state secondary their interactions and weights, trends both schools (about 11500) were provided with possible and probable, asking questions, computers and their network connections, solving problems, identifying options, all of together with modern science laboratories. which lead ultimately to the capacity to These technological aids are expected to be invent and innovate, and the ability to extended to lower and higher levels of predict results. education up to the year 2017. Furthermore, there are seven educational television This desired pattern of scientific and satellite-channels with free decoders, which rational thinking leads the mind to new are an additional asset towards effective frontiers of knowledge, and represents the universal educational access. It is important ultimate goal behind good curricula. Such a to make sure that these technological scientific orientation also calls for more resources are utilized optimally and that learning throughout life, especially in they are exploited towards improving and self-education. It is clear that today’s world enriching educational programs. requires this type of mind set, given the speed of scientific discovery and the The depth dimension to educating “thought” information and communication revolutions. and encouraging innovation and There is also the increasing awareness of the self-education through educational

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technology has as twin goals the inculcation necessary, for sustainable development, to of work values and the habit of acknowledge the importance of scientists, to achievement. Some of the more important appreciate their efforts, relate it to values are for precision and perseverance, production needs, to publish their creativity, the ability to learn from mistakes, contributions through different channels, respect of time, conservation of resources, and to look upon them as “stars” in our and flexibility and adaptability of skill society. acquirement. These values are crucial in There is a great improving and upgrading national products There is no doubt that the fruits of scientific and pressing need within an open and highly competitive and technological research are among the world market, where there is no room for most important features of the globalization for the serious mediocrity, and where the best and the age. Some consider knowledge to have and continual highly creative, are the most in demand. become a new force in the global race for development of power, as it lurks behind many conflicts and Development and Promotion of Scientific undeclared wars in the world. the educational Research system, which is The Ultimate Aim the key The terminal point of the qualitative depth instrument in the dimension is the development of capacities The attempt has so far been made to of scientific research in different disciplines formulate a normative general outlook at creation of offered by the educational system. The what the educational system should chart in productive and impetus for scientific research is based its quantitative and qualitative dimensions. innovative human primarily on an environment of freedom, The ultimate aim is to enable it to contribute independence, diversity and risk taking. It to comprehensive and sustainable national wealth is propelled by social values, which development, in the midst of the acknowledge research’s importance in globalization whirlpool with its various guiding decision making and development. currents and variables. Scientific research is no longer, the sum of individual efforts but has become There is a great and pressing need for the institutionalized with its own structure and serious and continual development of the expertise based on a methodology and educational system, which is the key acknowledged regulations. In stressing the instrument in the creation of productive and importance of research in different innovative human wealth. The educational disciplines, it is essential to point out that system is also in urgent need of further some of its toughest challenges in the age of resources to meet both societal and globalization can only be met through a individual interests. Behind these interests concentration on teaching the sciences of lies the strong faith that human the future, (physics, biology, chemistry and development lies at the core of Egypt’s mathematics), and on encouraging and future. supporting priority areas of research (such as the sociology of culture) and utilizing It has also become more evident than ever research findings in the development before, that there is no room for survival process. and progress in the new world order unless education adopts new concepts and Egypt has a relatively substantial fund of methodologies for teaching and learning scientific talent. Some of this talent has combined with new cultural perceptions and emigrated to achieve fame and renown, values to support education’s progress. while some has remained at home. The Historical experience shows that there can latter lacks nothing of the abilities of those be no development without sacrifice, who left except the necessary research tools, without participation in decision-making and financial resources in addition to real and implementation, and without the demand for its products. However, the provision of education for all, encouraging globalization phenomenon and the opening excellence and ingenuity. However great up of markets may add to the risks of the opportunities or the pressures of draining high technological and scientific globalization, it is up to society as a whole, abilities and talents formed by Egypt’s including governmental and non- universities and centers of scientific governmental organizations, to cultivate and research. This makes it absolutely to create for the future.

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Box 1.3 “Getting Back to Basics” By Edmund J. Cain* Egypt as a major player on the global stage has a role to resources and has defined education as the “national play in advancing the human development agenda both at project for the 1990s”. The Government has also backed its home and in the international arena. Egypt is already a words with actions and has increased its allocations for leading voice in promoting more equitable international education from 3.6 billion L.E. in the 1990Ø91 fiscal year governance and a more enabling environment for meeting to 16.1 billion in the 1999/2000 fiscal year. Measured as a global agenda goals. Egypt has been an active participant percentage of overall government spending, these annual in the Global Conferences. funding increases represent an increase from 12% to 19% of the total budget allocation, a sizeable amount when Egypt'sMost Basic Challenge-Education compared to other developing nations.

Education is the basic challenge facing Egypt and research According to official estimates, enrollment of school age can contribute greatly to identifying the obstacles to children is up 12% and a thorough school construction and achieving full literacy and empowering Egypt to mobilize renovation program has been undertaken with 9850 its human resources to compete in areas where it has a schools built to provide a suitable environment for comparative advantage and a strategic interest. students. The government has specifically targeted girls' enrollment in primary and secondary schooling and the The centrality of education to human development was results have been impressive. Whereas in 1990, only 81% recognized by the international community that called for of school-aged females were enrolled in school, by 1998 the first global conference in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990. At that portion has risen to 90%. Jomtien, developing country governments set goals for achieving quality education for all. Today, however, a Nearly half of the adult population (47.3%) is illiterate. decade later, more than 113 million children have no Illiteracy rates are higher than in Tanzania, Togo and access to primary education, 880 million almost a billion - Zambia, though these countries have per capita incomes 1/6 of the world's population adults are still illiterate, less than one-third of Egypt's. What then, accounts for this gender discrimination continues to permeate education paradox? systems and the quality of learning and the acquisition of values and skills falls far short of the aspirations and needs Performance based management looks at results rather of individuals and societies (Source: The Dakar than inputs when judging success. It is more important to Framework: Education for All, April 2000). monitor the benefits accruing to students from these inputs - i.e. precise performance indicators on dropouts and It is foreseen in the near future that the world leaders will literacy rates. Inefficiency in the education system, is not a gather in Dakar, Senegal, to review the achievements of new or unknown phenomenon, it has been a long time Education for All goals and targets. In preparation for this problem that has been discussed and debated extensively conference, Egypt hosted the Arab Regional Conference on since the mid-1970s. The low external efficiency of the Education for All which succeeded in adopting the “Arab education system, reflected in the distortion of the Framework for Action to meet basic learning needs in the relationship between education and the labor market. years 2000-2010”. High unemployment among university graduates If we examine the issue of education in Egypt, we are highlights the mismatch between excess supply from immediately confronted with a striking paradox. How can tertiary education and the demands of the economy. such a high investment by the Government in education Studies also indicate that the low quality of public primary over the past several years lead to such limited results. A schooling characterized by high repetitions and drop out basic measure of achievement is the level of literacy in the rates means that, the great majority of those now in the country. Today, Egypt alone accounts for more than 25% labor force who relied on the public schooling system, of the 68 million illiterates in the Arab States. have neither acquired the learning nor the skills that today's economy requires (Birdsall and O'Connell, 1999). Return on the Investment This issue needs urgent attention considering that there are approximately 500,000-600,000 new entrants into the labor The Egyptian constitution emphasized the right of all force each year, many of whom are recent graduates or Egyptians to free education at all levels, including first time job seekers. Accommodating such an enormous university, regardless of gender, geographic location, or demand for jobs is a huge challenge for any society. This socio-economic status. The Government has clearly problem is further compounded and complicated by the demonstrated a strong commitment to prioritizing fact that new graduates tend not to possess the skills that education as a primary goal for the development of human today's global economy requires.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 25 An Education for the Future The Human Development Perspective

It is the responsibility of any educational system to instill Reports. The reports have served to guide researchers to the basic set of skills in all students, be they examine some of the main human development issues in communication skills, numerical skills, or creative and far greater detail, which has enriched the on-going dialogue problem solving skills . on the complex challenges facing our world. An indisputable finding of these reports has been the centrality Targeting the Disadvantaged and Addressing Basic of education to human development. Indeed the Human Needs Development Index itself, consists of three core measures - education, longevity, and income, which is evidence of the Studies confirm that mal-distribution of public resources is centrality of education to human development. partly to blame. A third of public spending on education Incidentally, despite Egypt's middle income status, its goes to higher education - a higher share than in any other human development ranking is 119 out of 174 countries developing country except Venezuela (Global HDR 1999). measured. Public spending on higher education is regressive. 54% of tertiary spending goes to the richest third of households At the National level UNDP has supported Egypt's while only 10% go to the poorest third. There is a strong National Human Development Reports since 1994. These case for restructuring public spending on education to reports have identified gaps and highlighted areas where refocus on the primary and secondary levels and away new policy directions may be required. The National from the tertiary level. This does not discount the Human Development Report has adopted globally accepted importance of tertiary education. It does beg the question, methodologies for measuring human development and has however, can Egypt afford to invest public funds in higher applied it in Egypt's 26 Governorates. education at the expense of basic education? Is there not a role for the private sector to support institutions of higher The report serves as a useful tool for research and analysis learning and unburden the government so it may of critical issues confronting the country and provides concentrate on quality basic education needs? What are useful advice to policy makers. However, in addition to the the opportunity costs to Egyptian society when role that international organizations such as the United government subsidies are directed to tertiary education Nations can play in supporting the research efforts of which typically benefit higher-income groups at the developing countries, there is a critical role for the private expense of the poor? sector, academia and civil society. There is an enormous benefit to be gained from social research where Egypt has a Should we ask if the poor distribution and management of comparative advantage or strategic need. I would include public resources on education primary and secondary among the social sciences more intense research on the school teachers is a main factor in their being poorly paid, special problems facing women and hindering them from earning only, on the average, $35 a month? This coupled being part of the economic and social mainstream - with the apparent poor quality of public education, forces including participating in elections. those parents to contract private lessons, if they can afford it, and those who cannot to let their children drop-out since Looking to the Future the tangible returns of a working child are logically more valuable to the poor than the uncertain future of an Egypt faces many challenges in the 21st century in order to unemployed adult with no skill. provide a better life for all of its citizens by balancing economic growth with social development needs and Research preserving its place as a leader among the family of nations. How Egypt develops its human resources will be Research and Technology development is overwhelmingly the key to this end. directed at rich country problems. The international system is failing to meet the scientific and technological What makes Egypt's future promising is the government's needs of the poor. In addition to scientific research that recognition of the need for an educational reform program benefits the poor there is also a need to foster social which dates back to 1992. In 1995, President Mubarak research that benefits the poor. Political commitment promoted the Jomtien goal of ensuring universal access to towards human development needs to be mobilized and basic education, with an emphasis on girls education, and backed by research and policy analysis that identifies called for significantly upgrading the quality of education problems, diagnoses their causes, and presents options for at all levels so that students could obtain the skills required policy makers highlighting the tradeoffs and costs of each to compete in the global economy. In 1997, in its vision for option. An increasingly dynamic and socially engaged 2017, the Government has once again emphasized the academia and civil society in Egypt, which includes think importance of education and scientific research as a means tanks and research institutions, need to give priority for fulfilling the creative potentials of every Egyptian attention to the basic issues affecting Egypt's poor. citizen.

At the global level, UNDP has been contributing to this These are indeed encouraging policy pronouncements that policy debate through its Global Human Development need to be aggressively operationalized. Three major

26 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 An Education for the Future The Human Development Perspective

education reform programs supported primarily by the to which such a structure enhances or detracts from an World Bank and the European Union will do just that. The efficient and effective educational system. Bank's move towards the more encompassing Human Development Agenda is a welcome and growing trend in Developing a comprehensive Human Resource the Bank's policy, which is increasingly synchronal with Development Strategy, is one of the top priorities of Prime what UNDP has been promoting for over a decade. The Minister Atef Ebied's government, and which is foreseen to Education Enhancement Program aims at improving lead to a National Employment Program (NEP) for Egypt. coverage of preparatory and primary schooling particularly It is the Prime Minister's intent that a coordinated strategy for girls, enhancing the quality of student learning, and involving government institutions, civil society, the private increasing the efficiency of the education system. The sector and the international community will result in a reform for Higher Education program which started last demand driven labor force that will allow Egypt to be a year, and the Secondary Education Enhancement Program competitive player in the globalization process. which is currently awaiting the approval of the Shura Education is the spark that ignites the torch, which will council will soon begin to address the deficiencies at those guide the way in the future. If Egypt wants to be a levels. torchbearer in the globalization process, it will need to open its citizens' minds, capture their imaginations and Today the Government's educational apparatus is too large, harness their potential. By reforming education, giving too bureaucratic and too disconnected. One quarter of priority to research that targets the needs of the poor and by Egypt's civil servants work in the Ministries of Education more rigorously following up on global conferences and Higher Education, and as Egypt strives to streamline Egypt’s future will be bright. This is the basic set of agencies and create a more efficient state bureaucracy, the challenges around which we must all join forces if we are functions of these two Ministries need to be carefully serious about eradicating poverty and achieving the aims of studied. The bifurcation of Egypt's education ministries the UN Charter-hopefully in the early days of this new should, in this process, be reviewed to determine the extent millenium.

* UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative - Cairo

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 27 Chapter Two

The Education System: Structure and Objectives

It is not It is commonly agreed that education is the However, public education itself provides a principal tool for building human diversity of educational disciplines: general, sufficient, just to capabilities, acquiring a remunerative job, experimental, and technical (industrial, acknowledge the and gaining the knowledge necessary for agricultural, and commercial). Al-Azhar importance of individuals and societies to develop their comes also as an important provider of education, more potential. Needless to say that these pre-university education in Egypt. Al-Azhar important is how objectives are a parcel and piece of human program was developed during the last forty development. However, these objectives are years to combine the general education the education not automatically achieved once an programs with its own particular concern to system will lead education system is in place. Success teach the different branches of Islamic to the depends, in fact, on multiple factors that knowledge. Private education ranks third in achievement of range from individual to societal awareness providing pre-university education in of and attitudes towards education and its Egypt. Here, both Egyptian and foreign objectives and usefulness in achieving these objectives. schools offer their services, using the whether it proves, The characteristics of the socioeconomic language of their choice as the main or not, to be the and political system, as well as those of the teaching language, with the different catalyst for education system itself, are also of prime cultural emphases that this entails. Curricula human importance in this respect. Notwithstanding, therefore differ significantly between the the education system assumes a leading role Egyptian and foreign private schools. The development in in socioeconomic and political changes on bulk of private schools are involved in all its aspects the one hand, and, in making these changes general education while in technical favorable to more development in the education such schools are focused largely system itself, on the other hand. on providing commercial education, almost negligible in industrial education, and And so, it is not sufficient, in Egypt as completely absent in agricultural education. elsewhere, just to acknowledge the importance of education, more important is The General System of Pre-University how the education system will lead to the Education achievement of objectives and whether it proves, or not, to be the catalyst for human Pre-university education in Egypt consists development in all its aspects. To answer of two major levels: basic and secondary these and other related questions, the education. This has been the case since the structure of the Egyptian education system implementation of Law 139/1981. But since will first be examined, and, second, an the early 1990s the Ministry of Education assessment of the system’s performance will (MOE) formally introduced a pre-school be given. To deal with these two interrelated (kindergarten) level within the general subjects, in this and the next chapters, we education system. Accordingly, it is classify the education system into convenient to deal with pre-university pre-university education and higher education in Egypt as consisting of three education. educational levels: kindergarten, basic, and secondary. Only the basic education Pre-University Education component is mandatory.

Pre-university education in Egypt involves Kindergartens several types of educational institutions and schools. Public education still figures as the The introduction of public pre-school most important provider of the “Kindergartens” was an outcome of the pre-university educational services. 1989-99 decade, which was designated by

28 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives the President of Egypt as a decade for The last twenty years have witnessed a protecting the Egyptian child. Kindergartens considerable expansion in primary were already present in many Egyptian education. Between 1979/80 and 1998/99, cities before this date, but were managed the number of primary school classes increased by about 57 percent while the privately or by non-governmental number of pupils increased by about 66 organizations under licenses awarded by the percent (figure 2.2). Accordingly, the Ministry of Social Affairs and subject to its average class density in primary education supervision. increased, between the same two years, from about 40.2 to about 42.4. In 1991, the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a decree adding two school years at The participation of the private sector in Kindergarten level to the basic educational primary education is significantly less program. Implementation has been reflected important than in kindergartens. In 1998/99, in an increased number of kindergarten the percentage share of this sector in schools, classes, and number of pupils. primary education was about 7.5 percent. In Figure 2.1 shows the upward trend between the same year, girls represented, on the the two school years 1989/90 and 1998/99. average, 46.9 percent of total primary As a result, the average class density in school pupils. kindergartens dropped from about 40.7 to about 31.6, during that period. Preparatory Education

This pre-school stage is characterized by a Although, primary and preparatory strong presence of the private sector. In education became structurally combined to 1998/99, more than half of kindergarten become the first level on the educational pupils were enrolled in private schools. ladder, to date, they continued to be Girls represent 48.2 percent of the total pupils in private kindergartens, while the corresponding ratio is 47.0 percent in Figure 2.1 : The numbers of kindergartens, their classes, and pupils government kindergartens. In spite of the (1989/90 - 1998/99) Schools/Classes(000’) small difference between the two ratios, its Pupils(000’) implication is significant as it reflects a 12 350 positive change in favor of educating girls Schools Classes 300 even given the relatively higher fees in 10 Pupils 250 private institutions. 8 200 6 Basic Education 150 4 Since 1981, the primary and the preparatory 100 education stages were combined to 2 100 constitute one level of mandatory basic 0 0 education. This was done in line with the 1989/90 1998/99 Schools Year government policy to encourage parents to keep their children in education as long as possible. Figure 2.2 : The numbers of primary schools, their classes, and pupils Primary Education (1979/80 - 1998/99) Schools/Classes(000’) Pupils(000’) Primary education covered six years until 200 8000 the promulgation of Law 139/1981, which Schools 180 7000 stipulated that basic education covered both 160 Classes 6000 primary and preparatory education over a 140 Pupils total period of nine years. This law was 120 5000 amended by Law 233/1988, which reduced 100 4000 the period of basic education to eight years. 80 3000 The reduction was applied to the primary 60 2000 stage while the preparatory stage continued 40 to be three years. Law 123/1999 restored the 20 1000 sixth year of primary education to be 0 0 implemented starting from the school year 1979/80 1998/99 School Year 2000/2001.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 29 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

Box 2.1 Development of a Modern Education System in Egypt A Historical Background Egypt has been promoting education since established in his age were affiliated to “Divan ancient times. Primary schools existed at the Al-Jihadia” (The Ministry of Defense). time of the Pharaohs. These schools were open to pupils age 4-10 years and taught A striking feature of the education system reading and writing in addition to implemented by Mohamed Ali was that it arithmetic. However, education was not developed from top to bottom and not vice accessible to all Egyptians; it was selective versa. Thus, when the number of primary and largely related to sociopolitical status schools increased, Mohamed Ali issued, in and social standings. This elitism became 1836, a supreme order to form a “Common more restrictive and biased to Roman Council for School Organization”. This citizens during their rule over Egypt. Council instituted the education laws that were the first legislation organizing education in Education and culture flourished in Egypt Egypt and classifying it into three stages. during the Islamic Age when mosques These laws paved the way for separating simultaneously played the role of schools schools from “Divan Al-Jihadia” and and cultural centers. This trend culminated establishing the “Schools’ Divan” in 1837 to in the establishment of Al-Azhar Mosque care for the education affairs. This òDivanå more than one thousand years ago. Except might be considered as the first central for short periods of its long history, ministry for education in Egypt. Al-Azhar has always played the role of a university covering a wide range of sciences During the rest of the nineteenth century, and humanities. Its establishment marked Mohammed Ali’s successors limited the the emergence of a scientific and cultural number of schools and introduced some renaissance in Egypt as well as the spread of organizational changes of minor, if any, elementary forms of schools (Katateeb) that implications to the development of the played an important role in introducing education system in general and its standard education in Egypt. These dissemination in particular. However, a “Katateeb” taught how to read and write, committee was formed in 1880, in response to arithmetic, and the fundamentals of many calls for reforming and developing religions. It should also be noted that this education in Egypt, to lay down the bases for enlightened Islamic educational movement achieving this objective. The report of this soon motivated Egyptian Christian religious committee proposed imposing a tax to finance institutions to participate within a national education, establishing one central school with context supporting the unity of the Egyptian specialized departments to prepare teachers, people. establishing formal primary schools to replace Katateeb, and establishing school libraries to The Period 1805-1919 avail modern books to teachers.

Mohamed Ali Pasha was the first Egyptian The advent of the British occupation, in 1882 ruler to introduce modern education in prevented the implementation of these Egypt at the beginning of the nineteenth propositions. Formal education became, very century. In this respect, he followed the selective under British occupation, with high European style in general and the French fees. However, some positive steps were one in particular. His major objective was to achieved during the period 1887-1905: prepare technicians needed for the different v In March 1887, the Ministry of Education branches of the army. Hence, the schools introduced a secondary school certificate,

30 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

and the first exam for this certificate was Applying a unified system of education, for held. boys and girls as well, in all schools; increasing the secondary schooling years to 5 v In 1891, a bylaw for a primary school of which the first three years were for general certificate was issued, and became a education, while specialization in literature or condition for enrolment in secondary science was introduced in the last two years. schools. However, in 1935 Law 36/1928 was amended In 1905, the secondary school program was to add new curricula for the secondary divided, starting from the third year level, students education and to reorganize its into two branches: scientific and literary. In schooling years into two stages. The first was the same year, study in secondary school general and included four years allowing to was increased from three to four years. The obtain the “General Culture” Certificate; and responsibility for all the affairs of the second was one year of specialization - in elementary and primary education was the literary, sciences, or mathematics - entrusted to local governorate councils. qualifying for the “Al-Tawgihiah” certificate. Moreover, the schooling years in girls’ The Period 1919-1952 secondary education were increased by one year (to become 6 years) to provide girls with This period was mainly characterized by some courses related to their role in their important developments in secondary social environment. One remarkable feature of education. These developments were these amendments is that the second stage of motivated by three major objectives: secondary education was put under the v Meeting the increasing demand on supervision of the university; accordingly this secondary education due to the growing stage was characterized by guidance towards numbers of primary education graduates; higher education in the university and high v Providing sufficient number for civil service staffing with more qualified institutes. personnel; and (b) Law 10/1949 introduced a reorganization v Responding to the prerequisites of university education inaugurated in the of secondary education in both general and early years of the 20th century. technical schools. It divided this education between two major levels: intermediate Accordingly, this period witnessed a with two years of schooling, and secondary considerable increase in the secondary with three years of schooling. schools. The number of these schools was only 6 in 1914, increased to 10 (including (c) Pre-university education became free of one for girls) in 1921, and gradually reached charge through Law 90/1950. Taha Hussein 204 schools in 1951/52. Of this number 120 was then Minister of Education and this schools were public and free of charge, step corresponded to his well-known while the other 84 schools were private with statement: “Education is a right for people tuition fees. as is their right for air and water”.

Within the context of organizing and (d) In 1951 Law 142 reorganized the stage of reforming secondary education, four secondary education into two types: general important laws were issued during this and technical. Moreover, secondary period: education was divided into two stages: preparatory and general: followed by a (a) Law 36/1928 introduced several guidance year (Tawgihiah) in which study adjustments, for example: was branched into literary and science.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 31 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

organizationally and institutionally distinct. reform to foster the acceleration of human The development in preparatory education development in Egypt. in terms of the numbers of classes and students between 1991/92 and 1998/99 is The structure of the educational system has shown in Table 2.1. While classes increased been largely responsible for this high by 12.4 percent, students increased by 15.6 valuation of general secondary education at percent implying an increase in average the expense of technical education. While class density from 42.3 to 43.5 over the general secondary education is the principal Development same two years. channel through which students have access to university education, this accessibility has over-emphasized Table 2.1 always been limited for holders of technical the importance of Number of Preparatory Classes and secondary school certificates. general Students 1991/92-1998/99 Secondary education has considerably secondary Number Number expanded since the introduction of free School Year of of education as a Classes Students pre-university education in 1950. Since then key to higher secondary education developed from being 1991/92 84917 3593365 an intermediate stage, which followed education primary education, to become the second 1998/99 95453 4152624 stage following the basic education and Increase 10536 559259 preceding university education. This development over-emphasized the Rate of 12.4 15.6 Increase(%) importance of general secondary education as a key to higher education.

In 1998/99, the number of preparatory Furthermore, general secondary education schools reached 7325 of which only 10.8 has been subject to important developments percent were private. This indicates modest in the last twenty years. The objective of private sector participation at the level of this level of education has been extended to education, a conclusion that is evidenced include, in addition to preparing students for once more by this sector’s 5.3 percent university, the preparation of students for participation in the total number of classes practical life. For this reason, measures were at the same educational stage. taken during the early 1990s to establish links between this level and the labor Girl students accounted, in 1998/99, for market. These measures include: 46.7 percent of total preparatory stage students. Private preparatory schools u Starting in 1991/92, the MOE introduced appropriated about 4.1 percent of this total physical education secondary schools in and also of both males and females enrolled six governorates within an experimental in this stage. context. u The general secondary education curriculum Secondary Education was reorganized and new courses introduced (such as applied sciences, Pre-university education in Egypt includes computer sciences and genetic two types of secondary education, general engineering) to prepare students for and technical. While general secondary employment in some technical education qualifies students to enter professions as an alternative to university university, technical secondary education mainly prepares students to join the labor education. market. u Introducing courses at this level on topics of industry, agriculture, commerce, and The General Secondary Education home economics. These subjects are tailored to meet the absorption capacity This type of education is effectively, in the of general secondary school students, and Egyptian case, the pillar of the educational reflect technological developments in ladder. Reasons for this are economic, these fields. They are designed to match sociopolitical and cultural or an outcome of the needs of students in particular the structure of the education system itself. environments. General Secondary education is one of the u Providing the general secondary education “big” issues and calls for a thorough curricula with certain topics enabling discussion within the context of educational students to acquire some practical skills.

32 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

Box 2.2 The Legal Framework of the Education System

The two Egyptian Constitutions of April which meant extending the mandate from 1923 and October 1930 included articles on the primary education level (as stated in the education. According to these articles and 1971 Constitution) to the preparatory level subject to the specific regulating laws, as well. accessibility to education has been open to all people, on voluntary basis for all levels 2. Law 139/1981 was amended by Law except for the primary level that was 223/1988 to lay down the organization and mandatory. This was confirmed by the management of education. According to Constitution of June 1956 which also this: instituted free primary education. The Constitution of March 1964 extended free of v The Ministry of Education (MOE) is charge education to all government schools charged with the responsibilities of: (a) anduniversities. planning, monitoring, evaluation, and development of education, (b) In the Constitution of September 1971, specifying curricula for different which is in effect today, two articles apply education courses and providing the to education within the general framework necessary educational materials at all of citizens rights. These concern the State’s pre-university levels, and (c) defining commitment to provide equal opportunities teachers’ responsibilities and their to all citizens (Article 8) and confirm qualifications. absolute equality of citizens before the law v Governorates and their subsidiary local (Article 40). Translating these general administration units are charged with principles in the area of education, the 1971 implementation of education plans, Constitution stated that: following-up on the local level, carrying out the general national directives, v Education is a basic right for all people supervising educational activities, (Article 18), developing and managing the exams v The State is responsible for, and according to ministry directives, and supervises, education to ensure equality appointingteachers. (Article 18), v Primary education is mandatory (Article 3. Law 8/1991 charges the General Authority 18), for Literacy and Adult Education (GALAE) v Education is free of charge in State with the responsibility of planning and facilities which provide it at all levels evaluating the relevant programs and projects, (Article 20), and and coordinating the efforts of different v Eradication of illiteracy is a national institutions participating in this task. commitment (Article 21). In spite of this general legal and political In addition to these articles of the framework, it is hard to speak of a Constitution, other specific laws complete one-discipline system of education in Egypt; the legal and political framework of in fact the system has always been education in Egypt: multifaceted. General public education, Al-Azhar education, and private education, 1. In 1981, Law 139 introduced the concept with a strong presence of foreign disciplines, of basic education to include both have been continuously - operating in Egypt - primary and preparatory education. Basic at least since the last two decades of the education became mandatory by this law, nineteenthcentury.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 33 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

general secondary schools, while the Figure 2.3 : Numbers of general secondary schools, their classes corresponding ratio in private schools was and students (1980/81 - 1998/99) 46.1 percent.

Pupils(000’) Schools/Classes(000’) The Technical Secondary Education 30 1200 Schools 25 Classes 1000 Technical secondary education consists of Pupils three major specialties corresponding to 20 800 three distinct types of schools: agricultural, 15 600 commercial, and industrial. The duration of study in these schools is generally three 10 400 years but is five years in some agricultural and industrial schools. Branching is 5 200 common within each of the three but differs 0 0 in number according to the different areas 1980/81 1998/99 Schools Year of specialization in each type. The MOE participates with other ministries in establishing technical schools to serve certain specialties. Moreover, the MOE has Figure 2.4 : Numbers of technical secondary schools, their classes shown great flexibility in developing and students (1980/81-1998/99) technical schools by adding new specialties Schools/Classes(000’) Pupils(000’) to catch up on rapid technological change 2000 60 and the changing needs of the labor market. Schools 1800 50 Classes 1600 During the last twenty years technical Pupils 1400 40 secondary education has been constantly 1200 expanding in terms of schools available as 30 1000 well as the numbers of classes and students. 800 20 Figure 2.4 shows that between 1980/81 and 600 1998/99 the number of technical secondary 10 400 classes increased by 184.5 percent while the 200 number of students increased by 191.5 0 0 percent implying a slight increase (about 2.3 1980/81 1998/99 Schools Year percent) in the average class density in these schools in general. Accordingly, this average increased from 35.3 in1980/81 to Figure 2.3 shows the development of 36.1 in 1998/99. In fact the expansion in general secondary education in terms of the technical secondary education has been numbers of schools, classes, and students. more important than the expansion in The number of classes increased by 106 general secondary education. Thus, the percent between 1980/81 and 1998/99, percentage of technical secondary classes while the number of students increased by and students to the corresponding totals at 99.4 percent implying a reduction of 3.2 the level of secondary education in general percent, on average, in the density of increased from 60.2 percent, and 56.7 general secondary school classes. The percent, to 67.8 percent, and 65.7 percent, average class density decreased, from 40.8 respectively during the same period to 39.1. 19980/81-1998/99. (figure 2.5).

The presence of the private sector in general In 1998/99, the number of commercial secondary education is relatively more secondary schools was as high as 895 important than in preparatory education. In representing 50.7 percent of the total 1998/99 the private sector contributed 21.6 number of technical secondary schools. As percent of schools, 10.0 percent of classes, Figure 2.6 presents, the corresponding and 8.3 percent of total students at this level. figures for industrial secondary schools was 718 and 40.6 percent respectively, while the Female students represented 49.6 percent of number of agricultural secondary schools total general secondary school students in was 154 barely representing 8.7 percent of 1998/99, a percentage that is significantly the total number of technical secondary higher than the corresponding ratio in schools. preparatory education. Furthermore, female students represented, in the same year, 49.9 The private sector’s participation in percent of total students in government technical secondary education is completely

34 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives absent in agricultural schools, marginal in industrial schools, but significant in Figure 2.5 : Distribution of secondary schools’ students commercial schools. In 1998/98, this sector contributed only 1.1 percent of schools to industrial secondary education, 4.0 percent 1980/81 1998/99 of classes, and 3.9 percent of students. The Agriculture corresponding percentages for commercial General 7% Secondary secondary education were, respectively, 34% 22.9, 10.2 and 10.6. Industrial 30% Female students are strongly present in commercial secondary education; they represented 61.8 percent of total students in General 1998/99. The corresponding ratios in Technical Secondary 43% Commercial industrial and agricultural secondary 57% 29% education were 34.7 percent and 20.9 percent respectively in the same year. Moreover, female students represent a majority in private industrial and Figure 2.6 : Technical Secondary Students by Type of Education commercial secondary education (69.7 (1998/99) percent and 56.8 percent respectively) and Students in government commercial secondary (000’) education (62.4 percent), but the 900 corresponding ratio falls to 34.5 percent in 800 government industrial secondary education. 700 600 Al-Azhar Pre-University Education 500 400 Al-Azhar pre-university education consists 300 of two major types of institutes: (i) 200 Al-Azhar general institutes which 100 encompass the primary, preparatory, and 0 secondary levels; (ii) Al-Azhar special Commercial Industrial Agricultural institutes which encompass the Institute of Islamic Missions, Institutes for Readings, of Al-Azhar pre-university schooling years and Instructors’ Institutes. from 14 to 12 to coincide with the general system of pre-university education. Al-Azhar General Institutes Accordingly, Al-Azhar primary education continued to cover six schooling years while These institutes encompass the three stages the minimum age for admission for this of primary, preparatory, and secondary stage is six years old. Al-Azhar preparatory education. Kindergartens offering two and secondary stages were reduced from 4 schooling years are also available in some to 3 schooling years each. At the secondary of these general institutes. Curricula for education level in Al-Azhar institutes, study these stages include courses to those is branched, from the first year, into literary identical offered in the corresponding stage and science, in the second year, those who in the general system of education in are studying in the science branch can addition to specialized Islamic courses choose between two sub-branches, covering the different branches of Islamic mathematics and other science sections. knowledge. The Al-Azhar general institutes qualify their students for university education. Until few years ago these Al-Azhar Special Institutes Female students students were entitled to apply to public are strongly universities (according to the general These institutes include, as indicated above, present in admission policy implemented by the three types. The first is the Institute of “Coordination Office”), but presently they Islamic Missions, which is specialized in commercial can only apply to Al-Azhar University in teaching the Arabic language and Islamic secondary addition to a few other academies providing sciences to all foreigners coming to Egypt education higher education in specialized fields. for this purpose. The second is the Readings Institutes that are specialized in The last few years witnessed the reduction memorizing, intonation, and studies of the

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 35 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

Box 2.3 Mubarak-Kaul Project for Developing Technical Education At the end of 1991 President Mubarak and composed of German experts, specialized the German Chancellor Helmut Kaul persons from factories and companies, and concluded an agreement to develop specialist, from the MOE in education and technical education in Egypt under the teaching. heading of “Mubarak-Kaul Project”. This v The third deals with evaluation that is project aims at the formation of a generation jointly done by supervisors from the of technical labor force that is highly factories and companies, in which students qualified and well trained on modern means follow training courses, and MOE of production and advanced technologies to specialists in examinations and practical meet the needs of industrial firms and evaluation of students. increase youth employment opportunities. v Finance is the fourth aspect. The German The project is based on duality in four partner assumes the charges of experts, aspects of the technical education system: furnishes schools included in the project by some equipment and machines necessary v The first concerns the place of education and training; where the school week is for training, in addition to covering the cost divided into two days of theoretical study of training teacher inside and outside the in a secondary industrial school and four country. At the same time, and in addition days of practical training in factories and to what is allocated in the MOE budget to companies. education and training, the associations of v The second concerns the preparation of investors and business firms assume the curricula; this is done, for both theoretical charge of training inside their firms and studies and practical training, by a team factories.

secondary institutions. The third type is the Figure 2.7 : Number of Al-Azhar Pre-University Institutes, Instructors’ Institutes in which study classes, and Students (1991/92-1998/99) extends to five schooling years after the

Classes Institutes preparatory stage. A program is being (000’) implemented to qualify students of these 25 30.00 institutes for university studies. Teaching 20 25.00 foreign languages (English or French) is 15 20.00 part of this program. Graduates of these 15.00 10 institutes obtain a certificate qualifying 10.00 5 them to teach in all Al-Azhar pre-university 54.00 0 0 institutes. 1991/92 1998/99 1991/92 1998/99 Primary Preparatory Secondary Al-Azhar pre-university education has been 1991/92 1998/99 significantly expanding since the early Students Students (000’) (000’) sixties, when Al-Azhar education was 700 800 reorganized to include both Islamic and 600 700 general education courses. Figure 2.7 shows 600 500 the development of the three main stages of 500 400 Al-Azhar pre-university education. The 400 300 expansion in Al-Azhar pre-university 300 education has been remarkable during the 200 200 period 1991/92-1998/99. However, this 100 100 expansion has been uneven in the three 0 0 Primary Preparatory Secondary Primary Secondary stages. In the primary stage, the number of Girls Total institutes increased by 63.4 percent, while classes and students increased by 47.1 Holy Koran. These institutes also prepare percent and 20.2 percent respectively. The their graduates to teach the Arabic language corresponding percentages of increase were, and religious sciences in Al-Azhar primary respectively, 97.1, 98.1, and 96.5 in the education institutes, and to teach the Holy preparatory stage, and 85.6, 87.0, and 79.1 Koran in Al-Azhar preparatory and in the secondary stage.

36 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

Due to these quantitative developments, Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the average class density decreased, slightly Interior, and the Ministry of Transportation between 1991/92 and 1998/99. Also during and Communication). the same period, the percentage share of girl students in the total number of students This diversification in the institutions of increased from 31.2 percent to 35.8 percent higher education reflects an awareness of in the preparatory institutes, and from 30.1 the importance of providing a wide range of percent to 37.6 percent in the secondary higher education opportunities to match institutes. However, this share slightly students’ capabilities and ambitions. decreased from 38.3 percent to 36.7 percent Diversification is more than justified by the Higher education in the primary institutes. wide variety of activities in which graduates must achieve are employed. Notwithstanding, multiple Higher Education diversification is not sufficient by itself to ensure that higher education graduates objectives related Higher education must achieve multiple satisfy labor market needs quantitatively to building up objectives related to building up human and qualitatively. Following an analytical, human capabilities, increasing opportunities for rather than an institutional, approach seems access to the labor market as well as to be more suitable for tackling the structure capabilities, contributing to socioeconomic and political of higher education because of its great increasing life. But, the scope and level of these diversity, as well as its role in satisfying opportunities for objectives are not the same for all types of society’s need for qualified personnel in higher education in Egypt. Nevertheless, all different activities. access to the types of higher education aim generally to labor market as provide the different economic and social Admission Policy in Higher Education sectors with highly qualified and skilled well as labor, technicians, specialists, and experts. Strictly speaking, this policy is mainly contributing to Enhancing problem-solving skills and increasing, the ability to meet current and concerned with determining the numbers of socioeconomic future socioeconomic and political secondary education graduates to be and political life challenges are also among the more admitted yearly in the institutions of higher education. Applicants are subject to the important objectives of higher education. rules and regulations of the “Coordination Office”. In practice, this policy is based on Higher education in Egypt consists of university education and non-university the following four major principles: education. University education includes u Admission of the greatest possible public universities (within which Al-Azhar number of students who successfully University has a specific status), foreign accomplish secondary education. universities, and private universities. Non-University higher education includes u Providing equal opportunities to all public and private technical institutes under applicants to enter the higher education the direct supervision of the Ministry of level. Higher Education (MOHE), in addition to specialized higher education in some u Matching admission policy to labor academies, faculties, and institutes affiliated market needs which has often been to other ministries (for example, the sacrificed in favor of maximizing the

Box 2.4 Special Education Special education targets persons with The heart of special education in Egypt special needs. This includes the disabled however, has been to provide full opportunity and the gifted. The MOE has a long to the disabled, for whatever reason, to access tradition of providing special schools, the different stages of education so long as and/or courses for highest score students in they are capable of responding to the different stages of pre-university education. education processes. Schools specialized in But these are not necessarily the gifted students. Accordingly, and within the educating have been in existence for several education reform policy inaugurated in the decades, but the last decade witnessed a early nineties, the MOE General remarkable expansion both at the different Department of Special Education began to levels of education and for the different types pay special attention to gifted persons at the of disability. In 1998/99, the total number of early stage of pre-school (kindergarten) such schools in basic and secondary education education. was 406 with 2494 classes and 25916 students.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 37 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

number of admissions. This is due to the Structural Aspects of Government Higher need to catch-up with the higher Education education enrolment and graduate ratios in developed and newly industrialized Government higher education consists of : countries. (1) General university education, (2) Al-Azhar university education, u Establishing a link between the earlier (3) Specialized academic education, and science or arts track system at the (4) Non-university education. secondary education level and admission in higher education facilities. This helps General University Education identify trends, in the secondary stage, of distribution of newly admitted students There are twelve government universities among different institutions of higher distributed geographically so as to serve the education specialized in certain areas different governorates of the country. While (medicine, engineering, physical each of these universities is located in a sciences, technology, and computer certain governorate, most of them have sciences). branches in neighboring governorates to increase and facilitate local communities’ While this fourth principle is an attempt to accessibility to university education. This rationalize the admission policy in higher has been impacting positively on females’ education, the first three are more or less accessibility to university education as well motivated by sociopolitical considerations as on other quantitative indicators of and do not necessarily conform to an expansion in this type of education. efficient higher education policy especially when education is heavily subsidized by Increasing Numbers of the Admitted public resources. Students

Figure 2.8 : Newly Admitted Students and Grduates The number of students admitted into government universities increased from (000’) of Government Universities (1991/92-1998/99) 104,246 students in 1991/92 to 286,136 350 350 students in 1997/98. This means that Newly Admitted Right Scale 300 300 admissions in public universities increased Graduates to 2.7 times over six years. Among these 250 N.A/100G. 250 newly admitted students, the holders of the 200 200 General Secondary School Certificate (GSSC) more than trebled between the 150 150 same two years, increasing from 74,310 to 100 100 240,904 students. 50 50 However, against the increase in newly 0 0 admitted students (by an average of 18.3 Year percent per year during this period), graduates of government universities barely increased by an average of 3.9 percent per Figure 2.9 : Numbers of Students Enrolled in Government year. Accordingly, the number of newly Universities (1992/93-1997/98) admitted students against every 100 Numbers graduates increased from 111 students in (000’) 1991/92 to 242 students in 1997/98 (see 1200 figure 2.8). This widening gap between the admitted and graduated students has 1000 resulted in a considerable increase in the students enrolled in the government 800 universities; their number increased from 600 471,358 students in 1992/93 to 1,043,765 students in 1997/98. Due to the changing 400 relation between newly admitted students 200 and graduates, the rate of increase in the total number of enrolled students has been 0 changing significantly during the period 1992/93 1993/94 1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1992/93-1997/98 (see figure 2.9).

38 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

It is interesting to note that between the same two years the absolute numbers of Figure 2.10 : Percentage Distribution of Admitted, and Graduated Students among Social Science and Physical Science Faculties (1992/93-1996/97) admitted for both enrolled, and graduated students increased in both social science Admitted Students faculties and physical science faculties. 1996/97 1992/93 However, the relative shares of the two groups of faculties, in these three aggregates, changed irregularly. While the percentage share of social science faculties in newly admitted students tended to decrease, their relative shares in enrolled and graduated students tended to increase. In contrast, the percentage shares of physical science faculties tended to increases in newly admitted students and to decrease in both enrolled and graduated students (see figure 2.10). Graduated Students

Between the same two years 1992/93 and 1996/97, enrolled postgraduate students increased by an annual average of 0.8 percent (from 99,351 to 102,613 students) while the holders of a postgraduate certificate increased by an annual average of 4.3 percent (from 19,662 to 23,297 persons). Figure 2.11 shows these developments in addition to the distribution of postgraduate Social Physical certificate holders.

The 1990s witnessed a downward trend in the ratio of enrolled postgraduate students to Figure 2.11 : Postgraduate Students and Awarded the total number of graduates in government Postgraduate Degrees (1992/93-1996/97) universities. This ratio dropped from 107.4 percent in 1992/93 to 98.7 percent in Awarded Postgraduate Degrees 1996/97. Moreover, the distribution of (000’) postgraduate certificates obtained during 15.5 this period indicates that those who obtained 20.0 13.9 the Ph.D. degree decreased from 11.1 15.0 percent to 10.5 percent and those who 12.7 10.0 obtained the Master degree also decreased 5.3 from 24.1 percent to 22.9 percent, but the 5.0 5.3 2.5 4.7 new holder of diploma degrees increased 0.0 2.6 from 64.8 percent to 66.6 percent. 2.2 Diploma 1996/97 M.Degree 1994/95 Ph. D. Academic Staff 1992/93 Year

The total number of professionals in Enrolled Students government universities increased from (000’) 43,810 in 1992/93 to 50,911 in 1997/98. 103 This means an average increase of 4.3 102 percent per year; which is far less than the 101 corresponding average of enrolled students 100 (17.2 percent). The teaching staff 99 represented, on the average, 62.2 percent of 98 these jobs during the same period, while the 97 remaining ratio (37.8 percent) consisted of assistants including holders of Master 1996/97 degrees. 1994/95 1992/93 Year However, the teaching staff has been i

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 39 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

Box 2.5 The Education System and Illiteracy Eradication

As a response to the recommendations of the living conditions. Furthermore, the one-class World Conference on Education for All school provides training. The period of study (Jomtien, Thailand, 1990), the MOE in the one-class schools is the same as in concluded an agreement with UNESCO, in primary schools; actually five years but it will 1992, to establish special local schools to be six years for those who will start at the year target: 2000/2001. Enrollment in these schools starts usually at the first year level but girls who v The reduction of illiteracy rates with have successfully passed some years of special emphasis on removing the primary school can be enrolled starting from male/female literacy gap, and the next level to these years. Flexibility is a v The expansion of basic education and major characteristic of the one-class schools. training on some essential skills needed On one hand, it is possible to cut down the in the local communities. Accordingly, period of study in these schools by two years the MOE adopted and developed three in cases of girls enjoying a mental age higher major forms of local schools to achieve than the chronological age. On the other hand, these two objectives: the community the beginning and the end of the school day schools, the one-class school for girls, are not standard to all these schools nor in all and the home classes. villages, hamlets, and distant areas. The daily timetables in such schools, as well as the The Community Schools weekends, are decided according to the local circumstances. Courses are provided on They were conceived, in 1992, within the productive activities that qualify girls for UNICEF program of community education. earning incomes to raise their own, as well as Four model community schools were their families, standards of living. established in four small villages in Upper Accomplishing the last year level of one-class Egypt. Self-reliance was one of the school awards the primary school certificate. important principles upon which these Girls who prove to be high achievers can schools were based. Accordingly, almost all continue their studies in preparatory and human inputs and some essential material facilities, needed for the functioning of these secondaryschools. schools were provided by the local community while UNICEF, in collaboration It was planned to establish 3000 of these with the MOE, provided the necessary schools across the country especially in financial resources, material inputs like villages, hamlets, and distant areas. In furniture and books, and training and 1998/99, the number of these schools reached technical assistance as well as related 2260 with 44820 girl students against 313 and materials and facilities. However, this 2926 respectively in 1994/95. This indicates project has been integrated into the one-class how fast these schools and their beneficiaries school since 1995. have been growing.

The One-class Schools HomeClasses

These schools were established by The General Authority for Literacy and Adult Ministerial Decree 255 of 1993. Their education (GALAE) is the sponsor of these objectives are to provide equal opportunities classes and encourages their expansion in for educating girls in disadvantaged and rural areas to eradicate female illiteracy. highly populated areas, and to reduce Female university graduates are encouraged male/femaleeducation disparities. by the GALAE to establish these classes in their homes. After checking the location and Girls entitled to admission in these schools ensuring that a suitable number of females are those within the mandatory age (8-14 will join the class, GALAE provides the years). They receive the educational services necessary tools and means of education. It is in their residential areas and in accordance believed that this type of education is the most with the local social and environmental suitable form for eradicating rural female conditions. In addition to the traditional illiteracy especially among adult females. courses of primary education, the curricula Moreover, the familiar framework within of learning in these schools include issues which the education service is delivered is related to the local environment and thought to be most encouraging for rural enhancing girls’ capabilities to manage their females to continue their education.

40 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives increasing, during this period, by an average annual rate (4.34 percent) which is higher Figure 2.12 : The Teaching and Assistant Staff in Government than that of the assistants (1.01 percent). Universities (1992/93-1997/98) Accordingly, the percentage of the teaching staff, in the total number of scientific jobs, Year increased from 59.6 percent in 1992/93 to 63.4 percent in 1997/98. Figure 2.12 shows 1997/98 how the number and the distribution of academic jobs in government universities developed during the period in question. 1996/97

The net numbers of teaching and assistant 1995/96 staff have been less than what is shown in figure 2.12. This is due to vacancies awarded for work in other higher education 1994/95 institutions outside, and inside the country, or to continue postgraduate studies either in 1993/94 foreign or national universities. The numbers and percentages of effective Teaching Staff teaching and assistant staff in government 1992/93 Assistants universities during the same period 1992/93-1997/98. 15.3 percent, on the Number average, of the total teaching and assistant 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 staff in government universities were not involved in the education process during the period in question. This percentage was Students/Academic Staff Ratios little high in the case of teaching staff (16.3 percent) and little lower in the case of Accordingly, the students/net total teaching assistants (14.7 percent). and assistant staff ratio increased during the same period by an annual average of 13 percent. This growth rate was higher in the Analysis of the reasons for which vacancies social science faculties (14.2 percent) and were awarded indicates that working in lower in the physical science faculties (10.8 other higher education institutions, outside percent). As the teaching staff has been or inside the country, has been responsible growing at rates higher than those of the for about 75 percent, on average, of total assistants, the students/teaching staff ratio awarded vacancies during the period in was generally lower than the question. Scientific missions contributed to students/assistant ratio whether in the social this total by an average of 5.8 percent. As a science faculties or in the physical science percentage of gross number of total teaching faculties or in the government universities and assistant staff, scientific missions as a whole. oscillated around one percent during the same period, which is disappointing for a It is worthwhile to notice that the country that aspires to catching-up in students/teaching staff and the science and technology. students/assistant ratios differ largely among the faculties even in the same group of The distribution of the academic staff social sciences or physical sciences. For between social science and physical science example, within the social science faculties the average student/teaching staff ratio in faculties has remained nearly the same 1997/98 was 336, 288, and 17 respectively during the period 1992/93-1997/98. This in the faculties of law, commerce, and holds true whether reference is made to the economics and political sciences. In the gross number or to the net number (i.e. same year and within the physical science excluding the different vacancy cases) of faculties, the corresponding ratio was, for scientific staff. In 1997/98, social science example, 6, 4, and 24 respectively in the faculties appropriated only 24.3 percent of faculties of sciences, medicine, and the gross, and 28.1 percent of the net, engineering. Attention should however, be number of total teaching and assistant staff, drawn to the fact that each of these ratios is while the corresponding ratios for physical an average for faculties of the same type in science faculties were 75.7 percent and 71.9 the different governmental universities. This percent respectively. average conceals also differences among

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 41 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

This ascending trend of the three indicators Figure 2.13 : Percentage Distribution of Students and Graduates has been also noticed in both groups of in Al-Azhar University (1991/92-1997/98) faculties constituting Al-Azhar University. Students While the faculties of religious studies 1991/92 1997/98 increased their share of newly admitted and 35.8 graduate students respectively from 64.2 34.2 percent to 65.2 percent and from 66 percent to 68.1 percent, their share of enrolled students remained almost the same (See Figure 2.13).

The ratio of newly admitted students per 64.2 one hundred graduates has been higher in 65.8 the faculties of modern social and physical sciences than in the faculties of religious Religious Sciences Faculties Physical & social Sciences Faculties studies. This ratio increased, in the faculties of social and physical sciences, from 184.4 Graduates in 1991/92 to 266.0 in 1997/98, while the corresponding increase in the faculties of 34 31.9 religious studies was from 170.2 to 233.8. Accordingly, the students’ density has been growing faster in the first group than in the second one.

The total number of students enrolled in postgraduate studies at Al-Azhar University 66 68.1 has also increased during the period in question. Awarded certificates at this stage have however declined, but the share of the faculties of the same type. In 1997/98, the social and physical science graduates students/teaching staff ratios in the faculties increased from 74 percent to 77 percent. of medicine were, for example, 2 in Zagazig, 3 in Suez Canal, 18 in Alexandria, The Academic Staff and 20 in Sohag. The total of effectively occupied academic Al-Azhar University Education jobs has increased at an annual average growth rate of 4.4 percent. The bulk of this This type of university education is exclusively provided by Al-Azhar increase was in the teaching staff which University and encompasses 54 faculties. increased by an average of 5.9 percent per Thirty-three of these faculties are concerned year, while the corresponding rate for with religious studies, while the other assistants was only 1.9 percent. twenty-one faculties cover a wide range of Accordingly, the percentage of teaching physical and social sciences. This second staff to total scientific staff increased from group of faculties provides education in 60.5 percent in 1991/92 to 66.0 percent in modern sciences in addition to a minimum 1997/98, which means that the number of Islamic formation and knowledge. teaching staff per 100 assistants increased, on the average for the whole university, The Students from 153 to 194 between these two years. This average resulted from the increase of Newly admitted students to Al-Azhar this coefficient from 167 to 207 in the social University more than doubled during the and physical sciences faculties and from 134 period 1991/92-1997/98, thus increasing at to 174 in the faculties of religious sciences. an annual average growth rate as high as 13.5 percent. Graduates have also increased Students/Academic Staff Ratios during the same period, but their annual average growth rate was significantly lower The students/teaching staff coefficient (7.4 percent) than that of the newly admitted increased at Al-Azhar University from 24.5 students. Accordingly, the total number of in 1991/92 to 36.7 in 1997/98. This students enrolled in Al-Azhar University coefficient has been generally higher in the increased by an annual average growth rate faculties of religious studies, where it of 13.3 percent. increased from 47.0 to 68.4, than in the

42 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

Box 2.6 Management of Pre-university Education The Minister of Education heads the administration and governorate, and in the provinces of governorates’ capital management of pre-university education in Egypt. He is city councils and in district councils having 2000 classes or responsible for coordinating education policy within the more. Each of these directorates is headed by a general overall policies of the State. He also supervises directly the director. implementation of the national education policy through ii. Educational directorates of the second level are established different organizational levels as indicated in the flow chart in the provinces of governorates’ capital city and in district which depicts the organizational structure of the general divan councils having a number of classes from 1000 to 2000. of the MOE. There are 65 directorates and a deputy manager heads each. iii. Educational directorates of the third level are established in Bodies Assisting MOE at the Central Management Level the provinces of governorates’ capital city councils and in their district councils having a number of classes from 250 In its management of pre-university education at the central to less than 1000. The number of directorates is 76 and an level MOE is assisted by 10 specialized councils and centers educational stage director heads each. over and above the General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education (GALAE). These councils and centers work on a The educational directorates at the governorates’ level directly functional basis within the general framework of research and supervise the schools in the provinces of local councils with development destined for policy formulation, enhancing the less than 250/class. In addition to the above mentioned efficiency of the education process at the different levels, directorates and departments, local education councils, with introducing new educational technologies and instruction specialized committees, help in managing education at the materials, and coordination among the different sectors and different local levels. directorates of MOE. The plans, policies, and directives of the MOE’s central Education Management at the Local Level management strictly limit the competencies of education management at the local level. Accordingly, and except for The educational directorates in each governorate are experimental schools and central training facilities, local responsible for education management at the local level. These management is entrusted to locate, construct, equip, and run directorates are classified into three levels: the education facilities in addition to supervising the i. Educational directorates of the first level are established in functioning of the educational system and a strict compliance all quarters of Cairo, Alexandria, and the capital of Giza with the curricula decided by the MOE.

Flow Chart - Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Education Secretariats of supreme council for pre-Univ. Ed.

Technical office Council of the heads of sectors, Ministry of Education and central directorates.

Legal affairs Secretariats Council of education Technical directors.

Political affairs Planning and Specified councils. following up Minister’s office affairs Educational planning Public relations Researches Supreme council of and information literacy, and adult education.

Information, Citizens services and computer. Organization and Staffing.

Security office Managerial Managerial training. development

Secretary Coordination of supervisory functions.

Sector of Upper Sector of Lower Services sector Technical education General education Egypt directorates Egypt directorates sector sector

Educational computer

Middle and West East Delta Ed Central Ed General Ed Kindergartens. South North Delta services services services Tech. Ed and basic Ed

Physical and Cultural Exams Secondary Kindergartens. General Indus. Ed Services miliary assistance Ed

Secondments Texbook Primary Financial Social Ed Agri. Ed Private Ed affairs education

Scouting Tech. Instruction Population and Preparatory Admin. Comm. Ed Affairs activities training materials environment education Cultural Ed Qualifying Personnel and artistic Nutrition museum Tech. Ed Coordination male/female affairs Special needs Insurance Libraries Coordination education

Literacy and adult Fin and Admin Secret printer education guidance Coordination

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 43 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

faculties of social and physical sciences, increased from 35.4 percent in 1991/92 to where it increased from 12.2 to 18.6. The 40.4 percent in 1996/97. Excluding students/assistant coefficient and the Al-Azhar University raises these percentage students/total scientific staff have been shares to 38 percent, and 43 percent showing the same trends during the period respectively. Indeed, the percentage share of in question. female students enrolled at Al-Azhar University has increased during this period but remains below the general average of Females in Public Universities (including government universities. This share Al-Azhar) increased from 21 percent in 1991/92 to 28 percent in 1996/97. Female students in state universities have been increasing during the 1990s at rates The percentage share of female students is higher than the growth rates of total enrolled generally lower in the group of physical students. Accordingly, the percentage share sciences faculties than in the group of social of girls in total enrolled students has sciences faculties. For the latter group, this steadily increased in almost all universities share increased from 37 percent in 1991/92 including Al-Azhar University. to 42 percent in 1996/97, while the corresponding ratios for the faculties of At the undergraduate stage the percentage physical sciences were, respectively, 32 share of female students in total students percent, and 35 percent. enrolled in government universities Available data provide several examples of Figure 2.14 : Percentages of Female Students and Graduates in success rates that are higher among female Some Groups of Faculties (1992/93-1996/97) university students than among male students at the same level of education. This has been illustrated in several years during % 1992/93 the nineties and in a significant number of 1996/97 faculties by the fact that female graduates 80 contributed to total graduates with shares 60 higher than their shares in total enrolled students. Figure 2.14 provides examples of 40 this relatively high performance of females in university education. 20 0 At the postgraduate stage, data on the Commerce Pedagogy Ec. & Pol. Medicine Pharmacy Dentisty Sciences contribution of females to postgraduate Siences Faculties students and to the scientific staff in government universities were not available

Box 2.7 Providers of Higher Education All of higher education include together 475 Sciences; its board of directors is units providing educational services to the headed by the Minister of holders of secondary certificates. These AdministrativeDevelopment. units are distributed as follows: v The Academy of Arts, which is affiliated (1) Three hundred seventy nine units to the Ministry of Culture. awarding Bachelor of Sciences or v The American University in Cairo. License; they include: v Nineteen special pedagogic and v Two hundred and sixteen faculties kindergarten faculties (about to be distributed among twelve public affiliated to the public universities universities. located in their districts). v Fifty-four faculties belonging to v Two faculties for industrial education. Al-AzharUniversity. v Three high institutes for technological v Six military faculties affiliated to the and computer studies. Ministry of Defense. v Fifty-four private high institutes. v A police faculty affiliated to the Ministry of the Interior. (2) Ninety-six technical institutes awarding v Twenty-one faculties distributed two-year diplomas; seventy-six of these among four private universities. institutes are public while the rest are v Sadat’s Academy for Managerial private.

44 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives except for Al-Azhar University. Within the certificates (from both branches, scientific limits of these data, the percentage share of and the arts) are allowed to apply, and are females in total postgraduate students of awarded a B.Sc. in maritime sciences after Al-Azhar University dropped from 19.9 four years of regular study. Students are percent in 1991/92 to 13.7 percent in offered the opportunity to choose between 1997/98. The number of postgraduate four specializations: maritime officers, degrees obtained by females, from Al-Azhar maritime engineers, maritime technicians, University, has also decreased from 321 in and maritime hostelry. In addition to the 1991/92 to 280 in 1997/98. This decrease B.Sc. degrees, the Academy awards a was attributed entirely to the decline in this postgraduate diploma in one of three Egypt has a number, respectively, from 78 to 37 in the specialized fields, economics and number of group of faculties for religious studies management of maritime transport, academies that whereas in the group of faculties for social maritime insurance, and the maritime code. and physical sciences the corresponding provide services number remained the same (243). (2) Nasser Higher Military Academy which of higher is located in Cairo and affiliated to the education As for female participation in scientific Ministry of Defense. It includes the Faculty destined for staff, available data on Al-Azhar University of National Defense and the Faculty of indicate that female staff increased from Higher Warfare Studies. Admission into the special activities 1354 in 1991/92 to 1976 in 1997/98. Academy is mainly limited to military staff Accordingly, the percentage share of but some scholarships are allocated to females in total academic staff of Al-Azhar civilians. The Academy awards two University increased from 24 percent to 27 fellowship degrees (one from each faculty) percent between the same two years. This in addition to a Ph.D. in national strategy. development has been the outcome of an increase in the number of females from 843 (3) The Police Academy is affiliated to the to 1237, among the teaching staff, and from Ministry of Interior. It includes: (a) the 511 to 739 among the assistants. Both Police Faculty into which holders of GSSC groups of faculties have contributed to these are admitted after passing entry exams, (b) developments, but the contribution of social the Faculty of Specialized Officers that and physical sciences faculties was accepts the holders of university degrees relatively more important than that of who would like to join the police staff, and religious studies. Between the two years of (c) the Center of Police Research that is comparison, female teaching staff increased specialized in research work destined for from 648 to 926 in the first group, and from promoting the efficiency and effectiveness 195 to 310 in the second group. Female of different police functions. assistants also increased in the first group from 326 to 477, while the corresponding (4) The Academy of Arts was established increase in the second group was from 185 in 1959 by the Ministry of Culture. It is to 262. specialized in the expressive arts and their theoretical bases. This Academy consists of Specialized Academic Education seven high institutes for theatre arts, a music conservatoire, cinema, ballet, Arab Egypt has a number of academies that music, art criticism, and folklore. The provide services of higher education institutes were established at different times destined for special activities in support of and each of them encompasses different the functions of different bodies in the departments covering the specialization country. These academies are either falling within its area. Holding a secondary affiliated to ministries or supervised by the school certificate and passing special entry minister in charge. They include the exams are the two requirements of following: admission in five of these institutes. The other two institutes (the Higher Institute for (1) The Arab Academy for Maritime Arab Music and the Higher Institute for Transport, which is supervised by the Folklore) accept the holders of a university Ministry of Transport in collaboration with degree, or of a certificate from the Academy the Arab League through the activities of of Arts, for postgraduate studies. the Council of Arab Ministers of Transport. This Academy provides education services Newly admitted students in the Academy of to students from all Arab Countries. Holders Arts have dropped from 432 in 1991/92 to of general secondary school, and equivalent, 241 in 1997/98. Its graduates also decreased

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 45 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

from 260 in 1991/92 to 167 in 1996/97. Newly admitted students in the Faculty of Accordingly, total enrolled students dropped Management increased with an annual from 1665 to 998 between the two years average growth rate as high as 18.3 percent. 1991/92 and 1997/98. In the latter year, But the number of graduates decreased by female students accounted for 39 percent of an annual average of 4.3 percent. newly admitted students and 39.2 percent of Accordingly, total enrolled students total enrolment in the Academy. While the increased, implying an annual average number of students enrolled in the Academy growth rate as high as 11.9 percent. The percentage of Arts decreased, the number of academic However, the percentage share of female staff increased from 353 to 423 between the students enrolled in the Faculty of share of female same two years. Management dropped from 45.7 percent to students enrolled 38.6 percent during the same period. in the Faculty of Between the same two years 1991/92 and 1997/98, the coefficient of enrolled students The Academy’s academic staff has been Management per member of the teaching staff declined growing at an annual average of 4.9 percent. dropped from from 10 to 5 students. Counting for the The percentage share of the teaching staff in 45.7 percent to number of postgraduate students in 1997/98, the total number of academic staff increased this coefficient increases to 6.2 students. between the two years of comparison, from 38.6 percent The Academy awarded 157 postgraduate 44.9 percent to 49.1 percent. Notwithstanding, certificates in 1997/98. These certificates the students/teaching staff coefficient included 23 Ph.D. degrees, 42 Masters increased from 16 to 21 in the same period. degrees, and 92 higher diploma. Non-University Higher Education (5) Sadat Academy for Management Non-university higher education consists of Sciences was established in 1981, and is specialized faculties and institutes destined affiliated to the Prime Minister. Four major for qualifying students to specific jobs. functions are assigned to this Academy: These faculties and institutes were training for top management levels, research established as affiliates to the Ministry of work related to management, managerial Higher Education. However, some such as consultations, and management education. the specialized pedagogic faculties have To fulfil these functions the Academy recently become affiliated to different encompasses institutions for scientific universities according to their geographical activities and other for educational location. activities. Activities are implemented through four specialized centers for The Specialized Pedagogic Faculties managerial training, information and (SPFs) research, managerial consultations, and development of management in local These faculties aim at the provision of administration. well-qualified teachers of the basic education. Between 1992/93 and 1997/98, Educational activities are conducted through the newly admitted students in these two specialized institutions: faculties have increased at an annual (a) The National Institute for Higher average growth rate as high as 13.9 percent. Management which awards the following Graduate numbers more than doubled certification, (equivalent to those awarded between 1992/93 and 1996/97. by Egyptian Universities): In 1997/98, the number of total academic staff in the Specialized Pedagogic Faculties v Diploma of postgraduate studies in reached 726 distributed between teaching management. staff (118) and assistants (608). v Membership of the Institute. Accordingly, the students/teaching staff v Fellowship of the Institute (equivalent coefficient was as high as 318 in this year. to Ph.D. degree). However, these faculties are still heavily dependent on part-time teaching staff (b) The Faculty of Management awards a transferred from other faculties and B.Sc. in management with specialization institutes. The numbers of part-time in one of the following four areas: teaching staff amounted to 2220 in 1997/98, computer and information systems, hotel which significantly lowers the effective management and tourism, banking, and value of the students/gross teaching staff insurance. coefficient.

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Kindergarten Faculties Education, while the third group is affiliated to the Ministry of Health. Two pre-school faculties were established in 1988, one in Giza and the other in Newly admitted students in all these Alexandria. These faculties, in addition to institutes have increased from 34408 the kindergarten mentioned earlier, assume students in 1992/93 to 46986 students in the responsibility of qualifying their student 1997/98, while their graduates have to pre-school teachers. Newly admitted increased from 47513 in 1992/93 to 59069 students in these two faculties have in 1996/97. Due to these developments the increased from 899 in 1992/93 to 1327 in total enrolled students increased from Interesting 1997/98, while their graduates increased 105923 to 109305 students. feature of the from 520 to 1069 between 1992/93 and development in 1996/97. The technical commercial institutes student indicators appropriate the largest share of total In 1997/98 the number of total academic students of the middle level technical is the increasing staff in the pre-school faculties reached 71 institutes, but the period in question female distributed between the teaching staff (21) witnessed a decrease in the relative participation in and the assistants (50). Accordingly, the importance of these technical commercial students/teaching staff coefficient was as institutes for the benefit of both industrial almost all the high as 269, but counting for the part-time and hostelry institutes. This represents a types of middle teaching staff (transferred from other change favorable to the changing demand level technical faculties) brings down this coefficient structure of the labor market. significantly. institutes Another interesting feature of the Industrial Faculties and High Institutes development in student indicators is the increasing female participation. Their These include two industrial faculties and percentage shares increased, during the three high institutes for management and period 1992/93-1997/98, in almost all the computer sciences, electronics, and energy. types of middle level technical institutes. The newly admitted students in the five institutions increased from 534 in 1992/93 In 1997/98 the total number of teaching to 1554 in 1997/98, while their graduates staff in the middle level technical institutes increased from 233 to 682 between the same amounted to 3651 member of which 30.4 two years. This resulted in the growth of percent were permanent staff in these total enrolled students from 2003 to 5023 institutes. The percentage distribution of between the same two years. permanent staff indicates their concentration in the industrial institutes The teaching staff in the five institutions in (59.0 percent), followed by the commercial question hardly reached 24.3 percent of the institutes (39.9 percent), and 1.1 percent for 734 persons that were effectively teaching the remaining institutes. Taking middle in these institutions in 1997/98. Part-time level technical institutes together, the teaching staff transferred from other students/ teaching staff coefficients were as faculties covered the difference. It is worth high as 98 per one member of the mentioning that the Higher Institute for permanent teaching staff, 43 per one Management and Computer Sciences (in member of part-time teaching staff, and 30 Port Said) has been operating, at least until per one member of the total teaching staff. 1997/98, without its own teaching staff. Private Higher Education The Middle Level Technical Institutes Private sector participation in higher These institutes fall into an intermediate education consists of private universities, level between the secondary education and higher institutes, and middle level technical higher education levels. The studying period institutes. is two years in the middle level technical institutes. The number of these institutes is Private Universities as high as 58 of which 24 are for commercial studies, hostelry, and social Private universities in Egypt include the services; 22 are for industrial studies, and 12 American University in Cairo (AUC) and a for health studies. The first two groups are number of private universities established affiliated to the Ministry of Higher under the Law 101 of 1992.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 47 The Education System: Structure and Objectives

The American University in Cairo (AUC) Proffeciency) program is excluded. Indeed this department is not an integral part of the This was established in 1919 as a private mainstream of degree program at AUC. initiative of a group of Americans. The starting point was the establishment of a AUC teaching staff usually changes in secondary school in that year. Six years number from one year to the next because, a later (i.e. in 1925), university level considerable proportion of this staff, education was introduced, for males only. In whether full-timers or part-timers, is 1928 the university became accessible to transferred from other Egyptian or foreign A concentration females. universities and research centers. However, on subjects in 1997/98 the total number of teaching staff judged as “most Presently, the AUC encompasses arts and amounted to 475 members of which 291 attractive” has science departments, which include subjects were holders of Ph.D.s. The full-time staff such as literature, economics and political members represented 59.5 percent of the been driven by sciences, engineering, commerce, business total staff, whereas the remaining 40.5 demand for administration, computer, and physical percent were part-timers. Students/teaching educational sciences. These departments award staff coefficient was around 21 students per Bachelor of Arts and of Science degrees. one member of the full-time staff, while disciplines but Furthermore, the AUC has a specialized counting for the part-timers reduces this does not department designed to qualify students in coefficient to 12.5 students. necessarily match the English language. The AUC follows the credit hours system, while admission is Universities Established under the Law the real needs of subject, in addition to holding the GSSC or 101 of 1992 the labor market equivalent certificate, to an entrance examination. The University also awards a Licenses were issued, in July 1996, to Master’s Degree in literature, economics establish four private universities in Egypt and political sciences, business under Law 101. These universities are the administration, and engineering, amongst following: other subjects. But a Ph.D. program is not yet available. u The Sixth of October University; This encompasses seven faculties for In 1997/98 the newly admitted students computer and information systems, were 693 out of which 380 were holders of information, economics, pharmacy, the Egyptian GSSC representing 54.8 medicine, physical therapy, and percent of the total admitted students. The engineering. remaining 45.2 percent were holders of other certificates. Females accounted for u October University for Modern Sciences 56.3 percent of this total, while males and Literary; This has three faculties for accounted for the remaining 43.7 percent. business administration, computer Egyptians represented 87.4 percent of the sciences, and engineering. same total whereas the remaining 12.6 percent were foreigners. u Misr University for Sciences and Technology; This has six faculties for Total students enrolled in the AUC economics, information systems, amounted to 3632 in 1997/98. Females information, medicine, dentistry, and represented 49.6 percent of this total while pharmacy. the males accounted for the remaining 50.4 percent. Of the same total Egyptians and u Misr International University; This foreigners constituted 87.2 percent and 12.8 encompasses five faculties: information percent respectively. It is worth noting that sciences, business administration, 42.0 percent of total students enrolled in linguistics, pharmacy, and engineering. 1997/98 were registered in the English language program, to qualify for study in These four universities have had a cautious degree programs at the AUC. start of activities with a concentration on those subjects judged, rightly or wrongly, as Graduates of the University amounted to the “most attractive”. This choice has been 595 representing 16.4 percent of total driven by demand for educational enrolled students in 1997/98. However, this disciplines and does not necessarily match percentage jumps to 28.3 if the number of the real needs of the labor market. students enrolled in the general (English Furthermore, the formation of specialists in

48 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 The Education System: Structure and Objectives the sciences, especially physics and the industrial relations). The study mathematics, is still neglected in these extends to four years after which the universities since no faculty of sciences student is awarded a Bachelor’s degree. figures in their activity plans. However, this is conditioned by achieving a general score of “Good”, at least, in the In 1997/98 the total enrolled student in the second year of study; otherwise students four universities reached 3201 students of are awarded a middle level diploma which 1542 were newly admitted. This total against the first two years spent at this was distributed among the group of University. medicine faculties (66.6 percent), the Like the faculties of engineering (11.1 percent), and u Forty-five private higher institutes with government the other faculties (22.3 percent). four years of studying and awarding institutes of Bachelor degrees in different areas like higher education, This implies that the group of physical computer science, secretarial work, sciences faculties accounted for 77.7 tourism and hostelry, social services, and private institutes percent of the total enrolled students while translation and languages. consist of higher the remaining 22.3 percent was enrolled in and middle level the group of social sciences faculties. u Three higher institutes of diversified Female percentage share in total enrolled specialization which follow the Workers’ institutes students in these universities is much lower University system in the certificates they than in the government institutions of award to their graduates. higher learning. Females accounted for 11.3 percent of this total. The total number of students enrolled in these institutes has increased from 161253 The scientific staff in these universities students in 1995/96 to about 194000 consisted, in 1997/98, of 295 members of students in 1997/98. But newly admitted which 167 teaching staff members and 128 students decreased between the same two assistants. The students/total teaching staff years from 52069 to 43167. amounted, in the same year to 11 students; it rises to 19 students when calculated with Middle level private institutes consist of 11 reference to the teaching staff only. institutes in which the period of studying is two years. These institutes provide The Private Institutes education services in different fields such as secretarial work, computer science, business Like the government institutes of higher administration, industrial work and education, private institutes consist of industrial technology. Data specific to these higher and middle level institutes. institutes are not available, but according to available aggregate data which includes Higher private institutes encompass three these institutes with governmental middle types: level institutes of health, it has been noticed that both newly admitted and total enrolled u Six branches for the Workers’ University students have been declining, during the in Cairo, Alexandria, Assyout, Zagazig, period 1992/93-1997/98, at annual average Tanta, and Damietta. Each branch is rates around 10 percent and 9 percent divided to an industrial department respectively. Within the same limits of data, (specialized in technology) and a graduates have been also declining at annual commercial department (specialized in average rate around 13 percent.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 49 Chapter Three

Efficiency of the Education System

A neglect of Like any other productive system, the been strong constraints on translating this Egyptian education system can be generally priority into effective educational individual evaluated in terms of inputs, outputs, as well attainment whether across society or for differences, as process. But unlike most other productive important segments of the population. systems, the education system should Among these constraints figure: people’s neither minimize inputs nor maximize preferences, and outputs. On the one hand, a good education u The low-income levels of a significant different system tries to increase most, if not all, proportion of the population. Because of inputs up to saturation levels. Pupils and income constraint many individuals are environments in students, teachers, school and class forced to remain at educational designing the buildings, basic and auxiliary educational attainment levels far below their curricula makes materials and facilities, curricula, and aspirations. instructional courses and materials are all u The relatively high costs incurred by education less examples of inputs that must not minimized. families, directly and/or indirectly, for attractive to On the other hand, the efficient output mix the education of their children. many students of an education system excludes, by According to the 1997/98 EHDR, the per definition, the comprehensive output annum out-of pocket expenditure on and less maximization for all stages and / or all types education amounted to 10-15 percent of remunerative in of education. the average household income. These terms of costs represent an obstacle to universal Except for basic education output, which access to education especially for the knowledge, should be maximized, in terms of the poor and for females, who often forgo employment and number of persons successfully achieving educational opportunities as a result. earning capacity this stage, outputs from other stages and u The relatively low absorption capacity of types of education should be proportionately the education system is a major expanding according to the anticipated constraint to universal enrolment, and the objectives of society. Moreover, the average net enrolment ratio in the first characteristics of the labor market, as well year of primary education barely reached as the proper policy for different activities, 86.2 percent in 1997/98, not counting call for a certain balance and proportionality Al-Azhar primary education. in the relationships between the different u The modest quality of, and the lack of, an stages and types of education. This explains attractive environment in most why a good education system resembles a educational facilities or in instruction trapezoid with basic education at its broad material impact negatively on the internal base and higher education at its narrow end. and external efficiency of the education system and encourage high drop out Bearing these introductory remarks in mind, rates. In addition to the high density of we proceed, in this chapter to an assessment classes, most school buildings do not of the efficiency of the education system in have enough space for physical and Egypt. In addition to focussing on the recreational activities. input/output indicators, which correspond to u A neglect of individual differences, the internal and external efficiency people’s preferences, and different indicators it is important to start this environments in designing the curricula assessment with some essential points makes education less attractive to many related to the broad context within which students and less remunerative in terms the education system operates. of knowledge, employment and earning capacity. Major Constraints to Educational Attainment Resolving these problems has been a major goal in the reform of the Egyptian education Education has always been a top priority in system over the last fifteen years, but the the values of the overwhelming majority of constraints continue to impact negatively on the Egyptian people. But, there have always the system’s responsiveness to the high

50 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System expectations people have of education. This basic human value, safeguarding the explains, to a large extent, the still national identity and culture within a significant illiteracy rates among both males globalizing world, coping with a domestic and females, the high drop out ratios, the and international competitive economic relatively failure and high repetition rates, order, and ensuring a safe environment. the educational gender gaps, in addition to These are seen as a basis for sustainable all the other manifestations of the development. However, it seems that the unimpressive achievements of the education achievements of the education system on all system. these fronts remain very modest. It is quite Although education still occupies a high Education and the Development Strategy legitimate to place on the scale of values of most evaluate the Egyptians, the last four decades have Since the beginning of the 1990s human witnessed unfavorable changes in people’s development has been adopted as a performance of motives for education. During this period, comprehensive approach to development. the education and notably in the last twenty years, Indeed, human development encompasses system in Egypt education has largely regressed as an end in all the dimensions of societal activities, itself and progressed as a means, of gaining, economic as well as political, social, and from the through “certification” social status and/or cultural. Egypt has responded favorably to viewpoint of the higher income. Even these two goals this worldwide trend. This has been human themselves became subject to uncertainty manifested in the enthusiasm with which the with the rise in material values and the first EHDR (1994) was received by the development increase in unemployment among the government, academicians, intellectuals, as strategy educated population. well as various institutions of civil society. Since then, human development has become These changes represent a paradox that the strategy of development in Egypt with impacts negatively on the function of the annual EHDR guiding the education to build human knowledge and implementation of this strategy. capabilities, on the quality of both education and its graduates, and on the opportunities Given that human development is defined as education affords to earn reasonable the “process of enlarging people’s choices” incomes and/or social status. Moreover, the and given its focus on people, it is quite prevalence of material values as well as the legitimate to evaluate the performance of increasing costs of education have forced the education system in Egypt from the significant numbers of the poor to accord viewpoint of the human development lower priority to education on their scale of strategy. priorities.

At the official level, the government has This strategy consists of building human capabilities, fostering and enlarging shown a great interest in educational reform. However, matching the qualification of the sustainable development to ensure the best labor force to different jobs, especially in use of these capabilities and their government institutions, has been the continuous enhancement, distributing the driving force behind government interest up fruits of development in a more equitable to the early 1990s. The predominance of way, and democratizing the decision making public sector (government administration as process so as to stimulate people’s well as the public business enterprises) as participation on a large scale. the major formal employer in the economy supported this trend. Conditions for an Efficient Educational System It is only recently that the government has adopted a broader vision of education, Education contributes to all these closely linking it to essential components of the human development socioeconomic, political and cultural strategy. Needless to say, this contribution progress, and making it, as such a top should be not only positive but also priority on its agenda. innovative, moving towards ever improving achievements. But to play such a role the Concerns now focus on essential values education system must fulfil certain such as national security, equal educational conditions most of which are still lacking in opportunities for all people, democratization Egypt as in many other developing of the education process, tolerance as a countries.

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• Education for Learning a commitment to the success of the education process especially when it The first of these conditions is that the includes all the partners of this process. education system must strike a balance Moreover, participation provides greater between education for learning and opportunity to identify, mobilize, and use education to meet labor market demand. education resources (effective as well as Education for learning is a value in itself potential) more efficiently. Both and represents a basic avenue towards decentralization and participation are helping people develop themselves, which is essential to human development because The education both a major objective of human they are closely linked to the practice of system must development and also the foundation on “development by people” in the area of which human capabilities and skills can be education. Notwithstanding, the Egyptian strike a balance built. Thus, education for learning is a education system is still characterized by a between strong support for education for labor high degree of centralization while education for market demand. Notwithstanding this fact, participation is deliberately limited to the education system in Egypt has always technocratic consultations and is devoid of a learning and been focused on education for the labor real mechanism for inclusion of the grass education to meet market, despite the education reform, which roots level. labor market started more than fifteen years ago. Even within the limits of this narrow vision, the • Commitment to Long Run National demand achievements of the education system Objectives appear low given the higher unemployment rates recorded among educated persons, not The fourth condition is the strict to speak of the low productivity of the commitment of the education system to the Egyptian work force, including the educated long run national objectives, on the one labor force. hand, and to the scientific and professional pedagogic methods, curricula, and • Participation and Perceptiveness calendars, on the other hand. Any reform or change in this system must be guided by The second condition is that the education developments in these two factors that are process must strike a balance between relatively stable. This calls for stability and transmitting information, on the one hand, transparency in the education system away and learning by participation on the other from the hazards and maneuvers of politics hand. While a scientific formation requires and politicians, or the personal interests of that a necessary amount of information be some social groups. Unfortunately this has transmitted, learning by participation and not been the case as regards the education perceptiveness is indispensable to sustain system in the majority of developing and operationalize this process. This fact is countries including Egypt. quite clear to the education policy makers in Egypt (at least as manifested in their official • Educational System as a Model of Values declarations) but the overburdening of education curricula, among other factors, The fifth condition is that the education leaves little room for education by system must serve as a model to highlight, participation and perceptiveness. Thus the operationalize, and enhance positive education system in Egypt depends heavily national values like: equity and justice, on transmitting information by dictation and tolerance and liberty of conviction, memorization. This represents an important democracy and the management of obstacle to the democratization of the differences, social consolidation and education process. diversification, and public order within a socially, politically, and economically • Democracy in Managing the Education liberal environment. To what extent the System Egyptian education system fulfils this function is a question to which the The third condition is democracy in following sections of this chapter might managing the education system. provide some answers. Decentralization and participation are the two pillars of such democracy. Education Policy and Objectives Decentralization provides better opportunities to identify the real educational The Broad Lines of Egypt’s Education needs and preferences of local communities, Policy maintain education facilities, and monitor the education process. Participation creates According to the “Modern Egypt

52 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System

Encyclopedia, Vol. 4: Education,” the broad allocations to education and the second is lines of education reform have been through the participation of business and resumed in the following five principles: community sectors. Increasing this participation depends on how strongly u Designing a vibrant education policy these believe in the importance of democratically. By this policy is meant a education as an investment in building sustainable, adaptable, and well-targeted human capabilities, increasing the policy. Conceived in this context, a new competitiveness of the national economy, education policy must apply scientific and strengthening social stability and methods, follow democratic and legal tolerance among different social groups. Within the channels, express the real needs of the context of the Egyptian people, and objectively meet The same broad lines for education policy new education the global challenges facing this nation. were repeated in a Ministry of Education This policy must contribute to (MOE) publication entitled “Mubarak and policy, Egyptian overcoming the education crisis in Egypt, Education; the National Project for households so as to catch-up with the Developing Education”, which indicates should not be multidimensional revolution of science, that they represent the strategic framework technology, and information. for education policy implemented since the charged with u Avoiding to burden Egyptian households recent reform of 1992. However, it is not additional additionally. Within the context of the sufficient to tackle education policy at this financial or new education policy, Egyptian broad level since this only provides a households should not be charged with general framework for deriving objectives. psychological additional financial or psychological We need to approach Egyptian education burdens burdens. policy at the level of its executive aspects. u Maintaining the principle of equal Without tackling these aspects, the education opportunities. Changes in the discussion remains superficial and largely education policy should not impact misleading because a policy is, indeed, “an negatively, in any way, on the action towards achieving some ends (the commitment to this principle because it policy process); this process has two represents one of the basic constitutional aspects: the ends or objectives to be arrived rights. at, and the means (instruments) by which u Confirming that education is a national these objectives have to be achieved”. security issue. Indeed education plays a crucial role in the three basic dimensions Operational Principles of the Education of national security. On the political Policy level, democracy is a natural outcome of a good education which is based on To examine these principles, it is useful to understanding, analysis, free discussion, distinguish between pre-university and responsibility and tolerance, and which higher education. Both are, indeed, subject inculcates a social vision as well as a to the same education policy strategic sense of social assuming responsibility. framework, but the means of achieving the An education of this kind strongly objectives implied in these broad lines differ supports social peace. Economically, this between these two levels of education. type and quality of education provides a solid basis for building up a competitive Operational Principles for the economy, increasing skilled labor in the Pre-University Education Policy total labor force, and increasing productivity. Education is also Before tackling the general operational indispensable for securing society against principles behind pre-university education external and internal dangers. policy, it is to be noted that successive u Investing in education is investing in Egyptian governments have recognized and people and their capabilities. encouraged a role for the private sector, Accordingly, education must acquire the national as well as foreign, in education. But investments necessary for the regulating this role, its degree and quality development of its different components has been changing over time and, hence, has and activities. It is not sufficient to influenced its relative importance. With recognize the importance of education if regards Al-Azhar education, this has been sufficient resources are not allocated to subject to successive developments which its continuous development. There are have gradually integrated it to conform with two sources of financing investments in the general education policy while education: the first is the state budget maintaining its specific character of

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combining Islamic studies with the other reduce average class density, and achieve studies required by the general education universal enrolment in line with the system. increase in population. u Including different educational activities. Keeping these remarks in mind, it is now In this respect, the MOE has specified possible to illustrate the general operational that newly built schools must include principles of pre-university education policy well equipped facilities for cultural, in Egypt as follows: artistic, social, and health care activities, in addition to physical education. Education is a u Education is a basic right that government Attention is also paid to the rehabilitation basic right that ensures for all Egyptians with no and development of school libraries, government distinctions. Accordingly, all pre- encouraging school journalism, programs university public education is generally for students with special needs (including ensures for all “free of charge” except for symbolic fees, the gifted), and organizing extra Egyptians with which barely cover part of the cost of curricular and scouting camps. School no distinctions textbooks provided to the students. No nutrition and health and social care figure student can be deprived from attending also as important components of the class because of inability to pay fees. MOE policy to ensure optimal conditions With regard to private pre-university for the pre-university education process. education, charges must be proportional u Developing technical education to match to the quantity and quality of services the increasing demand for skilled labor in provided while a limited number of Egypt and abroad. The Mubarak-Kohl scholarships should be awarded to top Project falls within this area of improving performing students. technical education in Egypt and as such u Preparation and motivation of teachers is is a model and a pilot project. Other essential, and four measures are efforts to develop technical education suggested: financial reform to make have been to: teachers’ remuneration appropriate to the w Update curricula in conjunction with cost of living, external training in foreign scientific progress and rapid countries, good training in Egypt, and technological change. The MOE has continuous programs for upgrading introduced new intermediate technical teachers’ knowledge and skills. specializations such as elevator u Introducing curricula that focus on quality maintenance, maintenance of medical rather than quantity. This will develop the appliances, computer and software students’ capabilities, and skills, to cope sciences, information and control with the realities of modern life and meet system skills, maintenance of heavy the challenges of development within an equipment, secretarial skills, basic increasingly competitive environment. To business administration, and achieve this objective, curricula must be marketing. developed to rationalize content by w Establish an advanced technical school eliminating repetition and redundancies, in Nasr City (a suburb of Cairo), to introduce contemporary concepts and prepare technicians specialized in information especially concerning the maintaining educational buildings. An environment, national security, human experimental technical industrial rights, and the challenges inherent in school has also been established in globalization. Naturally, these general Ismailia City, to train technicians in principles for curricula development are information technology. to be applied in a manner appropriate to w Maintain and upgrade machinery and each education stage. equipment of industrial schools to u Expanding educational premises and meet current requirements. buildings, both vertically and w Increase the financial allocations for horizontally. Vertically, to rehabilitate raw materials used in training students; existing buildings, adding newly during 1990s a student’s average share constructed classes wherever possible, of annual budget expenditure on raw and providing the necessary furniture and materials increased from two to thirty equipment. Horizontally, to increase the five Egyptian Pounds. number schools and other educational w Support a project for capital formation premises and to provide them with all the in industrial and agricultural schools to necessary amenities. Both vertical and provide additional opportunities for horizontal expansion aim to put an end to training and for using these schools for the phenomenon of the multi-shift school, revenue yielding production. Returns

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to this project are employed in with technical and financial assistance supporting school equipment and to establish small-scale projects. materials, and providing incentives for w Providing auxiliary services to guide students and others participating in this and encourage illiterate persons to use production. centers of illiteracy eradication. w Introducing computers to all types of w Encouraging the participation of technical schools. businessmen, non-governmental w Forming a consultative committee to organizations, and local associations in propose new curricula and new the different literacy and adult specialties that serve the national education activities. The basic economy. w Launching a voluntary program for function of the w Emphasizing the importance of illiteracy eradication on the basis of university is to marketing within the three major types free contracting. For this program, the of technical schools: industrial, MOE would contract with qualified serve the society agricultural, and commercial. persons to act as instructors in the in a program; these would receive a comprehensive u Eradicating illiteracy as a necessary lump-sum remuneration against a precondition for achieving universal certain number of students who pass a way education. This dimension of the final literacy and numeracy exam. education policy has become a major w Introducing distance education through concern when President Mubarak radio and television to transmit literacy declared the decade as one for the and numeracy lessons in addition to eradication of illiteracy. To honor this special programs and features declaration, Law 8/1991 established the mobilizing people against illiteracy. General Authority for Literacy and Adult w Establishing one-class schools to Education (GALAE) in 1992 to address the problems of illiteracy and implement the national plan for illiteracy drop out among girls. eradication on two levels. The first is mandatory and covers the age bracket Operational Principles of Higher 14-35 while the second is optional for the Education Policy age bracket 35+. It was estimated, within the national plan, that 20 percent of At this level of education in Egypt, a illiterate persons above the age of 35 distinction is made between university would benefit from the GALAE education, academy education, and programs. MOE policy for illiteracy non-university higher education. In general, eradication consists of developing the these three types of higher education are relevant curriculum as follows: subject to the above mentioned broad lines w Adding educational and reading of education policy. However, each of these materials closely related to the three types has specific operational policy beneficiaries’ environment and their principles that depend on their specific educational and cultural context. educational assignments. w Creating fully developed instruction instruments prepared specially for University Education instructors in illiteracy eradication. w Paying increased attention to the The basic function of the university is to after-literacy stages to sustain serve the society in a comprehensive way continuous education by encouraging to: literates to continue their education in u Provide all economic and social sectors regular schools, publishing a special with highly qualified and skilled journal (Al-Tanweer) posted free to technicians, specialists, and experts in all their homes, providing booklets fields. covering various cultural and u Graduate individuals well equipped with day-to-day subjects (first aid, knowledge, science, advanced research combating disease, reproductive health, methods, and technological applications. women protection, safeguarding the u Render other services to society such as environment, human rights), and problem-solving skills, participating in providing continuous educational and modernization, and developing culture library services. within the context of religious and moral w Increasingly linking illiteracy values. eradication programs to vocational u Preparing Egyptian society to meet training and providing beneficiaries current and future socioeconomic and

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political challenges taking into account foreign languages, in addition, of course, two important facts. The first is that some to their scholarly formation. change is positive while some is u Increasingly integrate the sciences of the negative. The second is that change future into university education. The occurs on the global, regional, and SCU will establish a center for futuristic national levels. sciences and studies in each university, in addition to a center affiliated to the SCU To fulfil these aims, university education itself. These centers are designed to policy is based on the following principles: follow up on recent developments in Education policy scientific and technological areas and in Egypt appears u Expanding university education in Egypt explore methods for introducing these to respond, in its to meet accepted international enrolment developments to university education. ratios and to complete the diversification Moreover, and to support scientific broad lines, to the needed for scientific and technological research in the Egyptian universities, the major conditions progress. This has been translated into SCU has created an information net of an education increasing the number of universities, linking them electronically via the faculties, and adding new specialized internet with each other and with foreign system well fitted departments. universities and research centers. To to the human u Developing the university councils to facilitate the use of modern information development include, in addition to the Supreme technology, most universities have Council for Universities (SCU), three decided to include English language and strategy other councils; namely, the Council of computer courses in the curricula of their Education and Student Affairs (CESA), faculties; this is in addition to the the Council of Postgraduate Studies and creation of faculties for computer and Research (CPSR), and the Council for the information sciences in seven of the Affairs of Society Services and Egyptian universities. Environmental Development (CASSED). u Supporting and developing university While the SCU is charged with the laboratories and libraries to help staff and responsibility for planning and policy students undertake research based on making for university education, the up-to-date sources and materials. other three councils are mainly responsible for helping the SCU in the The “Coordination Office” acts centrally on implementation of university education behalf of the entire public universities and plans and policies. higher institutes with regard to student u Developing Permanent Committees to admissions. Holders of the General ensure objective and effective promotion Secondary School Certificate (GSSC) apply of university teaching staff. Within this to this office indicating multiple degree context, all professors with five years at choices arranged according to the professorship level have been added to applicants’ priorities for the faculties and/or the list of arbitrators who examine the institutes they wish to join. The research output of candidates. Coordination Office distributes the u Developing modern systems to effect the applicants according to four criteria: the efficient employment of available number of new students that the SCU will capacities. In this regard, two important accept in each faculty and institute, the systems were introduced to provide general score in the GSSC, the applicant’s opportunities for continued education for secondary school orientation (science or those unable to be regular students. These literary) , and the geographic location of the two systems are the “Open Education applicant’s family residence. System”, and the “Guided Affiliation System”. Both systems have the How Far Education Policy is Consistent advantage of being suitable for working with Development Strategy? persons, in different age brackets, to continue university education while Generally speaking, education policy in benefiting from academic guidance Egypt appears to respond, in its broad lines, provided by university staff. to the major conditions of an education u Establishing special departments in some system well fitted to the human faculties of the social sciences, using development strategy. Four of the five foreign languages (English or French). broad lines of this policy focus on This has been conceived as a means to democracy, accessibility, and investing in meet high labor market demand for human resources. But it also seems that university graduates well qualified in Egypt’s education policy interprets these

56 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System principles in a way that voids them from that is, considering education as a national most of their real implications. security issue, overemphasizes in a politicized way, an indisputable fact. In pre-university education, democracy is However, attention should be drawn to the interpreted in a technocratic way that is risks inherent in such an overemphasis translated into a large number of especially in a developing country like consultative and technical councils, the Egypt, exposed to many transitional members of which are mainly experts who socioeconomic and political changes. are appointed by the MOE or the Minister Among these risks, and perhaps the most himself. This way of interpreting democracy important, is the manipulation of education Education policy in education policy limits popular policy to serve transitional and short-term in Egypt needs to participation, reduces the effectiveness of objectives - such as structural adjustment focus on building representative bodies (like parents’ councils programs-at the expense of the quality of and student unions), weakens local education and the long-term objectives that human administration, and strengthens the central a good pedagogic system must achieve. capabilities on a administration of the education system. The Moreover, the concept of national security clear pedagogical same remark applies to higher education should be based on nationwide democratic where, on one hand, the university councils discussion aiming to establish a popular basis which aims are appointed in a hierarchic manner consensus on several important issues; this at preparing controlled by the Minister of Higher is something that most developing countries successive Education. On the other hand, the students are still lacking. and/or their parents are rarely, if at all, generations to consulted on issues of education policy. Accordingly, education policy in Egypt, as deal with in almost all other developing countries, ever-changing Accessibility seems to be intentional rather needs to focus on building human than a concrete and effective policy target. capabilities on a clear pedagogical basis national, regional, This policy line reflects government wishes which aims at preparing successive and international to avoid charging Egyptian households with generations to deal with ever-changing circumstances additional burdens, and to maintain the national, regional, and international principle of equal educational opportunities. circumstances while confirming their while confirming Indeed, these two objectives conflict with a national identity and social, moral, and cultural values. This is the best way in their national number of serious observations, notably the identity and increasing out-of-pocket expenditure on which education policy can play a strategic role in national security without resorting to social, moral, and education (private tuition), the modest successive changes in curricula to follow quality of public education, while private transitional circumstances, national as well cultural values education is expensive, and the as regional and international. overcrowded public education facilities while the enrolment ratio remains below How Far is the Education Policy universal. Self-Consistent?

Investing in human resources is conceived Theoretically speaking, it is difficult to within the narrow context of mobilizing qualify the education policy of Egypt as resources to provide sufficient finance for inconsistent, but in reality this policy suffers the education system. Albeit important, this from serious inconsistencies: approach neglects the fact that investing in human resources should be a value in itself u The education policy rightly confirms that especially when conceived within the broad education is a basic human right but it lines of the national education policy. At extends the government commitment in this level, it is more suitable, from a human this regard to all educational levels; development perspective, to speak of hence, public education is almost free of investment in people as a value in itself. charge. However, resource constraints Conceived in this way, and in addition to its inevitably lead to less than universal positive impact on mobilizing resources to enrolment in basic education while the finance the education system, investment in government subsidizes higher education people becomes a direct commitment for that benefits mainly the high income those who are responsible to implement the groups, and to a lesser extent, the education policy at all levels. Indeed, it medium income groups. represents one of the most important u The equal opportunity principle is also motives to enhance the quality of education. inconsistent with the modest quality of public education and the concomitant The fifth broad line of the education policy, recourse to private tutoring that is

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expensive and, hence, disfavors the poor increase the attractiveness and efficiency and vulnerable groups. of basic education to encourage full u Curricula developments have overburdened affiliation to, and discourage drop out pupils and students; in contrast with what from, this education stage. has been repeatedly declared with each of u The education policy considers the these developments. This is evidenced, expansion of university education as one for example, by the increased number of of its major objectives, while this type of MOE textbooks between 1992/93 and education suffers already from several 1998/99, from 59 to 106 in primary problems due to the trade-off between While Egypt is education and from 95 to 122 in quantity and quality, curricula instability, still lagging preparatory education. The education over-emphasis on the quantity of behind in policy appears much concerned with the information at the expense of in-depth quantity of information rather than with and critical analysis, overworked and “education for instilling a logical and analytical underpaid university staff, and low all”, the approach to this information. This quality of textbooks. Moreover, this education policy explains the heavy dependence on policy of “large numbers” is a drain on shows signs of dictation and memorization at all stages resources and one of the most important of education in Egypt including obstacles to developing research underestimating university education. capabilities among the university staff the importance of u To allow for a scholarly and scientific and students. basic education formation, curricula should focus, at u While university education is not every level and stage, on the basics of mandatory and mainly benefits the high knowledge, science, and relevant and, to a lesser extent, medium income applications. Moreover, these curricula groups, education policy continues to should enjoy relative stability to allow for provide this type of education almost free accumulating pedagogical experience in of charge like basic education which is their implementation. Running after mandatory and benefits all income current internal and external groups in Egyptian society. However, socioeconomic and political events and gratuitous education, at all levels, has problems, as in the case of actual been more than offset in the last twenty education policy in Egypt, acts against the proper formation of students and years by increasingly expensive private causes successive and disturbing tutoring. Private tutoring has in some ways become a substitute for formal curricula changes. However, providing the socioeconomic and political basics for education since it compensates for the understanding, analyzing, and dealing lower quality of the formal system. with currents events and problems should u While the objectives of university be an integral part of the education education are qualitatively different from curricula. those of pre-university education, the u While Egypt is still lagging behind in present education policy leads to heavy “education for all” (with enrolment ratios dependence, in both stages, on dictation significantly less than universal and and memorization. Overcharged curricula, illiteracy rates far above the authoritarian management and teaching corresponding rates in many developing methods, as well as inflexible evaluation countries), the education policy shows and examination techniques, coupled signs (in expenditure, teachers’ training with rigid mechanisms of admission to and salaries, and instruction materials) of succeeding levels of education are the underestimating the importance of basic most important factors explaining this education. heavy dependence on dictation and u While basic education is mandatory in memorization. Egypt, the current education policy falls short of translating this principle into So far, the efficiency of the education effective measures that: (1) increase the system has been discussed within its general capacity of basic education facilities to framework relative to its scale of values, the absorb all children in the age brackets of development strategy and its orientations, this stage, (2) minimize the trade_off and the education policy and the objectives. between quantity and quality, (3) reduce However, the efficiency of the education the direct and indirect costs of basic system remains largely obscure unless the education to eliminate their exclusion performance of this system is elucidated at impact especially on poor households and three levels: the inputs, the system in girls within these households, and (4) operation, and the outputs.

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Inputs of the Education System in current prices, from L.E. 4.563 billion to L.E. 13.967 billion. This was translated, There are usually five categories of during the same period, into increasing the education inputs: financial resources, percentage of public expenditure allocated physical assets, human resources, to education from 10.2 percent to 16.2 knowledge and information, and time. Each percent; an increase that corresponded to a of these components impacts on the rise in the percentage of GDP absorbed by education process and the efficiency of the public expenditure on education from 4.8 system as whole. Moreover, the efficiency percent to 5.5 percent. of the education system in achieving the The efficiency of objectives of the education policy Some argue that Egypt stands at a the education necessitates providing these inputs in reasonable level of public expenditure on system in proportions suitable for each type and level education relative to GDP given that the of education. For example, the space and average of this percentage ratio, in the achieving the physical assets needed for a primary school mid-nineties, was 5.4 for high human objectives of the of one thousand pupils are not the same as development countries, 5.3 for medium education policy those needed for a preparatory or secondary human development countries, and 3.6 for school with the same number of students. all developing countries. Without necessitates Achieving maximum efficiency in the use of underestimating the relative importance of providing inputs resources available to the education system Egypt’s public expenditure on education, in proportions requires detailed studies on the optimum one should be very cautious in interpreting proportions among the different inputs in all such a comparison. In fact, what matters is suitable for each types, and at all levels, of education. Albeit the per-student public expenditure on type and level of being of prime importance, a discussion of education rather than the ratio of this education such studies is beyond the scope of this expenditure to GDP. report. The bulk of this expenditure (L.E. 3.644 The Financial Inputs billion) was absorbed by the current expenditure while the balance of this During the second half of the twentieth increase (L.E. 1.926 billion) went to century, the Egyptian government has investment expenditure. The distribution of shown a strong commitment to gratuitous both types of expenditure between public education at all levels. However, pre-university and higher education, during private schools, although relatively limited the period in question reveals that: in number and students have always worked side by side with public schools, but on the u The percentage share of pre-university basis of cost-plus tuition fees. This indicates education in current expenditure that the financial inputs of the education increased from 74.4 percent to 80.0 system have originated from public, private, percent throughout the years of the 1990s and household sources. More recently, and while the corresponding ratios for higher notably during the last fifteen years, two education were 25.6 percent and 20.0 additional sources have been supplementing percent respectively. government expenditure on education; these u The percentage share of pre-university are the Education Project Support Fund, and education in investment expenditure foreign aid and donors’ contributions. increased from 26.7 percent to 68.9 However, public expenditure remains the percent while the corresponding ratios for main source for financing education. higher education were 73.3 percent and 31.1 percent respectively. This is illustrated by the fact the public u Accordingly, the percentage share of expenditure on education oscillated around pre-university education increased in 79 percent of the total formal expenditure in both current and investment expenditure. this area during the nineties with a slight Although part of this increase, especially downward percentage trend. For example, as regards investment expenditure, might this percentage decreased slightly from 80.6 be attributed to rebuilding and to 79.3 percent between 1990/91 and re-equipping a large number of schools 1995/96. But in absolute terms and as a that were damaged by the earthquake of percentage of total government expenditure 1992, this trend appears to redress the and GDP, public expenditure on education balance between pre-university and continued to increase significantly during higher education given that the first the nineties. Between 1990/91 and 1996/97, accounts for more than 90 percent of the public expenditure on education increased, total number of students while the latter

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accounts for less than 10 percent of this current expenditure on this st age of total. However, the policy of public education. Ameliorating the quality of expenditure on education should not look public education could be an effective for a strict proportionality between the means of internalizing the major part of this distribution of this expenditure and the informal private expenditure and, hence, distribution of students among these two increasing the resources for financing the levels of education. This policy should public education system. strike a balance between several factors, some of which call for more than Incomplete as they are, these brief remarks Ameliorating the proportionate expenditure on provide strong evidence that if the financial quality of public pre-university education and others for a sources represent a problem for the education could relatively larger share to higher education system in Egypt, this problem education. resides mainly in the misallocation, rather be an effective than the insufficiency, of these resources. means of As for the private expenditure on This misallocation is reflected in various internalizing the education, this consists of two major parts: ways, among which are the insidious and formal and informal. Formal private disguised privatization of the public major part of expenditure on education refers to the education system, and an overburdening of informal private current and investment expenditure on the education budget with more than expenditure private education facilities that belong to the necessary non-teaching and administrative private sector. Informal private expenditure staff. on education refers to all out-of-pocket expenditure on education by households; it Physical Assets includes expenditure on private lessons, external textbooks, and other instruction The inputs of physical assets in any materials. education facility comprise more than the building in which the education process Within the limits of available data, total takes place, but available data are limited formal private education expenditure only to the number of school buildings and increased in real terms from 19 percent to classrooms in pre-university education, and 21 percent of total formal (public and the number of universities, faculties and private) expenditure on education excluding institutes in higher education. All other data Al-Azhar education expenditure. In addition concerning the furniture, equipment, and to providing systematic and comprehensive space of classrooms and other locations for data on formal private education integrated educational and pedagogic expenditure, the government must activities are not available or at least not encourage the increase of this participation accessible in spite of their significance to especially in higher education. the assessment of the physical inputs’ sufficiency and efficiency. Informal private education expenditure seems to be significant though not explicitly Data on the number and size of lecture identified in the available data. However, rooms and places for other activities in the 1997/98 EHDR tackled this issue on the higher education are also missing; hence, basis of a sample survey that was conducted the indicator of class density is impossible specially for this report. This survey to estimate at this level of education. indicates that the household sector has been However, most Egyptian public universities bearing an increasing share of education and higher institutes suffer from costs, mostly as a result of the insidious overcrowded lecture rooms, especially in privatization of the education system in the faculties of social sciences, in spite of response to its internal inefficiency. As an about 12 lecturing hours per day in the approximation of the relative importance of majority of these facilities. informal private expenditure on education, it is interesting to note that per student Focusing on the stage of pre-university out-of-pocket expenditure on pre-university education, we notice that the number of education amounted, on average for all schools and classrooms increased during the income groups to about L.E. 334.0 while the nineties. Figure (3.1) indicates the increase corresponding figure for public current in the number of schools at different levels expenditure was about L.E. 455 in 1995/96. and types of pre-university education. It is This means that private informal obvious that 59.1 percent of this increase expenditure on pre-university education concerns kindergartens, special education oscillates around 75 percent of public schools, and one-class schools (27.7

60 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System percent, 3.2 percent, and 28.2 percent respectively) while the remaining Figure 3.1 : The Increase in Number of Schools in Different percentage (40.9) is distributed among the Stages of Pre-University Education (1991-1998) primary, preparatory, and the two types of Stages secondary schools. This means a modest One-class increase (2263 schools) representing less Special Ed. than 10 percent of the number of schools constituting the mainstream of Technical Sec pre-university education. General Sec

It should be noted that 7500 schools were Preparatory newly built during the five-year plan 1992/93-1996/97. However, the MOE data Primary indicate that renewal and maintenance work Kindergartens covered 31252 schools (i.e. exceeding the 0 500 1000 1500 2000 total number of schools, in 1998, by 145 Number schools), which means that this work was carried out more than once in some schools. Figure 3.2 : The Number of Classes in Different Stages of Pre- Given the number of newly built schools, it University Education (1994/95-1998/99) seems that this some is as important as some thousands; hence, attention should be paid Number to the waste implied in this short-term (000) 173.52 repetition of maintenance that is due, 180 165.406 160 certainly, to the low quality of materials 140 95.453 1994/95 1998/99 used and inefficient contractors and 120 100 workers. 80 82.229 60 24.514 51.264 40 50.53 As for the number of classes, these have 20 21.255 been also increasing during the nineties. The 0 distribution of this increase among different education stages is more favorable, Stages compared with the distribution of schools, to the stages and types of education constituting the mainstream of The Personnel pre-university education. This is illustrated by Figure (3.2), which indicates the increase The personnel of the education system in the number of classes during the period consist, as indicated above, of the teaching 1994/95-1998/99. staff and the administrative staff. Some data concerning this classification are available The Human Resources at the level of pre-university education, but at the level of higher education, the This item of inputs encompasses three types available data on personnel is limited to the of human resources: the teaching staff, the scientific staff (i.e. the teaching staff and administrative staff, and the students. While their assistants). the first two types comprise the personnel of the education system, the third consists of The Pre-University Level the students at different stages of education. The ratios between these three types of Although it is possible to distinguish human inputs, as well as the class density, between the teaching staff and the which is a ratio between students and administrative staff at the pre-university classrooms, are important indicators of the level, these two types of staff are not education system’s efficiency. However, the completely distinct from each other. It is relation between the values of those common, at the school level, to have most indicators and this efficiency is not a of the administrative responsibilities mechanical one: it is strongly influenced by undertaken by some of the teaching staff. the positive and negative incentives that Table (3.1) indicates the distribution of both the education system and society as a personnel in the pre-university education whole afford to the three types of human system between the different categories of resources involved in the education process. its employees.

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Teachers’ qualifications is another Figure 3.3 : Distribution of Teachers by Their Qualifications important issue that needs to be addressed. (1998/99) It is noticed that important ratios of teachers

Holders Of Higher Education in kindergarten and basic education are holders of non-pedagogic and lower 80 Kindergartens education certificates. Primary Education 60 Prepparatory Education General Sec. Technical Sec. According to the distribution of teachers (Figure 3.3), the general secondary 40 education seems to be the most favored

20 among the different pre-university stages. This is evidenced by the fact that 97.4

0 percent and 65.2 percent of the general pedagogic Non-pedagogic secondary education teachers are, Holders Of Less Than Higher Education respectively, holders of higher education certificates and have pedagogic formation. 70 Preparatory education comes next with 87.9 60 percent and 71.7 percent for these two 50 indicators respectively. As for primary 40 education, it is distinguished by a high 30 percentage of teachers pedagogically 20 qualified (84.4 percent) but only a small 10 fraction of them (15.6 percent of the

0 pedagogic Non-pedagogic teachers in this stage) are holders of higher education certificates. Technical secondary education seems to be the less favored Table (3.1) whether with reference to the percentage of Distribution of Personnel by Type of Work and Levels teachers holding higher education of Pre-University Education, (1998/99) certificates or with reference to the Teaching Staff percentage of pedagogically qualified teachers. Manual skills and applied talents Teachers Administ. Total Non- Total and experiences seem to be given more Teach. Teaching Staffs importance than pedagogic qualification, when recruiting technical education Kindergartens 14894 — 14894 — 14894 teachers. However, this is not a good reason Primary Education 274154 40374 314528 224408 538936 to neglect the pedagogic formation of these Prep. Education 158067 35402 193469 164591 358060 teachers. Surprisingly, more than 80 percent Gen. Sec. Ed. 61577 17641 79218 48180 127398 of kindergarten teachers are holders of higher education certificates while those Tech. Sec. Ed. 129006 16044 145050 72652 217702 who are pedagogically qualified exceed 55 Spec. Education 6054 — 6054 5955 12009 percent. This trend must be encouraged Total 643752 109461 753213 515786 1268999 while providing sufficient incentives to the kindergarten teachers to keep them in this A striking feature of this distribution is that work as long as possible. the non-teaching staff (i.e. the administrative and supporting personnel) Gender distribution of teachers in represent, on the average, 40.6 percent of pre-university education is female biased in the total working force in the different kindergartens and primary education and pre-university education stages. This means male biased in preparatory and all types of that the education system is bloated with secondary education. Thus, females administrative personnel; a conclusion that represent 99.0 percent and 52.3 percent of is supported by the fact that an average of teachers in kindergartens and primary 14.5 percent of the teaching staff also education respectively. The corresponding assumes administrative responsibilities. percentage barely reaches 43.1, 36.1, and Therefore, the administrative personnel 38.9 in preparatory, general secondary, and absorb a substantial proportion of the technical secondary education respectively. current expenditure on education and impact It is also interesting to note that among negatively on the effective students/teacher teachers with administrative ratio. Reviewing the figures of Table (3.1) responsibilities, females represent 48 indicates that this imbalance is common to percent in primary education, 42.5 percent all stages of pre-university education. in preparatory education, 36.4 in technical

62 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System secondary education, and 31.4 percent in Notwithstanding, it seems that there is general secondary education. As table 3.2 significant room for reducing the burden of shows, female participation is relatively the administrative staff on the higher modest in the posts of directors and education budget possibly by efficiently headmasters but relatively high in the post computerizing many of its functions. of deputies. Another important feature is that they represent no more than 24.5 As for the academic staff in higher percent of the total workers while this ratio education, the distribution is largely biased is at least as high as 49.5 percent with towards the group of faculties and institutes regard to employees other than teachers and of physical sciences. In government The education top administration levels. This indicates that universities, for example, the group of sector cannot be the education sector cannot be accused of physical sciences faculties appropriated, accused of limiting female job opportunities to during the nineties, more than 78 percent marginal and inferior work. The relatively and 72 percent of the total numbers of limiting female high percentage of female deputies could teaching staff and assistants respectively. job opportunities translate, within few years, into an Accordingly, the group of faculties of social to marginal and important increase in female participation as sciences have been working with less than directors and headmasters. 22 percent and 28 percent of the total inferior work numbers of teaching staff and assistants At the Level of Higher Education respectively, while the percentage share of these faculties in the total number of Available data on the personnel at this level students at government universities was focuses only on the academic staff; i.e. the around 68 percent on average during the teaching staff and the assistants of this staff. same period. Within the limits of these data it is not possible to see whether higher education is It is striking that some faculties and overburdened, or not, by administrative institutes at government universities have staff. However, the common practice in all spent some 31 scholar years, between higher education facilities in Egypt reveals 1992/93 and 1996/97, without having two important points. First, top own-teaching staff. For example, in this administrative tasks (dean, deputies, and period, the Higher Institutes of Nursing at heads of departments) fall on members of Al-Mansoura, Suez Canal, and Zagazig the teaching staff, which means that part of universities have spent, respectively, 5, 4, this staff perform these functions in addition and 3 scholar years without own-teaching to their original role as teaching staff staff. Almost all the newly established members and this overburdens them faculties and institutes during this period especially in faculties, or institutes with spent at least one scholar year without large numbers of students. Second, the own-teaching staff, which reflects an number of persons assuming the charge of expansion in university education without other administrative functions is almost the securing the necessary prerequisites for this same in each of the higher education expansion; a shortfall that is illustrated once facilities regardless of the number of more by the fact that much of these faculties students. This means administrative and institutes still lack a specific and over-staffing in the facilities with relatively suitably equipped location. small numbers and under-staffing in the facilities with relatively large numbers. The qualification of the higher education

Table (3.2) Females’ Participation in Pre-University Education Personnel (%) (1998/99) Teachers Top Administration Posts Other Functions With Directors Head- Deputies Other Workers Teachers Adm masters Employees Resp. Kindergartens 99.0 n.a n.a n.a n.a n.a n.a Primary Education 52.3 48.0 30.7 30.1 48.3 57.9 19.0 Preparatory 43.1 42.5 17.6 29.5 61.7 51.0 17.9 General Secondary Education 36.1 31.4 30.7 33.9 53.9 52.5 24.5 Technical Secondary Education 38.9 36.4 14.5 10.3 39.0 49.5 12.4

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 63 Efficiency of the Education System

scientific staff is centered on the specific Exploring the enrolment ratios at the specialization of each member. This is, of different levels of education is an indicator course, the minimum qualification that of prime importance to assess the system’s every teaching staff member should have, efficiency in absorbing the targeted groups. but the pedagogical formation of this staff, However, attention is usually focused on the except in the faculties of pedagogy, does not enrolment ratio in basic education given, on figure in their qualification programs, one hand, that this is the mandatory stage in whether at the postgraduate stage or in the which universal enrolment is always research prerequisites for promotion. required. On the other hand, basic education Exploring the represents the minimum educational level enrolment ratios During the period 1992/93-1997/98 the beyond illiteracy. However, enrolment at the different percentage share of teaching staff ratios at the secondary and the higher secondment, outside government educational levels are also of prime levels of universities, has been, on the average, as importance in assessing the efficiency of the education is an high as 12.3 percent. Adding those who education system. indicator of have been on private leave, often working outside the universities, raises this Enrolment ratios are usually estimated on a prime importance percentage share of teaching staff gross or net basis. A gross enrolment ratio “drop-out” to a little more than 15 percent refers to the percentage of total enrolled to assess the (See Figure 3.4). Given that the teaching system’s students (the numerator) to the total number staff is overburdened in a considerable of population in the age bracket (the efficiency in number of faculties, “drop-out” rate seems denominator) corresponding to the stage-or to negatively impact on the education absorbing the process in government universities. the scholastic year-in question. targeted groups However, the relatively low levels of basic Accordingly, gross enrolment ratios might and variable salaries paid to university exceed 100 percent in some, but not all, teaching staff have always been the most cases where the numerator includes students important reason for seeking secondment out of this age bracket. On the other hand, and private leave. the net enrolment ratio never exceeds 100 percent (universal enrolment) because its Enrolment Ratios numerators belongs to the same age bracket as the denominator. Pupils and students are human resource inputs of a special character in the education Enrolment Ratios in Basic Education system; in a sense they might be seen as part of the “raw materials” in the system but, In primary education the gross enrolment more importantly, they are the targeted ratio in grade one, excluding Al-Azhar groups for all the operations this system primary education, has increased from 99.4 involves. That is why any successful percent in 1992/93 to 103.5 percent in education system aims to maximize this 1993/94. It then showed a steady downward type of input at least at the level of basic trend to decline to 84.1 percent in 1998/99. education, minimize drop-outs, minimize Enrolment of boys and girls exhibited the repetitions and activate pupils and students same trends but the gender gap in this positive participation in the implementation respect has been narrowing during the of curricula and other educational activities. whole period. This gap declined from 9.2 percentage points in 1992/93 to 3.0 Figure 3.4 : Acting and Non-Acting Teaching Staff percentage points in 1998/99. These in the Government Universities (1997/98) developments have been accompanied by an upward trend for the net enrolment ratio in the same class of primary education. This 75% ratio increased from 78.1 percent in 1992/93 11% to 86.2 percent in 1997/98. The increase has been general to both boys and girls 4% during the whole period except for the year 1997/98 where the girls net enrolment ratio 85% declined to 76.9 percent against 82.1 percent in 1996/97. But the gender gap in 15% the net enrolment ratio has been fluctuating during the period 1992/93-1997/98. For example, it declined from 8.2 percentage Acting Secondm Special Mission Personal Leave points in 1992/93 to 5.2 percentage points in 1996/97 but jumped to 11.9 percentage

64 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System points in 1997/98. Figure (3.5) illustrates these developments. Figure 3.5 : Enrolment Ratios in the First Class of Primary Edu- cation (Except for Al-Azhar) (1992/93-1998/99) Gross Enrolment Ratios Estimations of the net enrolment ratio in the Years stage of primary education as a whole show Females that this indicator has increased from 93.0 Males percent in 1992/93 to 96.7 percent in 1997/98 1994/95. It then decreased steadily to reach 92.8 percent in 1997/98 and 88.8 percent in 1998/99. 1992/93

However, attention should be drawn to the % fact that the above mentioned enrolment 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 ratios fall short of reflecting the total Net Enrolment Ratios enrolment ratios in primary education because Al-Azhar primary education is not included. For example, and within the limits of available data, the gross enrolment ratio 1997/98 in Al-Azhar primary education was 9.4 percent in 1992/93 and 8.9 percent in 1998/99. Data are not available to estimate 1992/93 the net enrolment ratios in Al-Azhar % primary education. However, it would be 0 20 40 60 80 100 reasonable to assume that including the students enrolled in this type of primary education raises the estimates of the net enrolment ratio by about 8.5 percent on the basic education. This effort should focus on average during the nineties (to become, for three important measures: availing a place for all children (within the age bracket 6-7) example, about 93.5 percent in grade one of in the first class of primary education, primary education in 1997/98 and about taking all measures and providing all 96.3 percent for the whole stage in facilities to increase the retention capacity 1998/99). This assumption is based on the of basic education, and finding proper fact that the number of primary stage pupils solutions to close the gap between the in Al-Azhar education has been averaging mandatory aspect of basic education and the 8.5 percent of the total yearly number of less than universal enrolment rates at this pupils in the same stage in general stage of education. Closing the gender gap education. should be a common denominator to all these and other measures targeting universal In preparatory education the net enrolment enrolment in basic education. ratio, without Al-Azhar, increased from 75.1 percent in 1992/93 to 77.6 percent in Enrolment Ratios in Secondary Education 1998/99. Between these two years, this ratio has been fluctuating slightly around 74.4 According to the 1994 EHDR, the gross percent. Given that students of Al-Azhar enrolment ratio at the secondary education preparatory education represent, on average level more than tripled between 1960 and during the same period, about 5.5 percent of 1990 when it increased from 17.1 percent to students in general preparatory education, 52.0 percent between these two years. the total net enrolment ratios in this stage Female enrolment has also increased to Egypt still has to could have been higher by the same about 5.5 times where it reached 45.9 percentage. This provides strong evidence percent in 1990 against 8.4 percent in 1960. apply a that the total net enrolment ratio in However, estimates of the following significant effort preparatory education, general and EHDRs show that the gross enrolment ratio to achieve Al-Azhar, increased from about 79 percent has been fluctuating during most of the in 1992/93 to about 82 percent in 1998/99, nineties. It decreased to 49.9 percent in universal while it has been fluctuating around 78 1992, then spurted upwards to 58.8 percent enrolment in percent between these two years. in 1994, but decreased once more to reach 46.9 percent in 1996/97. The female basic education These estimations of enrolment ratios in enrolment ratio fluctuated less where it both primary and preparatory stages indicate decreased slightly to 54.6 percent in 1992, that Egypt still has to apply a significant then spurted up to 54.7 percent in 1994, but effort to achieve universal enrolment in decreased again to 44.1 percent in 1996/97.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 65 Efficiency of the Education System

These fluctuations in secondary enrolment grade and at any stage of education, for ratios, general as well as for females, reflect, reasons other than decease, are defined as on the one hand, the instability of the dropping-out of education. The reasons for retention capacity of secondary education, drop out are various but all of them point to and on the other hand, the impact of the the inability of the education system to be 1990s’ socioeconomic changes on student’s sufficiently attractive to halt this willingness and capacity to continue phenomenon and/or the inability of the education at the secondary stage. system to mobilize general support-material Furthermore, the bottleneck that GSSC as well as moral-for vulnerable groups to The reasons for exams represent seems to provide some keep their children in education. Some drop out are explanation for these fluctuations in the might argue that many of these reasons stem secondary enrolment ratio. from socioeconomic conditions rather than various but all of the education system itself. This is true but them point to the Enrolment Ratios in Higher Education one of the most important indications of this inability of the system’s efficiency is how far it succeeds in Developments of the enrolment ratio in attenuating the unfavorable impact of such education system higher education might support this conditions on its performance. to be sufficiently conclusion because this ratio has been attractive to halt showing an upward trend indicating that In spite of the education system’s success in once students pass the GSSC bottleneck considerably reducing the total drop out this phenomenon they and their families, show great desire to ratio in primary education from 4.3 percent continue in higher education. Between 1960 in 1992/93 to 1.5 percent in 1997/98, the and 1990 the total enrolment ratio in higher absolute numbers of dropouts remained education approximately doubled; it alarming during this period (see Figure 3.6). increased from 9.5 percent to 18.1 percent, It is true that these numbers have been then remained nearly constant in 1992 showing a downward trend, with some where it hardly increased to 18.2 percent. In fluctuations, but they still represent a 1994 this ratio slightly decreased to 17.7 considerable waste of resources in addition percent but regained an upward trend to to their multiple effect on present and future reach 26.2 percent in 1996/97. illiteracy rates. In terms of wasted public Developments in this ratio for females has resources, the least number of dropouts been relatively more significant where it (78335 in 1995/96) during the period increased, in percentage terms, from 3.3 to 1992/93-1997/98 represented a waste of 9.2 between 1960 and 1990, then to 14 and L.E. 35.7 millions. Taking into account the 14.5 in 1992 and 1994 respectively. In private expenditure per-student in primary 1996/97 this ratio became as high as 23.4 education might double the value of this percent. The male/female gap appears to be waste. increasingly regressing as indicated by these developments. Analysis of the figure 3.6 leads to some important conclusions as regards drop out in Drop out and the Internal Efficiency of primary education: Education u The total drop out ratio steadily increased Students who stop their education, in any between 1990/91 and 1992/93 and this corresponded to an increase in absolute numbers of total dropouts, as well as of Figure 3.6 : Male-Female Dropout in Primary Education female/male components of this total. (1990/91-1997/98) Number u Between 1992/93 and 1997/98, this total drop out ratio decreased during the first 350000 three years but increased in the forth year Females Males 300000 to decrease once more in the fifth year; 250000 which reflects the weakness of the education system’s measures and 200000 mechanisms to sustain its achievements 150000 in this respect. 100000 u Drop out ratios among females remained 50000 below those of males during the whole period indicating, on the one hand, that 0 once girls are enrolled in primary education they and their families are relatively more cautious to continue in Years school. On the other hand and given that

66 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System

poverty is among the most important Total dropout ratio in preparatory education reasons for drop out, the relatively higher has been fluctuating, with a downward drop out ratio among boys may be due, at trend, during the period 1990/91-1997/98. least partially, to the need to work to This ratio jumped from 9.62 percent in support family incomes. 1990/91 to 16.47 percent in 1991/92, then steadily decreased to 3.83 percent in Total dropout ratios have been different 1993/94, and fluctuated during the four among the five grades of primary education following years to reach 2.35 percent in during the period 1990/91-1997/98. For 1997/98. Drop out ratio has been lower example, the drop out ratio from grade one among females than among males during the remained below 1 percent during the whole whole period except in 1991/92-1992/93 period except in 1997/98 where it reached (see Figure 3.7). Estimates show that the 1.65 percent, while the corresponding ratio drop out ratio has been generally higher in for grade five fluctuated between 12.87 the first grade of preparatory education than percent (in 1992/93) and 3.05 percent (in in the other two grades. This has been also 1997/98). Dropout ratios in grades two, true for both males and females. The three, and four tended to decrease during the average drop out ratio during the period in same period except in grade two and grade question, was 8.32 percent, 3.80 percent, three where the ratio increased respectively and 7.20 percent among males respectively from 0.36 percent to 1.21 percent and from in the three grades of preparatory education. 0.11 percent to 0.90 percent between the The corresponding ratios for females were two years 1996/97 and 1997/98. 7.11 percent, 3.38 percent, and 6.73 percent respectively. Analysis of four cohorts of primary education, 1989/90-1992/93, shows how Figure 3.7 : Male-Female Dropout in Preparatory Education drop out impacts negatively on several (1990/91-1997/98) efficiency indicators of education in this Number stage. Drop out ratios for the primary 350000 Females Males education cohorts of 1989/90, 1990/91, 300000 1991/92, and 1992/93 were as high as 12.9 percent, 27.9 percent, 22.5 percent, and 15.7 250000 percent respectively. Due to these dropouts, 200000 the internal efficiency coefficients for the 150000 four cohorts were 81.7 percent, 84.2 100000 percent, 89.5, and 92.9 percent respectively. Excluding the repetitions, these coefficients 50000 drop to 57.4 percent, 59.2 percent, 62.1 0 percent, and 68.4 percent respectively.

Table 3.3 shows these, and other, efficiency Years indicators of the four cohorts in question.

Table (3.3) Drop out Related Efficiency Indicators of Primary Education by Some Cohorts (1989/90-1992/93) Cohorts Drop out Effective Effectiveness Internal Efficiency Int. Effeciency Percentage Schooling Coefficient for Coefficient (***) Coeff. Without Years(*) the Cohort(**) Repetition%

1989/90 12.90 6.29 1.26 81.71 57.43

1990/91 27.94 6.12 1.22 84.20 59.20

1991/92 22.45 6.83 1.39 89.46 62.08

1992/93 15.74 5.63 1.13 92.89 68.41

(*) The standard schooling years is 5 years, the higher the effective schooling years the less efficient the education of the chort. (**) Means the average schooling years spent in each of the five grades, the high this average than one the less efficient the education. (***) The percentage of total graduated pupils to the original number of the chort in grade 1.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 67 Efficiency of the Education System

Analysis of four cohorts of preparatory activities, or for a third type known as education, 1991/92-1994/95, shows the drop central curricula, given that it focuses on out ratios and how they impact negatively life problems and the prerequisites of on important efficiency indicators in this citizenship. stage of education. These ratios were as high as 21.9 percent, 12.5 percent, 13.2 Indeed, school curricula, for whatever stage percent, and 12.9 percent respectively for or type of education, should be the cohorts 1991/92, 1992/93, 1993/94, and multidimensional and strike a balance 1994/95. Due to these dropouts, the internal between the teaching courses, the activities, School curricula, efficiency coefficients for the four cohorts and personal and social needs for building for whatever were 78.0 percent, 87.6 percent, 86.2, and human capabilities and involving students stage or type of 87.1 percent respectively. Excluding the in the development of the nation. This is repetitions, these coefficients drop to 54.2 well recognized in the Egyptian education education, should percent, 62.3 percent, 59.9 percent, and 63.0 policy, but the implementation is still far be percent respectively. Table 3.4 shows these, from being satisfactory as has been and other, efficiency indicators of the four illustrated in a number of studies multidimensional cohorts in question. and strike a undertaken during the 1990s. balance between Curricula Using sample surveys covering all the the teaching partners involved in basic education, an Curricula are indeed one of the most Institute of National Planning study on the courses, the important inputs of the education system evaluation of basic education indicated that: activities, and because they represent the subject matter of the education process and the main tool for u The curricula for basic education are personal and achieving the objectives of the education considered inappropriate by 67 percent of social needs system in general. At the different levels of responding headmasters and directors. education the design of curricula should be u The activities concomitant with the based on some essential factors that are curricula are considered insufficient by distinct in analysis but interdependent in 56 percent of the same respondents reality. These factors are of three general consider while 67 percent reported that types: psychological, social and students do not practice these activities. environmental, and pedagogical. However, u Most of the teachers surveyed (46 the content of these factors and the way to percent) estimate that curricula do not consider them in the curricula are functions develop the pupils’ dispositions, 44 of the stage of education, the student age percent consider that curricula do not brackets, and the type of education: general teach pupils effective ways of thinking, or technical. Moreover, considering the 56 percent consider that curricula do not psychological, social and environmental, lay down bases for the formation of and pedagogical factors in the curricula is innovators, and 65 percent estimate that usually influenced by the type of curricula; curricula are invariant with regard to the is it for the teaching courses, for the environmental differences.

Table (3.4) Drop out Related Efficiency Indicators of Preparatory Education by Some Cohorts (1991/92-1994/95) Cohorts Drop out Effective Effectiveness Internal Efficiency Int. Effeciency Percentage Schooling Coefficient for Coefficient (***) Coeff. Without Years(*) the Cohort(**) Repetition%

1989/90 21.91 3.91 1.30 78.03 54.22

1990/91 12.49 3.69 1.23 87.57 62.36

1991/92 13.18 3.70 1.23 86.82 59.86

1992/93 12.90 3.60 1.20 87.10 62.99

(*) The standard schooling years is 3 years, the higher the effective schooling years the less efficient the education of the chort. (**) Means the average schooling years spent in each of the three grades, the high this average than one the less efficient the education. (***) The percentage of total graduated pupils to the original number of the chort in grade 1.

68 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System

u One forth of the students surveyed grades of the same stage, and only 6 lessons estimate that curricula do not acquaint out of 37 in each of the three grades of them with the environment in which they preparatory education. Cutting down the live, 34 percent consider curricula share of Arabic language in this way will inappropriate to their abilities, while certainly add to the already high percentage curricula have been judged difficult by 21 of people with no skills in the Arabic percent, medium by 54 percent, and easy language. This will impact negatively on the by 25 percent. native language and, hence, the efficiency of the education system, and ultimately, on Moreover, the curricula seem to overburden social integration, since language given that Overcrowded the students, particularly in basic education. language is a means of communication classes negatively The increasing number of formally assigned reflecting the national socio-cultural influence upon textbooks illustrates this. In primary identity. education this number increased from 59 in the efficiency of 1992/93 to 79 in 1995/96 and to 106 in The System in Operation the education 1998/99. In preparatory education the process increase was from 95 to 115 and to 122 Assessment of the education system in respectively in the same years. As for the operation involves several important general secondary education, the number of indicators that are closely related to the textbooks tended to decrease during the system’s efficiency in performing its same period as it passed from 167 to 139 functions. In addition to enrolment, drop and to 110 respectively in the same three out, and related indictors that were tackled years. But the number of formally assigned above, there are other important indicators textbooks considerably increased in the including class density, students/teacher three types of secondary technical coefficients, and the repetition rates. education. Between 1992/93 and 1998/99, this number increased from 191 to 249 in Class Density commercial education, from 410 to 467 in industrial education, and from 93 to 110 in No doubt that overcrowded classes agricultural education. negatively influence upon the efficiency of the education process. It is true that this It is also noticed that physical education, art efficiency depends on a multiplicity of education, and music education appropriate factors, but class density is among the most important ratios of the teaching schedule in important for several reasons. Overcrowded basic education. Since 1996, these three classes provide little chance for teachers to educational activities have been weekly follow-up students’ educational appropriating 10 lessons (out of 34) in each achievements and setbacks, little chance for of the first three grades of primary students to participate in the education education, 9 lessons (out of 38) in each the process, and increase the time needed for last two grades of the same stage, and 7 daily management and organization. lessons (out of 37) in each of the three grades of preparatory education. Table (3.5) indicates the development of Notwithstanding, most primary and class density in the different stages and preparatory schools suffer serious shortages types of pre-university education. It is in providing the place, equipment, tools, and obvious that the progress achieved in this materials necessary for these types of respect is limited to the absorption of education. Accordingly, most lessons assigned for these subjects are either wasted Table (3.5): Average Class Density in or transferred to other teaching materials. Pre-university Education (1991/92-1998/99) While the age bracket of preparatory Stages 1991/92 1994/95 1998/99 education (12-15 in general) is the most suitable for acquiring linguistic skills, the Primary 43 44 43 MOE curricula applied since 1996 allocates Preparatory 42 41 44 decreasing number of lessons per week for the Arabic language. This number decreases GeneralSecondary 36 40 40 from 14 lessons-including 2 for Arabic Industrial 35 38 35 calligraphy-out of 34 lessons in each of the first three grades of primary education, to 12 Agricultural 35 37 36 lessons-including one for Arabic Commercial 36 39 37 calligraphy-out of 38 in each of the last two

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 69 Efficiency of the Education System

increased enrolment without proportional Table (3.6) increase, or with relative stability, in the Repetition Rates in General Certificates average class density. But this is a very (1994/95-1998/99) % modest achievement because class density remains relatively high in all pre-university Certificate of 1994/95 1998/99 education stages and types. In this respect, it Primary 15.5 16.7 is worth mentioning that according to Education Law 139/1981 class density in Preparatory 16.0 18.3 basic education should never exceed 36 General Secondary Art. 9.3 A more important pupils, which is nevertheless higher than the (modern syste) Sciences achievement, ideal class size (25 pupils) in this stage. 25.4 23.4 closely related to Moreover, the figures in this table are Industrial (3 years) 1.2 1.6 national averages concealing large Agricultural (3 years) 4.6 0.0 class density, is disparities between private and public the government schools, rural and urban schools, and the Commercial (3 years) 3.6 0.1 governorates of the country. For example, in success, by 1998/99 the primary class density was 54 in secondary education has relatively the lowest coefficient of students/teacher (14). 1998/99, in Alexandria, 36 in Suez, 34 in Ismailia, 51 in However, this coefficient varies reducing the Guiza, and 37 in Beni-Suef. In preparatory significantly among the three types of education, and for the same year, class secondary education. three-shift density was 47, 39, 33, 52, and 40 for the schools to zero same governorates respectively. Attention should, however, be drawn to the percentage in all fact that these coefficients do not reflect the A more important achievement, closely stages of related to class density, is the government real teaching load burdening the teachers in success, by 1998/99, in reducing the different pre-university education stages. education This load is, indeed, a function of the three-shift schools to zero percentage in all students/teacher coefficient, the number of stages of education and reducing the courses included in the curriculum of each two-shift schools to 3.1 percent, 8.0 percent, 4.8 percent, and 3.3 percent respectively in stage, and the average number of lessons primary, preparatory, general secondary, (per one unit of time) for each course. and agricultural secondary schools. Taking these two latter factors into account However, the corresponding percentages for will certainly show that teachers are industrial and commercial secondary overburdened at almost all pre-university schools remain significantly high, 39.0 stages. percent and 30.6 percent respectively (see Figure 3.8). The Repetition Rates

Students/Teacher Coefficient Table 3.6 presents the development of repetition rates in the general certificates The students/teacher coefficients in the (i.e. the final grade) of each stage of different pre-university education stages pre-university education. According to this show that primary education has the higher table the repetition rate tended, during the value of this coefficient, (24.2) followed by period 1994/95-1997/98, to increase in both preparatory education, (21.1) while primary and preparatory stages, but tended to decrease in the GSSC. The introduction of a modern system for the latter certificate Figure 3.8 : Percentage of the Two-Shift Schools resulted in considerable drop in the (1995/96-1998/99) repetition rate relevant to this certificate. The repetition rates are considerably lower in the secondary technical certificates than Commercial in the general secondary certificate.

Agricultural As indicator of the education system’s Industrial efficiency, the repetition-and, hence, the success-rates should not be interpreted Gen.Secondary independently of the credibility of the examinations process, the incidence of Preparatory manipulations, copying and cheating in the 1995/96 1998/99 exam sessions, the use of exam results for Primary political purposes, and the quality of 0 20 40 60 80 100 graduates. These four elements should be thoroughly analyzed in order to estimate

70 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System how far repetition or success rates are developing efficient participatory means significant as regards the education system’s for following-up and evaluation of efficiency. educational performance at the different levels, and (d) striking the necessary Output of the Education System balance between transmitting information, on the one hand, and The output of any education system consists learning by participation and observation of the graduates of different stages and on the other hand; and (e) designing a types of education at any point in time. The media campaign and programs to restore Employment and quantitative assessment of this output is appreciation of education as a value in usually done by analyzing the success and itself, in addition to being a means for productivity are repetition rates as indicated above. better employment opportunities and certainly of However, the quality assessment is more higher social status. crucial relevant to the efficiency of the education importance to system. u The rise of materialist values, the moral decline, and the chaotic changes taking judge how far the Assessing the quality of the education place in the system of values, both in education system system’s graduates could be done through a society and on the individual level, is successful in wide variety of indicators derived from the represent a major challenge to the different socioeconomic, scientific and education system in Egypt. During the providing the technological, cultural, and political last quarter of the 1990s, this system has national economy activities. However, the commonly used failed to lead towards positive progress with a skilled and indicators for such assessment are those promoting sound change. More striking is related to labor employment and the fact that the education system itself qualified labor productivity. In this regard, a whole chapter has been contaminated by harmful force according of this report is devoted to education and the changes in the value system instead of to labor market labor market in Egypt. Employment and being a solid defense against them. demand productivity are certainly of crucial Accordingly, restoring education’s role in importance to judge how far the education rehabilitating positive changes in the system is successful in providing the system of values is one the big challenges national economy with a skilled and to the education system. qualified labor force according to labor market demand. Notwithstanding, it is u Relaxing the resource constraint to essential to develop additional indicators education is another major challenge that measuring the education system’s efficiency calls for effective action on several, but in tackling the different sociopolitical and interrelated fronts. First of all, the cultural aspects of societal life. efficient utilization of available public resources should precede the search for Challenges to the Education System additional budget allocations. This efficiency could be attained by Assessing the efficiency of Egypt’s intra-sectoral reallocation of these education system, as covered in this chapter resources in favor of basic education, reveals various challenges facing the system investments in educational facilities, and in the present and in the future. Among increasing teaching staff remuneration up these challenges, and perhaps the most to the level that secures a decent living important, are the following: standard for them. Second, the application of the cost recovery principle u How to make the education system a in both secondary and higher education model for democracy is a large issue that could help support these reallocation calls for: (a) striking a healthy balance measures and ensure additional resources between central and local management of to compensate for the shortages in these the education system. Such a balance two educational levels. However, the necessitates a greater role for local application of the cost recovery principle management than what actually prevails; should not limit the poor and vulnerable (b) developing efficient channels to groups’ opportunities to continue their enhance people’s participation in secondary and higher education so long designing the education strategy and as their scores qualify for this. Third, the related policies and arrangements private sector should be encouraged to including curricula and time tables; (c) invest more in education facilities

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 71 Efficiency of the Education System

Box 3.1 How Girls benefit From Quality in Traditional Communities The Community Schools of Egypt operate communities, who have been instrumental in in the backwaters of the most traditional and setting up and managing the schools, have underserviced rural communities. In those become staunch supporters of a particular style areas where for many years girls did not get of quality education. They are now critical an education, a school is set up in Al partners and sources of pressure and demand Akarma; Growing tomatoes is the topic of for excellence and quality learning. They can an agricultural lesson in that school. Nagwa no longer accept the normal standard of a bright young second grade student in 1993 government schooling. They have indeed very politely, but assertively corrects the through their daughters, acquired a taste for teachers’ information on best environments quality. for growing tomatoes. Nagwa and her colleagues have researched the topic mostly One father was asked whether his daughter through observation and interviews with would go to university, like hundreds of others agricultural experts in the community. The he assured us of his definite intention to teacher/facilitator thanks Nagwa and support her. When asked whether she would encourages the class to applaud her. Only pursue her studies in Cairo his response was 30% of her class are boys and the rest are “She will have to decide what she wants and is girls. best for her and we will support her”. Although schools were available in the mother This is a gender-sensitive classroom where village some kilometers away from poverty quality child centered active learning takes stricken hamlets, boys were expected to travel place. The quality of the learning process and go to school. Girls were on the contrary stems from the fact that Nagwa and her expected to stay home. After two years of the teacher mutually respect each other, and community school experience girls in second boys in the class respect Nagwa. She is grade could write short stories and through a actively responsible for her own learning number of other outstanding life skills and along with peers. How and what she learns traits they gained the support of the whole is not only relevant but is also very community. The outcome of the experience instrumental in building her confidence, (i.e. the girls) gave credibility to education. In assertiveness and self-esteem. Nagwa is Al Shokaleya School in Abou Teeg, Nassra today in third preparatory school. She has Ahmed and Safaa Abu Al Naim were vowed to be a lawyer and serve the unjustly accelerated after testing from third primary treated in her own community. Her family grade to the first preparatory grade in an Azhar believes in her tremendously and promises school. Manal, a graduate from Al Kom, who to support her to the highest level of is now married, is looked upon as a model education. parent by her community and family. Manal is now 18. Although young, this is an A number of focused group discussions and improvement on a number of early marriages interviews with parents and community that usually occurred at eleven and twelve. members over the last eight years reveal that Students and teachers have for several years Nagwa’s parents are certainly not unique in campaigned against early marriage. the admiration and support they offer their girls. Most have clearly stated that their The young assertive girls in community daughters have acquired superior education schools are mostly unveiled. In a number of to their male siblings in the village situations they will be in their late teens yet government school. Many fathers admitted they will learn in mixed classes with young their dependence on their daughters for sensitive and respectful boys. The gender roles reading letters, the newspapers and other and patterns of interaction are quite documents. The students of those schools revolutionized. Teen-age girls openly practice have performed exceptionally on all sports and games in public spaces. They enjoy government exams and other achievement Arithmetic and are assertive both in class and tests. The results are not only outstanding on at home. They have on numerous occasions regular academic subjects, but also on life fought to delay the age of their formal skills, emotional and social development. engagement to be married. Boys are extremely As a result of the outstanding performance, sensitive and like to cooperate in organizing

72 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System

and clearing their classroom. Many excel in them. The appreciation of the quality sewing and knitting. A young student now maintained within the schools is a result of in a government preparatory school mutual and reciprocal education between the lamented the fact that they were no longer in school and the community. The community, in mixed classrooms with their female peers. addition to being introduced to the basic When asked whether they believed girls concepts underlying the learning methodology were their equal a number of them were in school, is involved in the daily management surprised at the question and ascertained and running of the school. This on going that they took it for granted that they were process can best be described as the indeed. When asked whether or not they demystification of educational quality. It is a should have equal rights again the answer process through which laypersons are was a clear affirmative one. perfectly enabled to comprehend the components of quality learning, buy into them Completion rates for girls in those schools and pressure for their sustainability. have surpassed 85%. A recent survey on young adolescents shows that in PolicyImplications government schools a substantial number of adolescent girls drop out of school in grades A profound concern with learning based on 5 and first preparatory as a result of weak quality education should be a priority of the performance in class. What this essay has Ministry of Education, donors and civil pointed out is that the only convincing society if girls are to benefit. Obviously both justification for maintaining girls in school boys and girls should benefit from a deep is the quality of education offered. Girls commitment to quality, however girls stand to often enroll because of the innovative girl gain a lot more and the gender gap is more friendly strategies employed amongst which likely to narrow. Meanwhile if a true gender is absolute free education. They are allowed change is to occur, co-education is not only to remain in school however, and become acceptable but is a preferred route. Both girls mobile, as well as delay the age of marriage, and boys engage in relations of mutual respect because of the quality of learning and the and also do a lot of group and self-reflection. high level of performance. In addition to the gains on a gender equity level, co-educational schools, where accepted, Boys are expected to go to school anyway are cost effective particularly in those small regardless of the quality of learning. Girls communities where it is impossible to have the are allowed exceptional treatment because luxury of segregated classrooms. of the demonstrated outcome of quality learning. It is this authors’ strong belief from ongoing research and observation that Moreover in those societies where the majority both innovations and quality are allowing of the excluded are girls, it becomes natural for a real revolution not only in the status of that they constitute the majority in classrooms girls in those very secluded and deprived as well. The interesting observed development communities, but also in that of women. in that situation is that girls become more Once the school is allowed in and is assertive and confident, whilst boys learn to be populated by a majority of girls remarkable more sensitive, respectful and generally more changes take place. The transformations that gentle as human beings. Finally, a critical are manifest have not to date instigated any policy implication is the need for the full form of resistance. In fact if any thing the involvement and empowerment of movement has gained more supporters communities. It is only through the partnership amongst communities. Many have pledged with communities that the concepts of quality to continue with the schools regardless of in education are safeguarded. The mutual external support or funding. understanding and agreement upon these concepts through experimentation allows girls The pledge to continue supporting the to benefit from this unique learning school stems from a fundamental premise experience. Communities have become the on the nature of the partnerships established. strongest supporters and allies of girls’ The communities in fact own the schools. education through a program that respects They not only set them up, but also manage learning and girls’ needs.

Source: Malak Zaalouk Symposium on Girl's Education, Washington D.C.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 73 Efficiency of the Education System

especially at the secondary and higher action in this area will have a education levels. Finally, increasing the far-reaching positive impact on the efficiency of public education seems to performance of the education system be of prime importance to divert the given that the overwhelming majority of considerable household expenditure on non-enrolled children and those who private tutoring into the formal education drop out belong to poor and low-income system. Increasing the quality and households whose resources fall largely efficiency of public education alleviates, short of matching their aspirations to Enabling the poor and may eradicate, people’s need to educate their children. resort to private tutoring; hence, making and low income them more willing to participate in u Improving the preparation and motivation groups to enroll covering the costs of public education of teachers should be a common their children and services. denominator in all policies and programs keep them in of reforming education in Egypt. This u It is true that Egypt’s public expenditure has been a major concern of the MOE school calls for on education appropriates a percentage during the last ten years. Four essential innovative share of GDP comparable to the same measures have been adopted in this methods to percentage share in most developed respect: financial reform that endeavors countries and many developing countries, to make teachers’ remuneration match subsidize these but per student public expenditure in the cost of living, external training in groups and help Egypt is significantly lower. Hence, foreign countries, internal training, and them secure their increasing public expenditure on continuous enlightening programs for education, particularly on investments in upgrading teacher skills and knowledge. children’s educational infrastructure, is still a However, the persistence of private scholastic needs persisting need. This raises the challenge tutoring, the high drop out ratios, and the of how to direct the bulk of this increase, significant repetition rates-especially in and that of public expenditure in general, pre-university education-provide strong to the poor and low-income groups so as evidence that these four measures need to to encourage them enroll and keep their be more rationally designed, effectively children in education. It was found, in monitored, and continuously evaluated. one of the 1997/98 EHDR studies, that 40 percent of total government expenditure u Eradicating illiteracy is still one of the on education go to upper-income groups major challenges to the education system in rural and urban areas while the lowest in Egypt. In spite of success in reducing income groups appropriate only 7 percent the adult (15+) illiteracy rate from 60.8 of this expenditure. Moreover, this study percent in 1976 to 44.6 percent in 1996, estimates that the percentage share of the Egypt did not succeed in reducing the lowest income group would decrease by absolute number of illiterate adults. This 3 percent of its level in the case of a 10 implies that the inefficiency of the percent increase in government education system in achieving universal expenditure on education. enrolment and eliminating dropouts at the basic education level could be u Enabling the poor and low income groups responsible for the increase in the to enroll their children and keep them in number of illiterates. And given that the school calls for innovative methods to shortage of resources and facilities are subsidize these groups and help them mainly responsible for this aspect of secure their children’s scholastic needs, inefficiency, it might be preferable, to which are not, in fact, limited to leave the task of eradicating illiteracy textbooks and stationary but extend also among adults (15+) to voluntary and to uniforms, nutrition, means of NGOs while focusing MOE efforts and transportation, and materials for resources on achieving universal recreational activities. Financing enrolment, eradicating drop outs, and programs of this kind should be a increasing the retention capacity of basic participatory action mobilizing public and secondary education levels. and private resources. Parents’ councils and NGOs can play, a leading role in u Higher education in Egypt raises some mobilizing private resources and important challenges to the education participating in implementing and system. The trade off between quantity sustaining such programs. Successful and quality comes at the top of these

74 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Efficiency of the Education System challenges. Then, there is the challenge market needs, university education of reaching a graduate mix that is should assume the responsibility of compatible with labor market needs; a catching-up in all aspects of challenge that entails significant socioeconomic, political, and cultural life modifications in the admission policy and of the society. This is another important the allocation of resources among challenge that calls for a balance between different facilities of higher education. transmitting the information and skills Moreover, this challenge entails needed for the labor market, fostering mobilizing additional resources to higher innovative and creative talents, and education especially in science and developing broad intellectual capacities technology disciplines. Notwithstanding among the university students and the importance of coping with labor graduates.

Box 3.2 Illiteracy Eradication: A Pioneering Project of the NCCM The Comprehensive Development and educationalachievements. Illiteracy Eradication for the Village Child project has been implemented, since 1992 To date, the program has realized important by the National Council for Children and achievements in illiteracy eradication in nine Motherhood (NCCM) under the governorates; five in Upper Egypt (Aswan, sponsorship of Her Excellency the First Sauhag, Assyout, Al-Fayoum, and Giza), Lady of Egypt Suzan Mubarak, An three in Lower Egypt (Kalyoubia, Gharbia, outstanding feature of this project is that it and Port-Said), and one frontier governorate deals with childhood care, from a holistic (the Read Sea). According to the program’s perspective, to develop the socioeconomic gradual coverage plan, it included - up to 1999 and cultural environment in which the - eight villages in each of these governorates; village child lives. i.e. a total of 72 villages. The program succeeded in eradicating the illiteracy of An illiteracy eradication program has been 33,059 persons in these villages while another adopted as an integral part of this project. 11,619 persons still following literacy lessons. This program aims to enroll all eligible One remarkable feature of these achievements children in basic education while eliminating the drop out phenomenon in this is that they are almost evenly distributed stage. It aims also to eradicate illiteracy among the villages so far included, which among children in the age bracket 8-14 might be an indicator of the strict commitment years and among females in the age bracket to equity in allocating the program’s resources 16-45 years. The program is based on using and efforts . local who persons who are educated, willing, and capable of teaching. Thus Another important indicator of the high reducing the time spent to eradicate performance of this program is the high illiteracy, by identifying the targeted success ratios. On average, and for the nine groups, using different incentives to governorates, the success ratio was as high as motivate the targeted groups, and 93.2 percent in 1997/98 and 94.1 percent in introducing a new educational approach 1998/99. Al-Fayoum figures as the top consisting of classifying the beneficiaries performer with 100 percent of success during into homogenous groups of 10-15 these two years. Results are generally better in individuals and conditioning the incentives, the Upper Egypt governorates than in the for teachers as well as the students, on LowerEgypt governorates.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 75 Chapter Four

Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform

Notwithstanding Like any other activity in modern societies Impressive Increase in Public Spending education needs finance as one of its major on Education During the 1990s: the prime inputs. It is true that human, physical, importance of organizational, and curricula inputs are the Government expenditure on education has substance on which the whole education been increasing, throughout the past decade, financing process, as well as its efficiency, is based, in both nominal and real terms (See Figure education, its but without finance it is impossible to 4.1). This increase has been impressive growth in volume recruit and use such inputs for achieving the given that it occurred during a period of targets of the education system. sharp fiscal contraction; the budget share in is not per se a GDP declined by about one fifth. In guarantee for a Notwithstanding the prime importance of nominal terms, public expenditure on parallel growth in financing education, its growth in volume is education amounted to L.E. 16.8 billion in not per se a guarantee for a parallel growth 1998/99 compared to L.E. 4.6 billion in its effectiveness in its effectiveness and achievements. This 1990/91 (see Table 4.1). In real terms, the and achievements depends, indeed, on additional, but decisive, increase was 90 percent over the period in factors like the allocation of the financial question. resources within the education sector itself, the quality of other inputs, and the As a proportion of total government organizational structure through which all spending, expenditure on education these inputs are used. The moral and social increased from 10.2 percent in 1990/91 to incentives to being educated and educative about 17 percent in 1998/99, which is high and the subtle mix of democratization and by international standards (the average for firm governance of the education system are OECD countries is about 7 percent and is two other important factors that should be lower in developing countries). As a cited in this respect. percentage of GDP, government spending on education increased from 4.8 percent in Bearing these remarks in mind, this chapter 1990/91 to 5.5 percent in 1998/99, with an addresses the issue of financing education in average of 5 percent during the period Egypt. To what extent this issue represents a (similar to the average of the OECD challenge to the education system, and the countries and higher to the average nation, in Egypt is one of two major prevailed in developing countries). questions to which this chapter tries to develop answers. What are the options for Why Spending on Education doesn’t Pay reforming the finance of education is the off? second of these questions. Compensating for the Past Deterioration

Figure 4.1 : Government Expenditure on Education, The unsatisfactory achievement of the (1990/91-1998/99) Egyptian education system-in spite of the remarkable resources allocated to it during Million L.E 18000 the 1990s-cannot be attributed only to its 16000 poor performance during this decade. Various socioeconomic factors have 14000 negatively impacted upon this system for 12000 several years before the 1990s. Shortage of 10000 financial resources, as well as their 8000 misallocation within the education sector 6000 itself, was among the most important of 4000 these factors, as indicated by a number of Current Prices 2000 studies. Constant (1996)prices 0 It is well known that the fall in oil receipts 1990/91 1995/96 1998/99 and other government revenues after 1982,

76 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform

combined with expansionary expenditure Table (4.1) policies, led to a large fiscal deficit (23 Government Expenditure on Education percent in 1986). As a result, the share of 1990/91-1998/99 (Million L.E.) social expenditure in GDP decreased over the 1980s. The percentage share of 1990/91 1996/97 1998/99 expenditure on pre-university education Current Expenditures regressed from 2.2 percent to 2.0 percent of GDP between 1980/81 and 1989/90. Pre-university education : 2594.0 7913.9 9736.4 v Central Ministry & Agen. 335.7 1589.3 1552.5 However, the government succeeded in v Governorates 2060.8 5560.4 796.3 increasing the share of education (and other v Al-Azhar Schools 197.5 764.2 987.6 social sectors) in the overall budget. Available data indicate a steady increase in Higher Education : 891.6 2213.6 3958.9 this share during the 1980s; it increased v Central Ministry 55.6 1975.6 229.2 from 5.1 percent in 1980/81 to 8.8 percent v Universities (excl. Azhar) 740.5 3372.5 in 1989/90, while the share of university v Al-Azhar University 95.5 238.0 357.2 education increased, during the same period, Total Current Expenditures 3485.6 10127.5 13695.3 from 2.5 percent to 5.1 percent. Notwithstanding, and due to the high Investment Expenditures inflation rates during this period, the real Pre-university education : 287.4 2644.5 1748.3 value of budget allocations to education was v Central Ministry & Agen. far below this nominal increase. 80.9 2457.7 1546.1 v Governorates 199.3 55.1 36.5 As an illustration of this discrepancy, a v Al-Azhar Schools 7.2 131.7 165.7 calculation of budgetary allocations to Higher Education : 790.2 1195.3 1321.3 pre-university education in the period v Central Ministry 258.5 300.8 1980/81-1989/90 indicated that while these v Universities (excl. Azhar) 502.9 1145.5 943.8 allocations witnessed a nominal increase of more than three times, the real value of v Al-Azhar University 28.8 49.8 76.7 these allocations witnessed, on the contrary, Total Current Expenditures 1077.6 3839.8 3069.6 a steady decrease in the second half of this Total Education Expenditures period in such a way that by 1989/90 it hardly regained its level in 1980/81. These Pre-university education : 2881.4 10558.4 11484.7 developments also entailed a decrease in v Central Ministry & Agen. 416.6 4047.0 3098.6 real public spending per student during the v Governorates 2260.1 5615.5 7232.8 same period. (See Figure 4.2). v Al-Azhar Schools 204.7 895.9 1153.3 Higher Education : 1681.8 3408.9 5280.2 Misallocation of Resources v Central Ministry 314.1 530.0 v Universities (excl. Azhar) 1243.4 3121.1 4316.3 In addition to the shortage of financial v Al-Azhar University 124.3 287.8 433.9 resources allocated to education throughout Total Current Expenditures 4563.2 13967.3 16764.9 the 1980s, the negative impact of the budget crisis on education, as well as on other social sectors, has been accentuated by intrasectoral misallocation of these Figure 4.2 : Real Expenditures on Pre-university Education, resources. In education, the percentage (1981/82-1989/90) at 1984/85 prices) share of salaries has been growing to the Million L.E Per Student (L.E) detriment of other expenditure items. In 1200 120 1989/90, salaries accounted for 94 percent of total expenditure of the Ministry of 1000 100 Education (MOE), while the corresponding ratio for the Ministry of Higher Education 800 80 (MOHE) was 70 percent. 600 60

The direct implication of this imbalance is 400 40 that both ministries of education were 200 20 under-funded to purchase the supplies Total Expenditures Average needed for current operations and for the 0 0 maintenance and repair activities that are 1980/81 1983/84 1985/86 1987/88 1989/90 uusually required to keep schools and u

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 77 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform

niversities in conditions well-fitted to the Giza) and against rural governorates educational processes. Indeed, the two (especially in Upper Egypt). In general, this ministries were facing the paradox of explains inter-governmental inequality in spending most of their budgets on salaries educational opportunities (e.g. the relatively while being, at the same time, unable to low enrolment ratios in Upper Egypt offer a level of remuneration sufficient to governorates). It also explains the low motivate their teaching force. quality of education in these governorates. Moreover, there has been a high correlation Another worrisome feature of public between illiteracy rates and proportions of Legacy of spending on education - as shown by Figure total expenditure on education, current as long-term 4.3- was the fall in investment expenditures well as investment. Even at the university financial which negatively impacted on school and level, there have been wide differences university buildings that were already among public universities as regard the shortages in highly inadequate both in quantity and amounts of public expenditure allocated to addition to quality terms. Investment expenditures fell each university. This has been reflected in a from 16.3 percent in 1982/83 to 11.9 noticeable disparity in per student cost (unit misallocation of percent in 1984/85 then fluctuated to reach cost) among these universities. resources and 14.0 percent in 1990/91. their implications This legacy of long-term financial shortages Inequality of Spending in addition to misallocation of resources and has undermined their implications has undermined, to a the performance Data on the distribution of educational great extent, the performance of the of the education expenditures among different education education sector during the 1990s in spite of levels in Egypt reveal its bias towards the increase in public expenditure on this sector during the secondary and higher education, compared sector. Accordingly, large shares of 1990s to the ratio of students in those levels, and financial resources had to be allocated against basic (primary and preparatory) during the nineties just to compensate for education. Furthermore, the investigation of past deterioration in the education facilities expenditure on pre-university educational and to remedy its many problems. allocated to Egyptian governorates reveals that this allocation has not always One example of this compensatory corresponded to the population distribution allocation can be illustrated through the among these governorates; which means estimated school buildings needed up to the inequality in this distribution. This year 2002. This estimation shows that the inequality represents one of most important total number of schools needed amount to factors explaining various aspects of 19974 of which 16261 schools (i.e. 81.5 inefficiency in the Egyptian education percent) are required to meet past system. deterioration and 3686 schools (or 18.5 percent) to meet the population increase. Available data on the pattern of allocating The distribution of schools needed to public expenditure on education in Egypt, compensate for past deterioration is as during the eighties, indicate that this follows: allocation has been generally biased towards urban governorates (especially Cairo and * 5408 schools to meet the multi-school shifts system. * 1191 schools to relieve the overcrowded Figure 4.3 : Functional Distribution of Total Government classroom phenomenon. Expenditures on Pre-university Education, (1982/83-1998/99) * 5180 schools to replace deteriorating ones. 19982/83 * 4482 schools to reduce the dropout rate. 20% 1998/99 15% Inefficiency of Spending

We must stress the fact that objective 14% criteria and data, to determine whether the 64% quality of public education improves with 16% the allocation of more government resources to this sector, are lacking. Since Egypt does not participate in international 71% assessments of educational quality, it is Salaries Subsidies & Supplies Investment difficult to determine whether the increased investment has paid off or not. However,

78 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform there are some indications of inefficiency in now, double shifts, high densities and other spending on the education sector: shortfalls still remain, which requires additional capital expenditures. In 1996/97, • A Biased Delivery System there were 20953 public primary and preparatory schools of which over one third As in many developing countries, there is were judged unfit. little relation between public spending on education and enrolment rates. In effect, and Moreover, within the current expenditure during 1991-1997, Egyptian government category, wages, salaries and benefits spending on education increased by 55 constitute a very high share especially at the As in many percent in real terms but enrolments primary and secondary level, although it developing increased by only 18 percent. This implies decreased since 1990/91. However, there is countries, there is inefficiencies in the educational delivery another special characteristic of wages and system. These inefficiencies reflect salaries in the Egyptian case. This is the little relation important aspects of bias within this system: large administrative body and the large between public non-teaching staff, which absorb a spending on * Towards current expenditure as opposed substantial portion of the wages and to investment expenditure, salaries’ budget. According to Ministry of education and * In favor of tertiary education to the Education statistics, in 1998/99, there enrolment rates detriment of basic education, existed l.269 million total employment in * To urban areas at the expense of rural the education sector of which only 56.2 areas. percent are directly involved in the teaching * Against females, and process, 5.8 percent are non-teaching and * Against the poor. about 38 percent occupy administrative positions (Details are presented in Table Furthermore, the direct and indirect 3.3). out-of-pocket expenses inherent to delivery of the educational services also makes Thus, despite the large share of wages and delivery biased against the vulnerable salaries in the educational budget, the groups in general and females and the poor salaries are not sufficient to retain teachers in particular. or to attract good ones, which also leads to the pervasive phenomenon of private • Bias to Current Expenditure as Opposed tutoring in both public and private schools. to Investment Expenditure

The composition of public education Over and above, inflation has negatively expenditure in Egypt is characterized by a affected government current spending on strong bias to current expenditures. The education, which is reflected in current period 1980/81-1989/90 witnessed a very expenditure per-student. Whereas current high and increasing share of current expenditure per-student at both the expenditure in total government expenditure pre-university and university levels on education. This share was as high as 83 increased by 118 percent and 93 percent percent on the average throughout the respectively in current prices, the increase in period. This situation improved slightly real terms amounted only to 49 percent and during the 1990s where the corresponding 32 percent respectively. average declined to 81.3 percent (See Figure 4.3). • Bias in Favor of Tertiary Education and Away from Basic Education However, a relatively larger share of the education budget was devoted to capital The pattern of public education spending expenditures, averaging approximately 20 reflects the combined effect of a range of percent of the education budget during a policies in the education sector, such as the period where total government investment structure of the enrolment pyramid, the expenditures fell from 9 percent to 6 percent structure of unit costs, the public-private of GDP. Though the average for OECD split in providing and financing education, countries is about 7 percent and is even in addition to others. The pattern of lower in developing countries, investments educational public spending in Egypt gives have been justifiable in the case of Egypt a rough view of the government’s priorities given the shortage in the number of schools, in the sector. Pre-university education, which led to the prevalence of double and which include basic and secondary levels triple shifts and high class densities. Though (comprising about 95 percent of total triple shifts have mostly been eliminated enrolment) received 69 percent of total

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Figure 4.4 : Proportional Distribution of Resources Between However, since 1993/94 the pattern was Levels and Types of Education reversed with higher education receiving, on average, about 28 percent of investment 1987/88 1995/96 Expenditure Expenditure expenditures as compared to 72 percent to pre-university education throughout the 6% period 1993/94-1997/98. 6% 8% 18% 33% 40% 30% 5% Comparing the sectoral distribution of 34% government education expenditure to the Students Students 51% distribution of students over the different 22% 59% cycles of education gives a picture of the extent of inequality in government 25% 30% 12% educational spending patterns. Figures 4.4, 5% 16% 4.5 and 4.6 indicate that in addition to the obvious bias of government spending Primary Preparatory General Secondary Technical Secondary toward university education and against basic education, compared to the number of students enrolled, the data also reveal that Figure 4.5 : Total Government Expenditure by Level primary and secondary levels get very of Education (1998/99) similar budgetary allocations, despite the 100% much lower enrolment rates at secondary 90% level. In the final analysis, the most 80% disadvantaged level of education is the 70% primary level (unit cost in higher education 60% is 7.6 times the unit cost in the primary 50% level, (see table 4.2). Unit cost of primary 40% education in Egypt is also very low 30% compared to other countries in the MENA 20% Region as can be seen below. 10% 0 With the constraint of financial resources, Current Wages Current supplies Investment the bias toward higher education and Pre-university Unviversity against basic education, has contributed to quality deterioration in basic education, leading to a skewed result: at the level of government expenditures; basic education private returns to schooling among Egypt’s (accounting for 79 percent of enrolment) workers, returns to different levels of received only 51 percent of total education differ from the pattern seen in expenditure, compared to 31 percent for the most other developing countries, and are university level (accounting for about 6 considerably low to primary education. percent only of total enrolment) during the Private returns to primary, secondary and 1990s. higher education for males (measured as the increase in wages for each year of The educational budget is not only skewed schooling) were estimated to be 8.3, 31.7, in favor of tertiary education compared to 62. percent respectively. Primary education the number of students enrolled in this level, rates are very low compared to other but also if compared to other countries. countries; the private returns to primary Moreover, the distribution of public education were estimated to be 29.9 percent education spending by type of expenditure for the low and Middle Income countries, shows that while 70 percent of total current 21.7 percent for OECD countries and 39 expenditures went to pre-university percent for Asian countries. education (for both basic and secondary cycles) compared to 30 percent for u Bias to Urban and at the Expense of university education (the average in East Rural Areas Asia is 15 percent), investment expenditures showed a clear bias against pre-university Investigating the availability and education until 1992/93 (about 57.6 percent distribution of educational services in the on average going to university education) various Egyptian communities shows that compared to 42.4 percent for pre-university public, primary and preparatory schools are education in general and to 32.6 percent for fairly distributed among urban and rural basic education (primary and preparatory). areas. The ratio of availability of primary

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schools to the different communities in Table (4.2) Egypt is 90.6 percent in urban areas compared to 97.8 percent in rural areas. Government Education Expenditure This applies also, though to a lesser extent, Per Student, 1995/96 to public preparatory schools, where the L.E. Percent of ratio of availability is 84.4 percent in urban Percapita areas compared to 88.4 percent in rural GNP areas. However, the availability of secondary schools in urban areas is nearly Unit Cost-Current Expenditure double its level in rural areas. Its ratio Primary 356 9.1 amounted to 65.7 percent in urban areas Preparatory 521 13.4 compared to 33.5 percent in rural areas. As for public intermediate institutes, their Secondary 746 19.2 distribution has been the worst with Higher 2811 72.4 availability ratio as low as 7.6 percent in Unit Cost-Investment Expenditures urban areas compared to 1.3 percent in rural areas. Primary 100 2.5 Preparatory 121 3.1 These inequalities in the availability of Secondary 165 4.2 educational services, especially at the level of secondary school and intermediate Higher 656 16.8 institutes, limit the opportunities for the Unit Cost-Total Expenditure rural populations to continue education Primary 456 11.7 beyond the basic level. These populations are more exposed to capability poverty and Preparatory 642 16.5 large numbers of them fall back into Secondary 911 23.4 illiteracy given the low quality of basic Higher 3467 89.2 education and the high dropout ratios in this stage. u The Gender Gap Figure 4.6 : Allocation of Government Expenditure by Level of Education (1998/99) In spite of the fact that closing the gender 100% gap in education figures among the most 90% effective means of enhancing the efficiency 80% of public spending on education, there are 70% no deliberate or specific policies (either on 60% the supply or the demand side of education) 50% 40% designed for women (with the exception of 30% the one-classroom project inaugurated in the 20% 1990s). This gap still persists in various 10% education-related aspects. In 1996/97, 0% females/males ratios were 65 percent, 83.3 Current university Current supplies Investment percent in primary enrolment and 82.3 Pre-university university percent in secondary enrolment. The literacy rate among females was still as low as 43.5 percent (61.6 percent in urban areas and against the poor and this is reflected in a 28.9 percent in rural areas), their enrolment significant literacy and schooling gap rate in basic education was 76.3 percent, between the poor and the non-poor. and the percentage of female (15+) with secondary or higher education was only The Social Spending Household Survey 23.5 percent. All these averages conceal (SSHS) conducted for the 1997/98 Egypt important variations among governorates. HDR provided useful information about the beneficiaries of expenditure on education. Inefficient Targeting in the Provision of The share of the poor in public expenditure Education Services: on education matches their percentage share in total population. The rich, on the other Inefficient targeting negatively impacts on hand, benefit from a larger share of public the human and social returns derived from education expenditure. public expenditure on education. The structure of this expenditure is biased The distinction between different education

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levels is more revealing: public expenditure 0.78 in Egypt while it is only 0.58 in the on basic and secondary education is OECD countries. However, overstaffing in reasonably distributed among different the Egyptian education system has been groups, favoring low and middle-income continuing in recent years. The increase in groups. Nearly 31 percent of the benefits in the number of teachers has been linked to pre-university education go to the poor, unemployment among the university while the rich receive 19 percent. The graduates. Teachers are hired from the pool pattern is reversed in higher education: 54 of university graduates waiting for percent of the benefits of tertiary guaranteed government employment. Thus, The expenditure go to the rich group, 36 percent in 1997/98 the number of pre-university students/teacher to the middle income group, and only 10 teachers has increased by about 13 percent. ratios reflect percent to the poor. Even at the university level, there is overstaffing in Inefficiency in Resource Utilization and overstaffing in some universities and the Egyptian Allocation shortages in others, the same applying to education system faculties within each university. This is Since the early 1990s the government has evidenced by students/teaching staff ratios as compared to directed increasing resources to eliminate that range from 28 in Cairo University to 78 other countries illiteracy. To this end, the General Authority in South Valley University. There is also for Literacy and Adult Education (GALAE) overstaffing in the non-teaching staff was established in 1991. GALAE has (administrative and support personnel) in appropriated increasing funds during the public universities. For example, the period 1991-1997. These funds totaled L.E. salaries of the teaching staff constituted, in 253 million of which L.E. 148 million were 1997/98, about 60 percent of total salaries at budget allocations and L.E. 105 million Cairo University, while the corresponding from donors, Social Fund for Development ratio was 45 percent at Alexandria (SFD) and development aid. University and 39.3 percent at Tanta The effectiveness of government literacy University. programs is questioned, since the numbers of illiterates have increased during the same Effective spending in public universities has period. This raises concerns about the been always higher than estimated in efficiency of government intervention in budgets of these universities. The effective these efforts. Notably, there is a waste of spending totaled to L.E. 11,438 million, resources in school construction and design; during the period 1992/93-1996/97, while school designs cost 5 to 20 percent more the estimated spending in the budget was than the efficient cost of construction and only L.E. 10,467 million, which means an space utilization. increase of about 9.3 percent. There was no increase over the budgeted salaries, current The students/teacher ratios reflect expenditure on goods and services’ supplies overstaffing in the Egyptian education appropriated 12 percent over their budgeted system as compared to other countries. This values, but the widest difference between entails a higher ratio of wages and salaries effective and budgeted spending was in the within the total public expenditure of the investment costs. This is an indication system. In 1997, the average students/ either of bad planning or inefficient teacher ratio was 24, 20, and 13 respectively spending, or both. at the primary, preparatory, and secondary levels. International standards reveal that The non-educational cost items (housing, students/teacher ratios of 25-30 for primary, food and subsidized meals, health services, preparatory, and secondary levels are transportation, etc.) are another issue to be sufficient for ensuring the delivery of good considered. The average of these costs per quality education services. However, the student amounted, in 1997/98, to about students/teacher ratios may be misleading in L.E.316 per student at Cairo University, Egypt since, on the one hand, a significant L.E. 108 at Alexandria University and L.E. number of teachers are involved-as shown 117 at Helwan University. Although earlier-in administrative activities and, on seeming modest, these averages hide some other hand, the curricula are overburdening important aspects of waste in the use of both the teachers and students. resources. For example, eligibility to university housing is not based on On the average, the coefficient of affordability while the per student non-teaching/teaching staff is as high as government expenditure on this item,

82 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform including subsidized meals, is about L.E. The required number of school buildings 150 per month representing the difference until the year 2002 has been estimated at between effective costs and the nominal per 19,947 schools of which 7500 were built student housing fees. during the period 1992-1997, at a cost of L.E. 6.8 billion. This leaves 12,447 schools The costs of MOE textbooks (about L.E 600 to be built up to the year 2002, which would million) need also to be addressed. cost about L.E. 11.3 billion (assuming the According to the MOE statistics of 1999, same cost per school). Requirements of the 1393 textbooks were produced with schools to meet the prospective increase in There is much to more than 37 million printed copies. The demand for basic education by the year question arises of their efficiency: number 2007 are estimated to be additional 3730 be done to reform of textbooks could be reduced and the primary and 1729 preparatory schools the Egyptian content improved. Moreover, the (costing about L.E. 4.9 billion on the basis educational introduction of a two-term schooling year of the above calculation). has greatly increased the copies printed sector (almost double for basic education). Bearing in mind that these estimates are based on prices given for the five-year plan Finally, the Egyptian education system is (1992/93-1996/97) and cover the school highly centralized at both the Ministry of buildings alone (i.e. without counting for Education and the Ministry of Higher other expenditure items like furnishing, and Education, which impedes initiatives, and all other current expenses), it becomes also works against the efficient use of evident that the allocations needed for these resources. types of expenditure are enormous. The additional costs of achieving universal The Cost to Reform the Education primary education in Egypt by the year System 2005 were estimated by a UNICEF study to range between US $ 0.14 billion (over and It is evident that there is much to be done above education expenditures in 1995) and (and spent) to reform the Egyptian US $ 0.05 billion per year (in 1992 dollars). educational sector, but how much? To The estimation of needed school buildings does not take into account the extra classes assess accurately the costs of this reform or that would be required for the reintroduction the financial resources needed is rather a of the sixth grade in primary education. difficult task. However, it might be useful, Certainly, this will entail extra financial here, to pinpoint the major issues in need of resources. reform, and to roughly provide tentative estimates of the costs. The objective is to Total current expenditure on basic education draw attention to the financial resources (only) in 2007 is estimated to be as high as needed to achieve this reform and, hence, L.E. 7.16 billion, assuming no drop outs or the magnitude of the challenge ahead for the repetition, which amounts to nearly total government and society as a whole. current expenditures in pre-university expenditures in 1996/97 and to 51.2 percent The Costs of Eradicating Illiteracy of total education expenditures (including university expenditures in the same year). It was estimated that the cost of eradicating illiteracy amounts to L.E. 600 million per Poverty is the main reason, as has been year over a period of five years (which observed, of the non-accessibility of some amounts to a sum of L.E.3000 million) to Egyptian children to education since poor reach of 4 million people each year, or 20 families cannot afford the increasing costs million people over the five years period. of education and hence, do not send their children to schools, or withdraw them from The Costs of Reforming Pre-University schools. In 1993, the Ministry of Education Education estimated the number of children with no access to education at about 100,000 every As mentioned earlier, the legacy of year, while the number of children dropping long-term financial shortages has led-to an out was estimated at about 150,000 every acute shortage in school buildings. Huge year. To attract and to retain these children amounts of financial resources have to be in school, the main policy would be to allocated to compensate for the past alleviate for poor families from the burden deterioration on the one hand, and to meet of education costs. In other words, there the population increase on the other. should be a return to real free education at

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least in basic education while exempting the some teachers to focus efforts on private poor from fees in secondary education. lessons rather than on classroom duties. Achieving this would entail an additional Sixty-three percent of preparatory students cost (in the form of revenues forgone) to surveyed by the MOE stated that they take MOE, of about L.E. 830 million according private lessons to supplement classroom to 1997/98 data. Exempting the poor from teaching. the health insurance fees would further cost about L.E. 23.6 million, while extending the Increasing teachers’ salaries in pre-tertiary nutrition program to all basic education education is therefore a must for improving Teachers’ students will require, in addition to the L.E. teaching and offsetting private tutoring. capabilities must 204.8 million allocated to this purpose in Other means such as improving be continuously 1997/98, another L.E. 60.6 million examination conditions could help but are (assuming the same cost at 1997/98 prices). not sufficient, since private tutoring is an enhanced through outcome of demand and supply factors. To training over eliminate private tutoring (or at least their whole All these costs are largely concerned with alleviate the phenomenon) demand must the material side of the education system. decrease by improving the quality of career and they However, the major problem-as noted education at schools, and supply must also must be earlier-is its inefficiency and poor quality, diminish, by improving teachers’ salaries. motivated by which is a major factor for the inability of However, this would require a substantial the system to retain enrolled children. increase in the wage bill, which would have salaries that will Improving this quality needs great efforts on a high fiscal impact-at all government secure a decent several fronts: improving the incentives and employment levels-and needs to be living standard capabilities of teachers, improving the addressed carefully. quality of curricula and the methods of teaching, the use of new educational Assessing the amount of an appropriate technologies, reducing waste, and enhancing raise in teachers’ salaries and its fiscal the learning capacity of students. Moreover, impact requires a comparison of teachers’ attention should be paid to providing salaries in Egypt with international sufficient materials, equipment and tools to standards. Some available data on the physical education and music, arts education mid-1980s indicate that in primary as well as recreation. education, salaries in Asia averaged about 2.9 times per capita GNP (the upper limit in In addition to the imperative of carefully Egypt was about 1.1 times per capita GNP selecting teachers with good pedagogic in 1996/97) compared to 2.4 in Latin formation, teachers’ capabilities must be America. Secondary school teachers, in the continuously enhanced through training same regions earned higher salaries than over their whole career and they must be their primary school colleagues; on the motivated by salaries that will secure a average, about 4 times the per capita GNP. decent living standard. Without these conditions it is futile to proclaim a serious Thus, raising teachers’ salaries in Egypt to willingness, on the part of the MOE, to put match these norms would require about an end to private tutoring outside the three times the present bill (L.E. 7.2 billion education system. in 1998/99), which would average an increase of about L.E. 14.4 billion. Finally, Teachers’ salaries in Egypt are very low, it must be remembered that all the above with basic payment rates of about L.E. 80 to mentioned costs for reforming L.E. 400 a month, depending on seniority. pre-university education are rough The upper end of this range (i.e. L.E. 4800 estimates. However, they are indicative of per year) is hardly equal to 1.11 times the the magnitude of required financial poverty line of 1996/97 (L.E. 4318 per resources for this component of the household) and less than half of what is education system. required to support an average family. As a result, all teachers hold second jobs, Costs of Reforming University Education particularly in private tutoring. The market for private tutoring is huge; it is estimated As indicated earlier, the quality of that about L.E. 7 billion are annually spent university education in Egypt is by Egyptian households on private tutoring. incontestably below what is required to On the average, a teacher can earn ten times achieve the objectives of this level of his governmental salary from private education. The costs of tackling this tutoring. This is an important incentive for problem involve two major factors:

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u Increasing investment expenditures on 2. Additional fees imposed by the Ministry buildings and equipment to remedy for of Education, such as application fees (at the overcrowded lecture rooms, the general secondary level), readmission laboratories, and the lack of teaching-aid fees, transcript request fees, and charges facilities such as computers, sufficient imposed on industrial establishments Internet connections, and projectors. ear-marked to the Fund. Focussing only on the needed university 3. A 10 percent share of local administration buildings, some studies have shown that revenue in governorates and villages. there is a need for a university for each 4. A 10 percent share of fines and charges two million of total population. This imposed under Law 106 for 1976 The principal would mean that Egypt needs about 30 concerning school construction standards. source of funding universities of which 19 (including the 5. Financial and in-kind contributions from for education in public, foreign, and private universities) community members. are already available. If this assessment is 6. Revenue from returns to investment of Egypt is the correct, then there is a need to establish Fund resources. government 11 new universities, which would involve 7. Donations and contributions. huge investment expenditures in budget, with a buildings and equipment. Although Education has been on the priority very small share agendas of most international organizations, from either the u Salaries and benefits of the teaching staff and even though Egypt has benefited from private sector or may need to be multiplied by five, to an increasing size of donor contributions, remedy for present low levels and their these represent only a fraction of total donor impact on teaching staff incentive and the spending on education. contributions time spent at their university jobs. As the public universities wage bill amounted to The total revenues of the Education Projects about L.E. 1,701 million in 1997/98, and Support Fund do not exceed 50 million L.E., assuming that the teaching staff salaries which constitutes about 0.3 percent only of account for about 50 percent of the total the central government education budget. (L.E. 850.5 million), raising these salaries Hence, the principal source of funding for would then amount to an additional education in Egypt is the government expenditure of about L.E. 3.4 billion. budget, with a very small share from either the private sector or donor contributions. Sources of Financing of the Education However, education has, since the 1980s, Sector seen an increasing household share in The sources of public education financing in education expenditures. Unfortunately, most Egypt are (i) the central government budget; of these are a result of the insidious (ii) the Education Project Support Fund (for privatization of the education system, the pre-university level); (iii) foreign aid reflected in out-of-pocket expenditures on donor contributions. However, education in items like private lessons, non-Ministry Egypt remains predominantly publicly textbooks, and so forth. In other words, financed. During the 1990s an increasing households’ increasing contributions in share of the central government budget was financing education have been channeled to devoted to education. As a proportion of what can be called a “parallel market for total government budget, education education”, instead of supporting appropriated 18 percent in 1998/99 government education financing. The (compared to 10.2 percent in 1990/91) average per-student education costs borne which is high by international standards, by households constitute about 35 percent of since, as mentioned earlier, the average for the average per-student government OECD countries is about 7 percent. The education costs as seen below. increase in the education budget during the period 1991-1998 amounted to 62 percent in Thus, despite the increasing governmental real terms. financial resources devoted to education in Egypt, these are not sufficient to cover the The Education Projects Support Fund was costs needed for education sector reform established in 1989 to provide financing for (discussed in the previous section). Other activities such as school construction, sources of finance are still minimal when refurbishing and maintenance of educational compared to government financing. The and research centers. The sources of finance private sector, community donations or for this Fund are: contributions, and foreign aid are volatile 1. Fees and charges levied under Law 139 sources of funding and cannot be relied for 1981. upon as a sustainable source of funding.

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However, the household sector is bearing a education-which absorbs a high proportion great burden in financing education in of the wage bill. Egypt, but unfortunately, these funds do not contribute to improve the education process. Allocating public investment should also be based on human development perspectives Policy Measures for Financing Education without neglecting socioeconomic factors. in Egypt This allocation should also target the elimination of regional disparities in the The previous sections shed light on the wide delivery system of education and the The household gap between needed financial resources for balance between the needs for physical sector is bearing educational sector reform and the financial assets in the different stages of education. a great burden in sources available to this sector. The analysis Transparency and accountability are also of suggests some options for reform. These can prime importance to ensure the efficiency of financing be divided into two groups of measures: this allocation. education in Egypt u Policy measures for improving efficiency Reallocation of Resources in Favor of Basic of spending in education. Education

u Policy measures for mobilizing additional Favoring basic education is justified on resources to education. several grounds among which are the following: Policy Measures for Improving Efficiency of Spending in Education w The social rate of return to basic education is usually higher than for secondary and Considerable savings can be achieved tertiary education. through improving efficiency of spending. As has been observed, Asian governments wWhen growth took place in most education have achieved “breakthroughs” in education systems of the developed countries, it was while spending less than governments in all the elementary level that grew faster other regions. This paradox-high coverage towards universal provision. Only when despite relatively little fiscal effort-was substantial progress had been made, did explained by the sound public policies in the higher levels grow substantially. In education sector. This can be achieved in Egypt, there is still much to be achieved Egypt-which has the opposite paradox: high whether in quantity or quality in basic level of public spending and modest education. coverage-through improving the delivery systems, and improving resource utilization w Financing university education can be and allocation. diversified and supported from other sources of funding alternative to state Improving the Delivery System budget.

Considerable gains can be achieved by w Most importantly, higher education in improving the delivery system of education Egypt benefits mainly higher income in Egypt and they can be achieved by groups while public expenditure on basic spending well without spending more. and secondary education benefits mainly Improving the delivery system of education the poor and the low-income groups. in Egypt means eliminating the biases mentioned earlier through the following: w Moreover, by allocating more resources to basic education the likelihood of Increasing the Share of Investment transition to secondary and higher levels Expenditures of schooling would be more probable as indicated by several studies. Allocation of resources in the education sector must put greater emphasis on Reallocating Resources Towards Rural investment expenditure in the coming years Areas given the shortage of schools especially in basic education. This can be achieved by Achieving equality between urban and rural reducing the proportion of current areas is possible at low fiscal impact by expenditure through reducing the ratio of targeting the most disadvantaged administrative and non-teaching staff- governorates and areas. The government whether in pre-university or university could use the data from surveys and studies

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already available on coverage of schools in u Reducing the opportunity cost of girls’ different areas. In Egypt the most education. This involves recognizing that disadvantaged areas in general are Rural under present circumstances, parents rely Upper Egypt governorates, followed by heavily on girls’ labor for household Urban Upper Egypt governorates, then chores. Providing flexible school hours Rural Lower Egypt Governorates. through non-formal and formal education proves to be efficient in drawing girls into Closing the Gender Gap primary schools in different countries.

Egypt would gain substantially by paying Making Education More Equitable Targeted special attention to bridging the male/female programs could gap in education. Since females’ education Non-enrolment and dropout of a also improve faces obstacles on both the supply and considerable proportion of children from demand sides, policy measures should poor households undermine, to a great children’s address these obstacles on both sides at the extent, government efforts to combat chances to same time. illiteracy, achieve universal enrolment in complete primary basic education, and meet ambitious The most important measures on the supply education goals. Education policies should school education side are: aim to raise the private benefits of education by fostering quality of education (affecting u Bringing schools closer to girls. the supply side of education), and lowering the private costs of education (affecting the * Building new schools is not sufficient for demand side of education). promoting girls’ education, but targeting girls is essential. Therefore, there must be Improving quality: The government should school mapping, i.e., the strategic seek to allocate more resources to teacher placement of schools in areas of low training, textbooks and other classroom coverage (mainly in Upper Egypt). materials in poor areas. Net enrolment rates can be increased in primary education by u Making schools attractive, through: introducing targeted programs to areas and schools with low enrolment rates. Efficient * Providing more schools for girls in targeting enables the achievement of such appropriate regions and with appropriate programs with the minimum fiscal impact. facilities (a critical minimum of physical infrastructure appears to be needed to Targeted programs could also improve attract and retain girls at school). children’s chances to complete primary school education. For example by targeting * Improving the teaching/learning process the three governorates of Assyout, Menia, by providing a relevant curriculum, and Dakahlia the government can tackle the textbooks and other basics. The quality of problem of about 30 percent of total schooling is likely to matter particularly children who are not attending primary for girls. Improving teachers’ quality and school. A program that can capture those hiring more female teachers is also children, at risk of dropping out or never essential (in communities where attending school will be fiscally more male-female contact is limited-as in sustainable than a universal initiative. Steps Upper Egypt-evidence suggests that that the government can take to establish recruitment of female teachers enhances such programs are: (i) pinpoint communities girls’ enrollment). with low primary enrolment rate, (ii) identify the schools with low performance The most important measures on the (through exams), (iii) target programs to demand side are: address those special problems. u Reducing the direct costs of schooling. Moreover, there are various other options to This is imperative and must be applied to improve the quality of education, such as: all poor children in Egypt. Indeed, (i) introduce more autonomy at the school non-enrolment and dropouts are not only level, for example by granting the school a female phenomenon. However, a flexibility in allocating resources among further possibility is to offer scholarships different school activities; (ii) increase for girls by waiving fees and providing school choice for parents; good schools will textbooks and uniforms. be preferred to bad ones, and as a consequence, the revenues of the bad

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schools will decline, encouraging the staff programs should be channeled to formal to offer better quality services; (iii) involve education, while leaving the parents in the management of schools responsibility of adult literacy to NGOs because they have the highest motivation for which have proved to be very effective in enhancing the quality of education received this respect. by their children. w The same applies for all other forms of Lowering costs: To reduce the private cost informal education (like the one-class of education for poor children in Egypt, the school) which could be delegated to Subsidies government should eliminate tuition and NGOs, which are more capable in compensating for fees in basic education for all children, running such programs which need much the opportunity provide textbooks and stationery free for the effort and dedication. The resources now poor and reduce their cost for all other devoted to these programs could be of earning children in basic education. The government channeled to formal basic education. income through can also subsidize poor households to cover working children the costs related to school attendance and At the university level, there are also could help in the opportunity cost (in terms of income various sources of inefficient spending that forgone) of keeping their children in school. could be spared such as overstaffing in combating the Vouchers and money or in-kind subsidies administrative and supporting functions, child labor may be used in such cases. and many irrational costs for phenomenon non-educational services rendered to Vouchers and subsidies must be related to a students (housing, food, subsidized meals certain level of class achievement, i.e., and so forth). Moreover, effective spending students must maintain a certain grade has been always above the budgeted funds, average to continue to receive them. The which is indicative either of bad planning or government should think of applying such inefficient spending. measures (vouchers and subsidies) which have proved to be successful in other The cost of MOE textbooks is very high and developing countries in enhancing has increased due to the increase in copies enrolment ratios and in encouraging the after the introduction of the two-term school poor to make the transition to post-primary year. There is room for saving in this area level. Several studies have found that the by improving efficiency and reducing the elimination of fees in Bangladesh and number of textbooks. MOE may also not be Guatemala, and the introduction of vouchers the best provider, and textbooks could cost in Colombia and Pakistan have increased students’ participation and transition to the less if produced, by private providers next cycle of education. Furthermore, through a bidding system. subsidies compensating for the opportunity of earning income through working children Several studies have reviewed educational could help in combating the child labor innovations to reduce costs and increase phenomenon. efficiency. Three broad types can be identified; first, those that depend on new Improving Resource Utilization and educational technologies, which include the Allocation use of radio, television and self-instructional materials. Second, there In addition to the positive impact of are innovations within non-formal improving the quality of education in terms education; third, there are also innovations of lower repetition rates and less dropouts, in formal sector provision. For formal sector waste in public spending on education can provision these can be classified into four be avoided through the following measures: main areas: organizational, administrative, materials production and teacher training. w Efficient construction and space utilization of school building could save from 5 to 20 Relationships between the organization of percent of investment costs. delivery and cost savings are not simple. For example, it has been observed that w Reducing the ratio of administrative and economies of scale do not necessarily apply non-teaching staff at all levels of to increasing school sizes. Larger buildings education could also save a great may require more sophisticated methods of proportion of the wage bill. construction and this will increase the unit cost of provision. The optimum school size w Theresources devoted to illiteracy eradication in sparsely populated rural areas is therefore

88 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform likely to be quite small at the primary level. is understood to be so by all citizens. To Among the measures most likely to achieve this requires a public campaign, economize on costs are those which reduce using the media to raise public awareness of the operations unit cost, by using teachers, the importance of education to both boys capital plant and equipment more and girls. The participation of all sectors of intensively, hence spreading the fixed costs society towards ensuring the success of the over a large number of units of output. The project is essential. more economical use of teachers would take place through better time tabling to raise The second option for financing education “Education as the teacher outputs in terms of the number of is increasing the available resources. If there students instructed over a period of time, is resistance to this issue, a number of National Project and the use of classrooms and laboratories questions which need to be answered are: of Egypt” truly for a higher proportion of the school week Has the State reached the limit of its ability becomes a or year. to generate revenues through taxation, duties on imported luxury goods, policies of national project Policy Measures for Mobilizing investment and pension funds, exchange and is understood Additional Resources to Education operations? Have any new methods been to be so by all explored to increase revenues; levies on citizens. The Improving the efficiency of spending in the productive industries that utilize educated education sector, due to effective manpower, incentives to stimulate participation of application of the policy measures described contributions to expenditure from all sectors of above, could enhance the quality of companies and private benefactors? Does society towards education in Egypt “by spending well, investment in other sectors take place at the without spending more”. However, a real expense of what could be availed to ensuring the reform of education in Egypt requires education? Only when these questions have success of the additional resources over and above what been resolved satisfactorily should other project is could be saved by improving the efficiency options be explored. of spending. essential Reviewing the possible answers to these There are two main types of constraints that questions reveals that there are still avenues limit the resources allocated to education in to be explored by the Government: the government budgets. First, there are those constraints that affect the overall level of public expenditure and, therefore, the size There is a possibility open to the Egyptian of the cake from which the educational government in reallocating resources in budget is sliced; these constraints determine favor of education (at least for a targeted the ability to resource. Second, there are the period) on the basis that education in the age constraints that affect the priority accorded of globalization has become a matter of to education in the national budget and “national security”. reflect internal decision making on resource allocation; these constraints determine the Other means of mobilizing resources is willingness to resource. shifting between budgets. In most countries a proportion of educational expenditure, In Egypt, the ability to resource is now far particularly that associated with training is better than at the beginnings of the 1990s spent by ministries other than the ministry under the Economic Reform and Structural of education (e.g. ministries of labor, Adjustment Program, when Egypt’s public agriculture, industry). resources were tight. The willingness to resource, or the priority accorded to Another possibility is the reallocation of education in the national budget has public resources between levels of increased since then in spite of all education (from higher education to basic difficulties - and is still increasing. education) as referred to earlier. Some countries have been successful in dealing The first option open for financing with this politically difficult reform. education is resisting any diminution of Between 1980 and 1990, the share of resources (an increase in resources would be current higher education costs funded from even better). The priority of educational tuition charges rose from 23 percent to 43 investment must be recognized at all levels percent in Korea, from zero to 21 percent in so that “Education as the National Project of Vietnam, from 13 percent to 25 percent in Egypt” truly becomes a national project and Mexico and from 8 percent to 16 percent in

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 89 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform

Box 4.1

The World Bank Education Enhancement Program The World Bank Education Enhancement a distance training system with master Program has developed a program to teachers acting as facilitators. improve the quality of student performance. v Improving the quality of the pre-service The main objective is to reduce repetition training program by focusing on inputs and dropouts. There are four objectives in (including the quality of students who enter this program: these programs), process and outputs. v Reduce wastage by reducing class size v Improving system efficiency, through and multiple shifts through school improving the management of sector construction, and by provision of support resources, and enable improvements in to students with moderate learning system effectiveness through enhancing difficulties. The latter is feasible via sector planning, decision making and training a cadre of learning support management (building the capacity of teachers. This has been a cost-effective implementing agencies is key to this means, in several countries, to reducing program area). Reform of the repetitions and dropouts. decision-making process will be a crucial v Improving the quality of teaching and element for strengthening system learning, through tailoring teaching to effectiveness and efficiency. students’ learning needs. Quality assurance systems for experienced The above four objectives are inter-linked: teachers could be pursued through building implementing agencies’ capacity is increasing the validity of annual teacher the key to the success of the whole quality performance evaluations and creating program, while improving training will lead to merit - based promotion criteria. improvements in teaching and learning, which In-service training reform, with the will in turn reduce repetition and dropouts. greatest potential impact on the quality of learning, could encourage the creation of Source: World Bank, SAR/EEP 1996

Costa Rica. improved by rationalizing these subsidies. In order to make university fees politically Given the high private rate of returns to more acceptable, the government can raise higher education, private spending that public awareness of the tradeoffs in public students and parents may want to make spending choices. This could be done by could be encouraged. However, setting raising the issue of inequitable higher tuition and fees according to cost per education spending in public forums and by student, rather than in absolute terms would encouraging a public discussion of this be desirable so that changes can match issue. It can build awareness among the inflation rates. Non-instructional subsidies population that a problem exists and that an should decrease. This can significantly effective higher education cannot be built on alleviate the crowding-out problem, Given the high an inefficient pre-university level; it can freeing-up government resources for private rate of also make people more prepared to accept expanding enrolment at other levels of changes by promoting new ways of education. returns to higher financing university education education, private (scholarships, grants, students loans, Several theoretical considerations suggest spending that vouchers, etc). that such a policy is most relevant at the level of higher education because, on the students and Then, as a second step, the government one hand, it is probably more parents may want should start making a selective increase in administratively feasible and, on the other user fees. Tuition and fees paid by students hand, its potentially adverse effect on equity to make could be contribute only about 5 percent of total is blunted by the fact that most students at encouraged current university expenditures; the this level come from relatively advantaged remainder is financed by government social groups. subsidies that capture an increasing share of total public higher education spending. The The government should however start efficiency of this spending could be charging fees gradually at public

90 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform universities, possibly beginning with fees higher education requires both public and applied to repeaters and postgraduate private resources, while the role of the state students as a first step. The increase in fees remains essential. In this regard, it should be should be gradual, allowing for adjustment. noticed that: (i) The diversification of These fees should cover only a proportion funding sources reflects the support that of the effective cost per student since society provides to higher education and charging students with the total cost would must be further strengthened to develop be very expensive for a public university. higher education, increase its efficiency and Moreover, the poor should not be denied maintain its quality and relevance, and (ii) university education because of such fees; the society as a whole must support Since public and they must benefit-under certain conditions education at all levels, including higher private based on achieved scores-from scholarships, education, given its role in promoting enterprises are grants, loans or any other student finance sustainable economic, social and cultural scheme. development. Mobilization for this purpose the first depends on public awareness and a beneficiaries of Since public and private enterprises are the commitment from the public and private the “outputs” of first beneficiaries of the “outputs” of the sectors of the economy, parliament, the education system, it is quite fair that they media, governmental and non-governmental the education contribute not only to the financing of organizations, students as well as institutions, families and all appropriate system, it is quite training but also to the different stages of fair that they education. This should, however, be social actors. accompanied by an implementation of the contribute not necessary mechanisms for participatory NGOs and the Private Sector only to the planning, organization, and management instead of the present highly centralized and The non-governmental sector includes financing of bureaucratic control of all aspects of the enterprises, mosques and churches, and training but also education system. charitable foundations; all of these may help to the different to finance schools through contributions, in A further option is the establishment of a money and/or in kind (labor and materials), stages of development fund for education. This step contributions towards the construction of education would need a national and international new educational institutions according to campaign to finance it, besides the clear building plans and programs, identification of new sources of revenues, contributions towards a scarce or expensive such as, for example, the allocation of a resource, uniforms, meals and other percentage of oil revenues or an earmarked supplies, or financing health insurance and tax on private schools (and universities) or tuition fees for poor pupils. on cigarettes, cinema and theater tickets, to cite only a few possibilities. There are about 15000 NGOs in Egypt. Adopting Education as a national project - However, while recognizing the these could service human development, in responsibility of government to guarantee all its aspects, if their efforts were to high quality basic education for all and to become concentrated on mobilizing assure access to the higher stages of additional financial and physical resources education, this does not mean that it should for education in Egypt. engage in the direct provision of all educational services nor their financing. The private business sector could become a Contribution from actors in society (private major support to education through tax sector, households sector, non-governmental exemptions. Support is in the best interest of organizations, foreign donors, and private this sector since the improvement of the donations) for financing education in Egypt education system will lead to more human is unavoidable in the present, which is skills needed to maximize profits. When characterized by a high level of financial education, especially professional input for serious reform efforts to succeed. education, becomes associated with increased earnings, the private sector Diversifying the Structure of Financing realizes its own needs in terms of skilled For Higher Education labor and increased quality. Some efforts have already begun in Cairo, Giza, This is not only necessary but is also safer Alexandria, and other governorates to build in periods of austerity. In this regard, the schools and supply land and materials as UNESCO “World Declaration on Higher contributions from the business sector. Education for the Twenty-First Century: However, other schemes of monetary or Vision and Action” notes that the funding of technical contributions have not been

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 91 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform

explored yet. These can take several forms: Financial aid schemes for students can take (i) Vocational Training, which is different forms. Each scheme refers to one particularly important in developing or more of the following criteria: countries and should be well designed, well targeted and well implemented, to match w The percentage of total education cost to the real needs of the market. Such programs be covered. could be at a single enterprise level or at the industry level. w The percentage share of the grant element and whether it varies with the Vocational (ii) Apprenticeship Schemes involve a socioeconomic background (mainly long-term arrangement (whether by written parents’ income). Training, should contract or not) in which the trainee be well designed, surrenders his or her labor for an agreed w The percentage share of the loan element length of time and receives in return and the conditions of repayment. well targeted and instruction in a trade or profession. when well workers are free to change their Jobs, w Whether eligibility for financial aid implemented, to apprenticeship schemes can generate depends or not on educational inequities in that firms that provide good performance. match the real training find themselves losing trained staff needs of the to their competitors. One way to handle this problem is to ask trainees to pay for the w Whether eligibility for financial aid market training, either in cash or in an agreed depends or not on the student’s age. period of employment. Another approach is to legislate for industry-wide training levies, Different combinations of these criteria which can be used to reimburse the firms constitute schemes that differ in the degree that provide the training and also to finance to which they enhance efficiency and industrial training centers. Such schemes are equity. There are three prototypes: (i) a to be found throughout the developing model involving loans that are world, for example in Benin, Brazil, Kenya, supplemented, in a fixed number of Korea, Liberia, Malaysia and Mexico. installments, with grants that depend on social background; (ii) a model in which (iii) Grants represent another form of those who have participated in private sector participation. In Venezuela a post-compulsory education pay a special tax body called EDUCREDITO was set up in (a graduate tax); and (iii) a loans model in 1965 to allocate grants to students. It is run which repayment is contingent on income. by a non-profit organization whose task is to coordinate financial contributions from Mortgage Loans with Income-Dependent various agencies (there are currently 51 of Grant which 43 belong to the private sector). It allocates grants to students and thus makes In this scheme, the loan only has to be it easier for the most disadvantaged students repaid over a particular period if the to gain access to University while reducing borrower’s income exceeds a certain government financed expenditure. threshold. Also, in models of this type there is often a rule that fixes the number of years (iv) Scholarships provide, through various over which the loan has to be repaid: 10-15 schemes, funds to selected individuals (or to years usually. If the repayment is not groups of students through schools) to completed within that period, it is remitted. further their education. In some cases, the scholarship is for study at a designated school-private or public. In others the In this system, students belonging to choice of school is left to the receiver of the low-income families receive a scholarship. Group scholarships can be compensating grant. Such a grant will compared to food stamps: they provide the stimulate enrolment within the targeted means to education, without specifying the group only if students in this group provider. experience debt as a greater barrier to study than students from other families. (v) Financial Aid Schemes are not exclusive to the private sector; all other Graduate Tax sectors - governmental and non- governmental, including households - could Instead of receiving a loan that has to be contribute to this form of financing. repaid, students would receive a grant However, as observed earlier, when which they later “repay” through a special education becomes associated with increased graduate tax. As an additional advantage of returns, the private sector might be expected this system, it is suggested that students to provide loans to promising students. from high-income families would also have

92 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Financing Education: Challenges and Options for Reform a (tax) debt. their customers. Income-Contingent Loans Applied to post-compulsory education, the most elaborated and consistent plan seems to In this model, the only form of financial be the model proposed by Levin. This model support is loans with income-dependent contains five key elements. First, as in all repayment, i.e. income-contingent loans voucher models, it is the participants who (ICLs). During their studies, students can receive the entitlements. Through their receive a loan that they repay in the form of enrolment pattern, they directly determine a percentage of their future earnings. It is the funding of the institutes. Second, a also possible to give a dispensation to those voucher is not necessarily a grant, but may The household who earn below a certain threshold. also consist of a mixture of grant and loan. Compared with the mortgage-type loan Third, the grant element is usually higher sector could be schemes, repayment is more evenly spread when vouchers finance studies that are encouraged to over the graduate’s professional career. That supposed to generate larger externalities and is, the costs of the investment in schooling when the benefiting students belong to finance education are repaid when the returns materialize. low-income families. Fourth, vouchers retain by channeling its Compared to the graduate tax system, the their real value during the entire lifetime of resources from important difference is that a person never the owner. This implies that initial schooling repays more than the sum of the loan and and lifelong learning are treated as the “parallel interest. equivalents. Finally, given the crucial role education that information plays in a market system; Most student financial aid schemes (or accordingly, the establishment of a special system” to the student loan schemes) in the developing agency to collect, analyze and disseminate formal education world can be found in Latin America. information with regard to schooling and Educational credit is provided both for training is recommended. system tuition costs and maintenance costs. Loans are given both for study within a country or The Household Sector contributes a great study abroad. In some countries, educational deal, in financing education in Egypt. credit institutions are solely concerned with However its contribution goes mostly to student loans, whereas in other cases their private lessons and non-ministerial functions include administration of other textbooks (both at pre-university and financial aid programs such as scholarship university levels). Hence, the household schemes. sector could be encouraged to finance education by channeling its resources from The programs vary considerably in size, and the “parallel education system” to the there is no general pattern of administration. formal education system. However, this is Some of the student loan institutions are conditional on a real tangible reform of the established as autonomous agencies; education system. Household contributions however student loan programs are usually can come in many forms: fees, grants, administered within national banks. There donations, scholarships. Cairo University are also numerous private loan institutions was founded as a non-profit private and some private loan funds, which are university, by private (individual) donations. administered by individual universities. The household sector could finance higher education today if it is confident that its Variations in the formal structure of loan resources will be well utilized. institutions in Latin America are matched by considerable variation in the way they are The last option for financing education is funded. The government is the main source foreign aid. Foreign grants, donations, soft of funds for most of the national educational loans, and technical assistance can be a credit programs but in some cases the source for financing education. However, finance comes from general government this source is highly volatile and of limited revenue, while in others this finance comes importance in Egypt given the volume of from taxes earmarked for educational credit. total national expenditure on education in Private donations are significant in some this country. countries and are often encouraged by governments through fiscal incentives. Notwithstanding, the benefits of foreign contributions could be maximized if they Vouchers are allocated within a framework that coordinates among the needs of different The idea of introducing vouchers into education sectors. They could also help if education is not new, especially for linked to projects that are well integrated in secondary education. The basic idea lying the national plan education. The behind the concept is that under a voucher Mubarak-Kohl Project for vocational system, supplies of education will be more training is an example of such foreign aid responsive to the needs and preferences of servicing the objectives of the national

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 93 Chapter Five

Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education

It is now Education is a powerful instrument in sustained economic growth with a higher achieving and sustaining economic growth, frequency of job changes during believed that a reducing poverty, and enhancing equity; individuals’ lives. These developments nation’s three objectives that are piece and parcel of have rendered education a key priority for productive human development. In the perspective of public policy in order to achieve the dual capacity is human development, quality education is objective of meeting the economy’s demand needed not only for these three objectives for an adaptable labor force, endowed with dependent on its but also because it lies at the heart of the abilities that facilitate the acquisition of new stock of human development of individual capacity and skills, while supporting the continued capital potential. Indeed, human development sees expansion of knowledge. education as a value in itself as well as a means to achieve economic growth, poverty Education, Poverty Reduction, and Social reduction, and equity. Equity

Promoting the demand for education as a Education is also critical in reducing value in itself is therefore by no means less poverty and promoting social equity. Since important to people than their need for the early 1990s, poverty reduction strategies education to acquire remunerative jobs, have increasingly focused on education, escape the poverty trap, and stand equal especially basic education, as a means to with others. As a value in itself, education enhance the use of productive labor-the counts for developing human personality, most abundant asset for the poor. As such, self-learning ability, objectivity, tolerance, education can be a determining factor in and the willingness to participate in all promoting social equity and in attenuating aspects of human development. In addition the process of marginalization and of being directly related to education as a exclusion of the poor from the development value in itself, these personal qualifications process a situation that is unfortunately impact positively on the individual’s being reported in a growing number of opportunity to acquire a remunerative job. developing countries.

As a means of enhancing productive Approaching Reality employment, education should be of good quality in terms of satisfying, quantitatively Recognizing the importance of education is and qualitatively, the labor market demand, not sufficient to guarantee that education developing entrepreneurial talents and fosters economic growth, reduces poverty, skills, enlarging the technological choices in and increases social equity; not to mention different societal activities, and implanting other important objectives like the the professional values of competitiveness development of human personality, the within a moral and social responsibility accumulation of human capabilities, and context. social cohesion within the freedom of thought and conviction. Good quality Education, Human Capital, and education is a necessary but not a sufficient Economic Performance condition for achieving these objectives. Socioeconomic, political, cultural and It is now believed that a nation’s productive governance conditions are also responsible capacity is dependent on its stock of human of achieving these objectives. For example, capital. Recent studies have demonstrated while good-quality education may qualify how productivity, measured as GNP per people to become participants in the employee, is strongly related to educational decision-making process, the political and wealth. Given the wealth of knowledge bureaucratic system could disappoint them engendered, and the rapid pace of change, in by relying on over-centralized decision technology, it is now possible to associate taking. And while good-quality education

94 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education produces well-informed and skilled attainment is the main concern in this graduates, low growth or chaotic labor chapter, taking into account socio-economic markets often increase unemployment as well as schooling factors. among the educated. In all cases, conditions are worsened when education is of low The analysis of earnings’ composition and quality. But these are the realities in many labor supply decisions must confront the fact developing countries. that labor markets are often not homogeneous. This is particularly true for A realistic assessment of the relation Egypt in which a formal sector exists in Despite Egypt’s between education, employment, and parallel to an informal wage-earning sector earnings in Egypt should therefore consider as well as to a large group of self-employed achievement in the real factors that impact upon this traders and artisans. The existence of reducing relation. This by no means excuses low qualitatively different sectors does provide, illiteracy levels quality education, but on the contrary, in itself, evidence for rewarding skills and extending suggests that high quality education needs, differently in these sectors; skills may as a corollary, a number of socioeconomic, themselves determine where employment coverage of political, organizational, and administrative will be. Naturally, workers prefer the sectors education, there changes to efficiently employ the output of with higher wage rates in addition to some has been an this education. other criteria related to their preferences and needs. On their part, employers also have increasing A General Diagnosis criteria related to the type of work to be trade-off between accomplished and to profit-maximization. quantity and Despite Egypt’s achievement in reducing illiteracy levels and extending coverage of The familiar post-school human capital quality in the education, especially basic education, to a earning functions assume that differences in education system significant portion of the population, there earnings depend on differences in the levels has been an increasing trade-off between of human capital, measured in terms of quantity and quality in the education schooling completed and age. However, system. During the last three decades, the such standard relationships between number of enrolled students has been earnings and education attainment may steadily increasing in all stages of education suffer from biases due either to the but dropout and repetition rates, in addition employers’ criteria or to the workers’ to class densities, have also been increasing. preferences or both. Individuals are assumed Further, the growing numbers of graduates to choose among mutually exclusive sectors are more exposed to the dangers of unemployment, underemployment, and (types) of employment, which include salary-or-wage-earner in the government or exploitation in parasitic and intermittent activities. In short, the Egyptian education the public sector, wage-earner in the private system suffers from continued internal and sector, self-employed worker, self-employed external inefficiencies in spite of serious and hiring others, and - otherwise - reform efforts which began in the early unemployed or inactive. Factors that affect 1990s; while, at the same time, graduates of individuals’ decisions to opt for one of these this system are the most likely to suffer sectors depend on education, skills, location, unemployment and underemployment. age, and gender as well as socioeconomic characteristics, such as total household Several studies addressed the relationship income, household size, headship of the between earnings (labor demand) and household, and the housing conditions. human capital accumulation (labor supply). Earnings are estimated as a dependent Educational status and/or mean years of variable on different employment schooling and experience traditionally characteristics such as type of economic measure human capital variables. Economic activity, type of occupation, job stability, theory relates earnings of an individual to skills as well as education, age, gender, etc. his educational status, experience, age, location, employment status, and so forth. Pattern of Employment and Educational Socio-economic variables are as important Status as school variables when addressing individual educational achievements and These patterns may be illustrated, in Egypt earnings. This relationship between as elsewhere, within two major issues; the earnings-whether for wage-earners or for first is the rates of participation, and the self-employed individuals-and educational second is the sector (type) of employment as

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 95 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education

influenced by important variables including (see table 5.2), male participation rates are region, age, education, and earnings. the lowest among those with basic education (28.8 percent) and the “read and Rates of Participation write” category (55.7 percent). Female participation rates in these two categories In 1997/1998, overall rate of population are even lower, 3 percent and 6 percent (15+) participating in economic activities respectively. The participation rate among reached 48.1 percent, while the illiterate males (81.7 percent) is more than corresponding rate averaged 45.8 percent 5.5 times its level (14.6 percent) among and 49.7 percent in urban and rural Egypt illiterate females. respectively. These rates were substantially lower among females as compared to males. Compared to participation rates among the On the average, and for all age brackets two categories “read and write” and “basic (15+) whether in rural or in urban Egypt, education”, the holders of higher female participation rates were less than one educational levels exhibited participation third of those for males (see table 5.1). rates that increased with moving upward on the education scale. Accordingly, with the Table (5.1) movement from secondary to above Participation Rates by Age, Gender, and Rural/Urban secondary and to university levels of (1997/98) (%) education the participation rates steadily increased among both males and females. Age Brackets Gender Urban Rural Total Egypt For males, these rates amounted, 15- Males 39.8 50.3 46.2 respectively, to 71.2 percent, 88.1 percent, Females 21.1 21.2 21.2 and 90.5 percent against 46.0 percent, 67.1 25- Males 96.6 96.7 96.6 percent, and 73.8 percent for females. Females 35.6 29.5 31.8 Table (5.2): Participation Rates and the 35- Males 97.9 98.4 98.2 Educational Status Females 28.1 25.6 26.6 (1997/98) (%) 50- Males 76.0 91.7 84.3 Educational Level Males Females Females 11.6 17.3 14.5 65- Males 22.1 47.7 35.9 Illiterate 81.7 14.6 Females 2.1 4.5 3.4 Read and write 55.7 6.0 Total Males 68.7 75.4 72.4 Basic Education 28.8 3.0 Females 22.2 22.2 22.2 Secondary 71.2 46.0 Total 45.8 49.7 48.1 Above secondary 88.1 67.1 University 90.5 73.8 Starting with the age bracket 15-25 years, Total 72.6 22.2 participation rate was 46.3 percent for males and 21.2 for females. These rates increased substantially for the age bracket 25-35 As most illiterates, especially males, are years, when most individuals finish their from the lowest income segments of the high school or university education. Nearly population, they have to work regardless of all males in the age brackets 25-35 and age or health conditions. On the other hand, 35-50 years participate in labor force, and the low percentage of participation among male participation rates for these brackets those who have basic education level, both are as high as 96.7 and 98.2 percent. By the males and females may be explained by the age of 50, participation rate starts to decline fact that most individuals in this category and drops sharply after the age of 65 years. tend to enroll in secondary schools. Another Gaps between male and female participation important implication is that the rates are even wider, for older age groups participation rates of both males and (above fifty) where male participation rates females increase as their levels of education are more than seven times those of females. increase.

Participation Rates and the Educational Sector of Employment Status In the “government and public sector,” As far as educational status is concerned non-market forces determine wages. There

96 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education is a system of a base salary for each Sector of Employment and Age education level, incremented annually according to seniority. There are The private sector employs the highest differentials according to the position proportion of wage earners falling in the age occupied, and performance appears group 15-25. This proportion is as high as irrelevant to promotions. Employees are 50.9 percent of males, and 38.6 percent of covered by retirement benefits and health females, employed within this group. The insurance. On the other hand, wages in the corresponding percentages show a steady private sector are determined by market decline as we move to the higher age The private forces, with minimum wage levels. Formal brackets to reach 8.2 percent and 4.4 percent workers in the private sector do have respectively for males and females around sector employs retirement and health benefits. the age of 65 years. the highest proportion of Broadly, 32 percent of total employed Wage earners in the government and public wage earners individuals work in the government and sector have a different pattern. They public sector, with larger representation of constitute a small proportion of the lower falling in the age females than males. Wage earners in the age group but this proportion increases with group 15-25 private sector represent the second largest age to reach its peak at the age group 35-50 employment sector with an average of 27 (44 percent for males and 48 percent for percent of total labor force. This average females), then it declines slightly at the age corresponds to employing 30 percent of the group 50-65 and declines sharply at age of male labor force and only 17 percent of the 65 due to widespread mandatory retirement female labor force. The two sectors of “self- by law at this age. employed workers” and “self- employed hiring others” represent, respectively, 16 The self-employed constitute, for both percent and 12 percent of the total employed males and females, around 6 percent in the age group 15-25 and increase steadily to labor force. However, the pattern of sector maximum levels at the age of 65. The of employment differs substantially if we proportion of self-employed approximately look at various regions, age groups, and doubles between the two age brackets 50-65 education levels. and 65+. This might be explained by the fact that many of the people retired from the Sector of Employment and Region formal sector (government and public as well as private) tend to invest their Wage-earners (including casual employees) accumulated work experience and money form the largest fraction of total employed savings in their own business. The other males and females in urban areas, with category of employers follows nearly the about 70 percent and 88 percent same pattern of age distribution among the respectively. Urban wage-earners working self-employed category. in the government and public sector represent 44 percent (37 percent for males Employers and self-employed categories are and 67 percent for females) of the total older than the wage earners. For example, employed labor force. The private sector is while these two categories represent less the second largest employer for both males than 10 percent of males and hardly 7 and females, with 30 percent of the total percent of females falling within the age employed labor force. bracket 15-25, they represent about 90 percent and 68 percent, respectively, in the A different employment pattern is observed age bracket 65+. Conversely, the in rural areas where the self-employed wage-earners account for about 60 percent account for 50 percent of the total of both males and females falling within the employment in these areas. The age bracket 15-25 and working in the government, public, and private sectors are government, public, and private sectors; the relatively less important as employers in corresponding ratios are hardly 2.2 percent rural areas. As expected, 19 percent of total for males and about 27.0 percent for females employed individuals in rural areas are in the age bracket 65+. Table (5.3) shows “unpaid” family workers. Females represent the elements of comparison for analyzing of about 75 percent of this category of the distribution of different age brackets by “unpaid” family workers. the sector of employment.

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Sector of Employment and Education This pattern is reversed for holders of “above secondary” and university education In general, and in both urban and rural certificates. A greater percentage of total areas, educational levels have a very strong employed persons in the “above secondary” impact on individuals’ choices of group is employed in the government and employment sector. Most illiterates and public sector. While this sector employs 67 groups with education only up to the basic of total employed males with this level of level work as wage-earners in the private education, the private sector employs only sector or are self-employed. For example, 17 percent. The corresponding percentages about half of illiterate employed females are for females with the same level of education unpaid family workers, more than 67 are 87 percent and 12 percent respectively. percent of employed read-and-write males As for the holders of university certificates, work in the private sector or are the corresponding ratios are 68 percent and 17 percent respectively for males, and 86 self-employed, and among the basic percent and 13 percent respectively for education holders, nearly 60 percent of females. employed males and 47 percent of employed females work either in the private Holders of a secondary education level are sector or are self-employed. more represented in the government and public sector than in the private sector. About 44 percent of total employed males Figure 5.1 : Where theEducated Work: in this category are employed in the Distribution of Labor Force by Type of Employment government and public sector against Secondary certificate around 29 percent in the private sector. For Holders Females males 1.8 females in this category the corresponding 7.2 0.8 3.9 6.6 ratios are about 76 percent and 17 percent 17.4 29.2 respectively (See Figure 5.1).

13.3 The impact of education on individuals’ choices among the employment sectors is much stronger in rural than in urban areas. This might be explained by the fact that the 43.7 76.2 supply of educated labor force in the rural areas falls largely short of the relative share 4.0 University Degree 0.6 0.5 16.9 9.2 Holders 0.7 of these areas in total population of the age 10 years and over. While these areas account for 55.5 percent of this total, their share of university graduates hardly attains 22.1 percent of the total number of these graduates at the national level. Further, these areas produce only 46.5 percent of the 67.9 total number of holders of primary, 85.7 preparatory, secondary, and self employed Employers family worker without pay wage labor in government or public sector above-secondary certificates at the national wage labor in private sector level. By contrast, the share of rural areas in

Table (5.3) Distribution of Labor Force by Sector of Employment and Gender (1997/98) % Age bracket 15- 25- 35- 50- 65- Total Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Total Self Employed 6.0 6.3 11.3 10.9 13.5 14.2 13.7 21.4 26.2 41.3 11.8 12.9 12.0 Employers 3.2 0.7 9.7 2.7 19.7 7.3 33.9 14.8 63.4 27.2 17.9 6.1 15.6 Family worker w/out pay 31.4 32.8 9.9 21.9 1.3 22.0 0.2 25.8 0.1 22.8 10.2 25.8 13.2 Wagelabor in government or public sector 8.6 21.7 30.4 50.4 43.9 47.9 37.9 28.4 2.1 4.4 30.2 39.5 32.1 Wage labor in private sector 50.8 38.5 38.7 14.1 21.6 8.6 14.3 9.6 8.2 4.3 29.9 15.7 27.1 Total employed 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

98 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education the total number of illiterates, at this level, is as high as 69.9 percent. Figure 5.2 : Human Capital Base in the Economy, Public and Private Sectors Distribution of Labor Force by Education Status Another way of looking at the relation between education attainment and sector of The Economy employment is to look at the education Males Females 7.7 1.6 3.7 levels of individuals working in certain 2.6 22.7 46.0 20.4 14.9 sector. The fact that government and public sector employees are better educated than private sector workers is evident from 20.7 20.7 Figure 5.2. 26.0 1.31 public sector 1.8 25.0 9.3 1.9 2.2 Nearly 25 percent of males and 34 percent 16.0 33.8 of females working in the government and public sector have university degrees, compared to about 6 and 13 percent in the 7.9 11.0 private sector. The corresponding 12.1 48.2 30.9 private sector percentages for holders of secondary 12.7 38.1 2.1 6.3 35.1 4.2 education certificates are about 31 percent 20.9 and 48 percent respectively in the government and public sector against 21 percent and 28 percent respectively in the 16.4 28.0 8.0 9.0 private sector. As for illiterate workers, they 19.3 Iiiiterate Real and Write Bazic Education represent about 35 percent and 38 percent Secondary Above Secondary University respectively of males and females employed in the private sector, and about 50 percent of self employed males against more than 80 (i) The average earnings among the percent of self employed females. At the self-employed, the “self-employed and other extreme, only 6 percent and 2 percent hiring others”, and the employers (classified respectively of male and female employers, together as “other sectors”) are generally against 4 percent and 1 percent respectively higher, within the limits of available data, among the self-employed, have a university for all educational-status groups and for degree. males and females, than in the government, public, and private sectors; perhaps the only Investigating the relationship between sector exceptions are in the case of the basic of employment, educational attainment and education group as regards urban females region of residence, we observe that about and rural males. However, this conclusion 35.2 and 13.7 percent of female wage should be taken with reserve given that most earners in urban and rural areas respectively data collected from these “other sectors” are university graduates while the exhibit a high degree of misinterpreting- corresponding percentages are about 24.5 deliberately or not - the relevant questions. and 8.5 percent for male wage earners. For the self-employed, the corresponding ratios (ii) Wages in the public sector are markedly are, respectively, 9.1 percent and 0.5 percent higher than those in the government and the for females and 14.6 percent and 3.0 percent private sector. However, educational for females. Moreover, while about half achievements are higher, as indicated above, (51.2 percent) of female wage earners in in the government and public sector than in There is a urban areas are holder of secondary and the private sector, which may explain some above-secondary education, only about one of the differences in average wages between significant gender third (32.3 percent) of male wage earners in the public and the private sectors. As for the gap in the the same areas have this level of education. difference between this average in the average wages A similar pattern can be observed in rural government and the public sectors, it might areas, with smaller percentages within each be explained by the differences in the type whether in level of education. of work between these two sectors. different sectors or in urban and Sector of Employment and Earnings (iii) There is a significant gender gap in the average wages whether in different sectors rural areas Data on the multiple classification of or in urban and rural areas. In urban areas, earnings by education status, by gender, by this gap is relatively more important in the sector of employment and by urban-rural government and the private sectors than in (table 5.4) reveal that: the public sector. Male wages are higher

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 99 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education

than female wages in these sectors employers earn, generally, more than wage respectively by 40 percent, 39 percent, and earners. However, their work is not 28 percent. Average wages have a different necessarily rewarded with higher rates; gender pattern in rural areas, where the rather some of their earnings are in fact private sector has the largest gap (male returns to physical capital, their managerial wages are as high as 188 percent that of ability and risk taking. Educational female wages) whereas the lowest gap is attainment seems to impact positively on observed in the government sector. the earning levels in urban areas. The average earning for a holder of a university There is a strong (iv) There is a strong positive correlation degree, in the sector of self-employed and positive between the educational level and individual employers, is 2.6 times its level for the correlation wages in all sectors of employment. illiterate, and this average steadily increased Illiterate individuals have the lowest from the basic education level to the between the average wage, while the holders of university education level. The positive educational level university degrees enjoy the highest average impact of education on earning is illustrated wage. Moreover, this seems to have a larger once more by the considerable increase in and individual impact on the level of wages for the females the average earnings as we move from the wages in all than for males. In urban areas, for instance, illiterate group to the “read-and-write” sectors of average wage for female university group. In rural areas, the impact of graduates represents 208 percent over that education on earning levels of the employment of illiterate females, while the self-employed and employers is not evident corresponding figure for males is 180 within the limits of the data shown in table percent. A smaller education impact on (5.4). wage levels is observed in rural areas than in urban areas. (vi) It is observed, within the sector of self-employed and employers in urban (v) It is observed that the self-employed and areas, that the average earning for the

Table (5.4) Earnings by Education Level, Sector of Employment, Gender, and Region (1997/98) L.E./annum Sectors Region Gender Illiterate Read and Basic Secondary Above University Total write Education Secondary Govern. Urban Male 3870 4017 4281 4157 4299 6017 4898 Female 2118 1974 2873 3005 3429 4151 3496 Rural Male 2595 2869 3489 3020 3400 3802 3171 Female 2011 1819 1304 2236 2610 2701 2362 Public Urban Male 4457 4882 4746 5543 4811 7818 5636 Sector Female 2130 2289 2983 3749 5302 6352 4407 Rural Male 3562 3780 3362 4098 4069 5642 3904 Female 1690 3037 3120 3092 2820 2689 2700 Private Urban Male 3532 4002 3711 3702 4257 7140 4157 Sector Female 2148 2360 2298 2524 2687 5354 2982 Rural Male 2452 2786 2491 2433 3528 3742 2565 Female 1339 1251 1206 1385 3500 2649 1362 Other Sectors Urban Male 6510 11416 5436 6405 9401 15041 10101 Female — 6600 1788 6625 5250 14225 8741 Rural Male 3963 6000 2280 5300 — 3978 4665 Female — 0 — — — — 0 Total Urban Male 3672 4198 4029 4241 4422 6639 4724 Female 2143 2364 2542 2966 3399 4492 3467 Rural Male 2538 2928 2912 2917 3445 3916 2914 Female 1378 1489 1341 2133 2639 2709 2008 Gen. Total Urban 3508 4073 3899 3802 4054 5950 4413 Rural 2413 2882 2865 2769 3251 3694 2804 Self-employed Urban Male 5530 6634 6741 7015 7453 14010 7523 Female 2718 3028 3821 3833 6050 6633 3327 Total 5169 6558 6720 6880 7779 13881 7319 Rural Male 4234 4356 4046 3763 3551 4107 4180 Female 2076 2707 2172 1278 1398 2943 2093 Total 3767 4296 3943 3662 3468 4256 3895

100 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education

“read-and-write” group is higher than its among individuals with secondary level among the educational groups other education. Unemployment rates for the than the holders of university grades. This holders of above secondary education are might indicate that with a “read-and-write” about half their levels, for both males and educational level, accumulated experience females, among the holders of secondary and learning by doing might outperform the education. These rates are even lower for the impact of medium educational levels in holders of university degrees. generating earnings. Unemployment rates for the holders of secondary education reached 14.2 percent (vii) Larger gender gaps, with respect to and 45.0 percent for males and females The pattern of earnings, are observed in the self-employed respectively, declined to 8.0 percent and unemployment and employers sectors compared to 23.5 percent respectively among the holders by educational wage-earner sectors. Male wage earners of above secondary education, and earn, on the average, 34 percent more than decreased further to 6.9 percent and 14.0 attainment shows female wage-earners while self-employed percent respectively for the university that the males earn 126 percent more than graduates. Moreover, and as indicated in unemployment self-employed females in urban areas and 99 Figure 5.3, about 68 percent and 82 percent percent more in rural areas. of unemployed males and females, rates are the respectively, belong to the holders of highest among (viii) Comparing self-employed and wage secondary education. Holders of above individuals with earners, it is observed that self-employed secondary education account for 5.9 percent males earn 59 and 43 percent more than and 6.8 percent of unemployed males and secondary male wage earners in urban and rural areas females respectively, while the education respectively. Self-employed females earn 5 corresponding ratios among university percent and 4 percent more than female graduates are 15.8 percent and 10.2 percent wage earners in urban and rural areas respectively. respectively. Although the overall unemployment rates Unemployment are lower in rural than in urban areas, (7.7

The overall unemployment rate was about Table (5.5) Unemployment Rates by 8.3 percent in 1997/98. However this figure Gender and Education Status masks substantial differences in (1997/98) % unemployment rates with respect to gender, Educational Status Males Females age and education levels. Females have unemployment rates of 21 percent of total Illiterate 0.60 0.39 female labor force, while the corresponding Read and write 0.58 0.28 figure for males is one forth this figure (5 Basic Education 1.73 1.77 percent). Taking age differentials into Secondary 14.18 45.00 account, the rate of unemployment among males of age 15-25 is as high as 16.4 Above secondary 7.95 23.53 percent, but declines steadily in the higher University 6.87 13.99 age brackets to be less than half percent for all males above the age of 35. Female Total 4.94 16.96 unemployment rates are about four times those of males for the age groups 15-25 and Figure 5.3 : Most of the Unemployed are Educated: 25-35, but they decline to a very low rate for Distribution of the unemployed by education status the age groups between 35 and 65, and jump Males females for female aged 65 and above to reach 7 3.7 0.7 2.2 0.1 percent. These patterns of unemployment 15.8 4.3 10.2 0.3 prevail in urban and rural areas alike, but 6.8 the rates are relatively lower and the gender 5.9 differences are also relatively smaller in the rural areas. It seems that unemployment among the youth (15-35) is mainly responsible for the 8.3 percent unemployment rate on the national level. 68.1 82.0 The pattern of unemployment by Illiterate Read and Write BasicEducation educational attainment (table 5.5) shows Secondary Above Secondary University that the unemployment rates are the highest

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percent against 9.3 percent), these rates are work as wage earners or in self-employment higher for rural males and females with activities. Another, and perhaps more secondary school education than their urban important, implication of higher counterparts (15 percent versus 15 percent unemployment among the more educated for males and 57 percent versus 34 percent youth is that the educational system output for females). far from matches, quantitatively as well as qualitatively, the structure of labor market With regard to females, some argue that demand. It is in this implication that resides “the suspension of government hiring, under the problematic relation between education Age is correlated the employment guarantee scheme, may be and employment. positively with the reason for the observed high levels of being a wage unemployment. The possibility of public Educated Persons Prefer Work in the sector employment in the past has raised the Government and Public Sectors earner in the expectation of regular salaried employment government and among this group of female graduates of the How can we understand and measure the secondary education, so that they are now relative role of personal and human capital the public sectors participating at rates comparable to those of characteristics in choosing the sector of their male counterparts. However, these employment? This can be achieved by expectations remain essentially unfulfilled, estimating how an individual is likely to with a large fraction of these seeking work join one of the sectors of employment, as a unable to find suitable employment. It result of the various worker’s preferences, appears that a large fraction of the educated personal and human capital characteristics, women who participate are actually seeking which are assumed to influence this choice. work rather than working”. Therefore, the relationship between the probability of joining one of the four sectors Tackling the unemployment question as of employment, on the one hand, and indicated above suggests that young and educational attainment, age, gender, more educated males and females may be location, skills, and household preferring to wait for jobs suitable to their characteristics, on the other hand, is educational attainments in the formal sector identified. Thus, the impact of educational rather than accepting less desirable levels on persons’ choices of employment employment in the informal sector, whereas sectors, while keeping other things constant, less educated individuals are much more can be assessed. likely to accept whatever work they can find. Therefore, large proportions of less The probability for a reference individual (a educated individuals are engaged in casual 25-35 years old person, having basic education, and not a head of a household) to join the government and public sectors is 35 Figure 5.4 : The Youngesters may find jobs in the private sector: percent for males and 56 percent for Probability of different age brackets being wage-earners females. As expected, age is correlated positively with being a wage earner in the Males government and the public sectors. It 120 becomes more likely to work in the 100 government and public sectors by 8 80 percentage points, compared to the 60 reference individual, for both men and 40 women, who are 50-65 years old. At the age 20 of 65, participating in paid-work category 0 declines sharply to less than 5 percent. 11- 15- 25- 35- 50- 65- Age Brack Governement & Public Sector Private Sector Conversely, the probability of being a wage Females earner in the private sector declines steadily, 100 as a person becomes older. A young male of 90 age 11-15 years is most (95.9 percent) 80 70 likely to work in the private informal sector; 60 this probability declines steadily to reach a 50 level of 9.5 percent by the time he is 65 40 30 years old. Therefore, for both males and 20 females, younger wage earners are more 10 likely to work in the private sector, but this 0 11- 15- 25- 35- 50- 65- probability declines with such persons Age Brack getting older (See Figure 5.4). This, in fact,

102 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education has its implication and reflects, at the same probabilities of working in government and time, on the educational status. public sector are higher for women than for men indicates that education has more The most important determinant of wage impact upon the government and public employment is education. Educational sectors’ decisions to provide employment levels, particularly the secondary and opportunities for females than for males. university ones, have strong and positive Furthermore, males’ possibilities of joining effects on the likelihood of working in the the private sector as wage earners are twice government and public sector. Compared to their level for females. the lower levels of education, the possibility For different of being a wage earner in government and Turning to the self-employed, the levels of the public sector is doubled with the probabilities of belonging to this sector education, the achievement of secondary education. If a increases steadily, for both males and person has university education, the chances females, within the age brackets falling probability of of working in government and public between 11 and 35 years old. The being a sectors increases to 77.8 percent for females probability of a male being self-employed government and and 89.3 percent for females. On the other without hiring others increases from 2.1 hand, the relation between education levels percent in the age bracket 11-15, to 10.9 in public employee and working as wage-earner in the private the age bracket 15-25, and to 17.8 percent in is larger for sector takes an opposite direction, where the the age bracket 25-35. The corresponding females than for possibility of joining this category of percentages for females in the same age employment is the highest among illiterate brackets are 3.9, 19.2, and 29.5 respectively. males persons, for both males and females and But this probability decreases steadily declines steadily, as educational attainment within the age brackets falling between 35 increases, to attain its lowest ratio for the and 65 years old to reach 13.6 percent for secondary and above secondary education females and 23.4 percent for females, both holders. But this possibility increases again at the age bracket 50-65. Getting into the for the university level. age bracket 65+, both males and females become more likely (with an estimated For instance, and for males, while moving probability of 20.1 percent and 32.7 percent from being illiterate to holder of a respectively) to be self-employed than ever secondary school certificate holder raises before in their life. the probability of being a government employee, from 5.0 percent to 68.9 percent, As for the self-employed and hiring others, the same movement between these data indicates that their probabilities follow educational statuses declines the probability of working in the private sector from 44.1 to 21.3 percent. Accordingly, individuals are Figure 5.5 : The Educated Prefer to Work in the State Sector more likely to choose to work as Probability of wage-earners to work in Government and Private Sector wage-earners in the government and public sector, when they have secondary education and are aged 25-65 years. Individuals with Males 90 less education than secondary and younger 80 than 25 year or older than 65 are less likely 70 60 to join the government and public sector. 50 The opposite is true for the private sector, 40 where educated individuals of prime age are 30 20 less likely to select this sector. On the other 10 hand, individuals with less education than 0 Illiterate Read & Basic Secondary Above University secondary and younger than 25 year or older Write Education Education Secondary than 65 are more likely to join the private Governement & Public Sector Private Sector sector (See Figure 5.5).

Females 100 In the case of females, the same conclusions 90 from figure 5.5 hold with larger possibilities 80 70 to work in government and lower chances to 60 50 work in the private sector. For different 40 30 levels of education, the probability of being 20 a government and public employee is larger 10 0 for females than for males by at least 12 Illiterate Read & Basic Secondary Above University percentage points. The fact that the Write Education Education Secondary

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 103 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education

employer, we notice that this probability is Figure 5.6 : Enterprenership and Education : strongly negatively correlated with the level Probabilities of Different Educational Levels’ Holders Being of educational attainment. Selfemployed/Employer Self-employed More education achievements seem to 45 40 steadily reduce the probability of being 35 self-employed or an employer. Figure (5.6) 30 25 suggests that this conclusion holds for both 20 males and females. The probability of a 15 male being self-employed decreases from 10 5 25.4 percent in the case of being illiterate to 0 20.1 percent and to 16.4 percent when Illiterate Read & Basic Secondary Above University passing, respectively, to the read-and-write Write Education Education Secondary and the basic education levels. This Males Females decrease is accelerated by moving upwards Employer on the educational attainment scale to 45 become as low as 2.4 percent for a holder of 40 35 university degree. The same pattern of 30 probability decline applies also to the 25 probability of a male being an employer, 20 15 where the corresponding percentages are 10 38.3, 25.3, 16.7, and 1.9 respectively. 5 0 The probability of females being Illiterate Read & Basic Secondary Above University Write Education Education Secondary self-employed or employers also regresses as they move upwards on the educational an ascending order with the increase of age attainment scale (figure 5.6). For brackets for both males and females. self-employed, this probability decreases However, the rate of increase in these from 39.7 percent to 27.5 percent as a probabilities seems to be negligible at the female moves from being illiterate to a middle age for both males and females. holder of basic education certificate, but it Between the two age brackets 25-35 and drops drastically to about 4.5 percent when 35-50, the probability of being she becomes a university degree holder. The self-employed and hiring others hardly probability of a female being an employer is increased from 16.0 to 16.6 percent for generally less significant than in the case of males and from 13.9 to 14.4 percent for the self-employed but follows the same females. But between the two age-brackets downward trend as it decreases from 34.5 50-65 and 65+ this probability more than percent for an illiterate female to 14.4 doubles for both males and females. This percent for a female with basic education, and declines to 1.6 percent in the case of a provides evidence that when reaching the female holding a university degree. age of retirement people tend to use their accumulated savings and experiences in In general, and as the analysis suggests, their own business, mostly small enterprises educated people, especially females, are especially for those who were wage earners more likely to work in the government and before retirement. public sector. Among the various factors explaining this are the higher job security, Higher Educational Attainment but Lower the short working hours, the regular career Ability to be Self Employed promotion even for modest performers, the secured generous retirement benefits among Educated people, While the probability of a reference male, other such considerations, and the impact of especially and a reference female, to be self-employed education in this respect might be more is 16.4 percent and 27.5 percent important. Indeed, an educational system females, are more respectively, the corresponding probability that depends heavily on quantitative rather likely to work in for the same reference male and female is than qualitative criteria, on dictation and the government respectively 16.6 percent and 14.4 percent memorization rather than on creativity and in the case of being self-employed and imagination, and on admission by scores and public sector hiring others (i.e. employer). Using these rather than by personal willingness and “yardsticks” as a reference to assess the aptitudes, a system of this kind will impact of moving upwards on the graduate risk-averse individuals looking for educational scale on the probability of safe and permanent jobs in the government individuals being self-employed or an or the public sector.

104 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education

Does Education Determine Earnings? Figure 5.7 : Estimated Earnings by Educational Status Education is only one of multiple factors and Sector of Employment determining earnings. These factors include, Index :Basic Education = 100 among others, the type of economic activity, 300 275 the occupation responsibilities and the risks 250 225 involved, the job stability and the related 200 175 fringe benefits, the accumulated experience 150 125 and skills of the employee, in addition-of 100 75 course-to the educational status. 50 Government and Public Sector 25 Private Sector 0 It is worth here assessing the impact of Illiterate Read & Basic Secondary Above University education on earnings while assuming the Write Education Education Secondary other factors constant. Based on the data of 250 average earning per educational status in the 225 different employment sectors (see figure 200 5.7), estimates of the earning equations for 175 the wage-earners in the government and 150 public sector and the private sector indicate 125 100 that earnings are significantly correlated 75 with the level of education. 50 Self-employed 25 Employer The differential impact of education 0 Illiterate Read & Basic Secondary Above University increases with the level of schooling. The Write Education Education Secondary percentage increase in wages attributable to higher education is substantial in both especially for the below university public and private sectors. The most marked educational levels, which reflects the difference between the government and heterogeneity of the self-employment sector public sector, on the one hand, and the that consists of persons with different levels private sector, on the other hand, is with of skills and hence different productivity and regard to the impact of above secondary and earning levels. Among employers, earnings university degrees that are extremely higher increase by 21 percent for a holder of for the government and public sector. The secondary education as compared to a holder change in wages attributable to moving of basic education; this percentage increase from basic education to secondary education jumps to 65 percent for a university degree is estimated to be 24 percent for wage holder as compared to a secondary education earners in the government and public sector, holder. The corresponding figures for as compared to only 6 percent in the private self-employed persons are 1 percent and 111 sector. Changes in the wages of a university percent respectively (See Figure 5.7). degree holder, compared to secondary degree are, as expected, much higher (117 Returns to Education percent and 69 percent for the government and public sector and private sector, Several studies have estimated the return to respectively). education on the basis of the relationship between earnings and educational levels, Furthermore, the relationship between age, gender, location and some employment earning and the educational levels, keeping characteristics. This approach ignores two other factors constant, for self-employed important facts. First, earnings do not take The relationship and employers show that education into account the private cost of education between earning attainment has positive impact on earnings. and, second, the benefits of education are Among the educational levels, the highest based on the average earnings in a single and the increase in earnings belongs to the year. A more appropriate approach is to educational university level. For the employers, earnings calculate the net benefits for each level of levels, has steadily increase with the increase in education during the individual’s lifetime. educational attainment. The same relation is positive impact observed between the two variables in the Table (5.6) presents the average private cost on earnings case of self-employed but it is less at the different levels of education. Using significant, according to the regression these data in addition to the average analysis of the linear earning equations, than earnings by sector of employment and by in the case of employers. This holds true different levels of education, total costs and

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 105 Employment, Earnings and Returns to Education

total returns to each level of education are employment, except in the private sector, then calculated assuming that the retirement indicating that university graduates receive age is 65 years and that individuals are maximum rewards. The average return to available for work at eleven years old. This education follows similar patterns. Returns calculation also considers the schooling are found to be higher in the government years for each level of education; 8 years for and public sector than in the private sector; basic education, 3 years for secondary this is true for all levels of education except education, 2 years for above secondary for basic education. Returns to education, and 5 for university education. In the private sector-including wage education are Table (5.6) earners, self-employed, and employers-the observed to Average Private Cost of Educational Levels impact of below university educational increase with the (1997/98) L.E./Year levels on the rates of return is minimal. This Educational Level Private Cost conforms to the traditional belief that the level of schooling impact of formal educational attainment on in all sectors Primary 154.1 earnings in the private sector is not as Preparatory 276.8 strong as in the government and public Secondary 722.1 sector. It is rather the accumulated experiences and skills that have a strong Above secondary 311.9 impact on earning in the private sector; this University 811.1 is also true even for the university degree holders who are working in this sector. It Table (5.7) shows the results of this also seems that the minimum gain attained calculation. It presents the average and the when moving from one educational level to rates of return to education by sectors of the following one correspond to moving employment. Returns to education are from basic to secondary levels of education. observed to increase with the level of Changes in this respect remain lower than 4 schooling in all sectors. The highest rate of percentage points and are even negative in return is found for university graduates private and self-employed sectors. working as employers (42.9 percent) and the lowest is experienced by individuals with Differences in the average and rate of basic education who are salaried workers in returns among the sectors reflect, of course, the government and public sector (9.3 the different conditions of work (daily percent). Increases of rates of return to hours, location, social and health insurance, education, when moving from the basic fringe benefits, etc.). However, the general education level to the secondary level, range rule prevailing in each of these sectors is from 1.4 percentage points in the that wage-earners having the same level of government sector to 3.9 percentage points education, the same period of experience, for the employers. and the same skills are paid the same wage regardless of their gender, religion, or Four or five years of education at university political affiliations. This rule is respected level raises the rate of return by about seven percentage points in all sectors of in all sectors but the gender bias, to which allusion is made in many studies, occurs often at the stage of admission to work Table (5.7) especially in the private sector. Estimated Average Return to Education and Rates of Return, (1997/98) As for the considerable differences between Wage-earners employers’ earnings and the earnings in the other sectors, at the different levels of State Private Self-employed Employers Sector Sector education, they should be interpreted as evidence of highly remunerative education Basic Av. Return L.E 1902.0 3389.1 3943.9 9995.5 in the case of employers. As noticed by Education R. of Return% 9.3 10.6 11.7 31.2 some analysts the impact of educational Secondary Av. Return L.E 3672.6 3529.8 3747.5 12036.6 levels on the earnings for employers may be Education R. of Return% 10.7 10.3 10.9 35.2 overestimated. In this case, private rates of Above Av. Return L.E 5425.3 3464.6 3621.0 13334.8 return to education include the return to Secondary R. of Return% 12.9 10.3 11.3 39.5 capital as well since those who have higher University Av. Return L.E 7974.6 5524.9 7915.3 19735.9 education levels may have larger physical capital or may have better access to the R. of Return% 17.3 12.0 17.2 42.9 financial markets.

106 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Chapter Six

Education and Democracy in Egypt

The relationship between education and educational opportunities? Does it equip The commitment democracy is a complex one, assuming that them to practice political freedoms in a one could come to an acceptable definition responsible manner? This is the major to democracy and of these two terms. Is democracy a way of theme of this chapter which will start by human rights life, a culture, an ideology or a political briefly examining the official discourse on figures system? Is education limited to formal education and democracy, then will examine institutions? Or do informal institutions how two principles of democracy, namely prominently in deliver it as well? How should the equality and freedom, are manifested in the the discourse of relationship between education and educational system of the country. Egyptian officials democracy be viewed? Should they go together? Or should one precede the other? Official Policy and Democracy of Education In this chapter, education is understood to be a formal process that takes place The term “democracy” has always been one according to well-defined rules in both element in the recent official designations of public and private institutions. Democracy the socio-economic system of Egypt. is viewed rather as a political system, which Following the 1952 Revolution, the system guarantees for citizens both equality and was described as “Democratic Cooperative freedom. Equality in democracy is more Socialism” under President Nasser or later than a provision of the constitution and as simply “Social Democracy” under laws. For it to be meaningful, it should also President Sadat. The ruling party at present have social, economic and political calls itself the National Democratic Party. dimensions. It could also be seen to mean an effective equality of opportunity, notably Under these regimes, democracy in the field with respect to access to power and wealth. of education meant that education should be Freedom refers in this particular context to free, open to all, with no distinctions on the political freedoms of conviction, opinion, basis of wealth, social status, regional origin expression, association and participation in or gender. Most Egyptians would agree with the choice of government and policies and the observation, by Taha Hussein, that in public employment. education is a “natural necessity, just like drinking water and breathing the air”. Taha The relationship between education and Hussein was an illustrious figure of democracy is examined in the particular Egyptian and Arab liberal thought, Dean of context of Egypt in the 1990s. Two the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, and important features of this period should be a former Minister of Education under the signaled: one is the implementation of a last Wafdist government to rule Egypt program of stabilization and structural before the 1952 Revolution. adjustment, and the other is the presence of a multi-party system with a certain degree Thus, it was to be expected that the leaders of freedom of expression. However, the of the 1952 Revolution took pride in the commitment to democracy and human number of new schools they established in rights figures prominently in the discourse villages and remote areas and the large of Egyptian officials notably the President number of scholarship they provided to and, in relation to this chapter, the Ministers Egyptians to study abroad, irrespective of of Education and Higher Education. their social origin. A culminating point of the imperative of democratizing education What does this commitment to democracy was the decision of Nasser’s government in entail for the educational system? Does the 1961 to provide university education free to educational system in Egypt fulfil all Egyptians. This and other developments requirements for democracy, namely were enshrined in many constitutional equality of opportunity and political documents, the last of which is the freedoms? Does it ensure, to all young Permanent Constitution of 1971, which is people, effective and equitable access to still in force. It states explicitly, in Article

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 107 Education and Democracy in Egypt

20, that “Education in state institutions is educational system rather than their quality. free in all cycles”. However, Dr. Hussein Kamel Baha’ El-Din, Minister of Education since 1992 stated the The expansion of public education in Egypt need to place more emphasis on the quality since the 1950s is due to this educational of education. After seven years in his post, policy which aimed at improving he continued to stress the question of knowledge and skills at all levels. This goal quality of education and to show less was sought by providing young Egyptians concern for the principle of accessible free with good compulsory primary education education. In a statement to the press in In spite of the and, if possible, at higher levels of December, 1999 he said that the emphasis squeeze on public education through the public schooling of the newly appointed cabinet, which had spending, during system. Article 18 of the same constitution presented its policy statement to the emphasized that education is a right People’s Assembly a few days earlier had ERSAP interest guaranteed by the state on an obligatory become “Education for distinction” rather grew on basis in the primary cycle, stressing that the than “Education for everybody”. extending state is committed to extend this obligatory character to other cycles of the educational Thus, the commitment to provide free education to all process. Law 139 of 1981 extended this education to all Egyptians was proclaimed a people especially obligation to preparatory education within basic principle for the educational policy of the the context of “basic education” that the country up to the 1990s. This was includes the primary and the preparatory reflected in many government policy underprivileged phases as a continuous educational stage. statements delivered before the People’s groups Assembly by the Prime Minister in annual Egypt was not unique among countries of parliamentary sessions. It may not be the South believing in the far-reaching necessary to examine all these statements. impact of free education. According to this Suffice it to content analyze those delivered belief, education is a necessary tool for immediately upon the formation of a new democratizing the social structure by cabinet in order to see whether the cabinet promoting upward social mobility for young was embarking upon a new policy on people from the poorer classes. It is also education or with a different emphasis in indispensable for stimulating economic such a policy. development by providing working people with higher levels of skills to raise their Content analysis of such statements shows productivity and enable them to deal clearly that the government oscillated in its successfully with modern technology that emphasis on equality of opportunity in propels rapid economic growth. education from a scant reference in 1991 to increased stress, reaching its peak in 1996, The financial implications of this but with a sharp drop in 1998 (see table commitment to free education in all cycles 6.1). The start of ERSAP implementation were not apparent in the early 1960s, or coincided with little concern for equality of could not perhaps be foreseen, either in opportunity in education. However, in spite Egypt or in other developing countries. of the squeeze on public spending, which However, with an accelerated rate of was part of the stabilization program, and population increase, and with growing raised fears of negatively impacting on difficulties in balancing the budget, education, interest grew on extending particularly since the mid 1970s, the full education to all people especially the implications of that commitment became underprivileged groups. This interest was clear in Egypt as elsewhere. More developed within the context of seeing importantly, despite rising public education as a national security issue. But, expenditure on education, most observers such interest started to wane in the late agreed that in the particular case of Egypt, 1990s. the quality of education at all levels was deteriorating. One major cause of The relative rise in references to equality of deterioration was attributed to the incapacity educational opportunity in official of the state to provide the funding needed to statements of the new cabinet of 1999 does improve school buildings and equipment, not mean a drop in commitment to universal and to raise the level of teacher training and access to education. The Prime Minister, in income. fact, confirmed continued free education for poor students, and suggested corrective The policy of the 1960s was blamed for its measures to enable them to continue their emphasis on the quantity of graduates of the university education through access to a

108 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Education and Democracy in Egypt

Table (6.1) Relative Importance of Educational Equality in Governments' Discourses During the 1990s

Date and content of Lengh of Length of the part Length of part on Relative importance Relative importance statement. statement on education equality in of education of equality (no. of lines) education in gov. discourse in discourse on 2/1% education3/2% 1991 1584 70 22 4.4 31 1993 1596 51 23 3.1 45 1996 728 28 10 3.8 35 1998 2254 180 14 7.9 7.7 1999 2078 67 7 3.2 10 newly-launched student credit program with summer activities in all schools, (d) a low interest rate and a long maturation Injecting elements of technical education period. Well to do students were given the into the curricula of early years of basic option of seeking private education if they education, (e) Restoring the older practice of wished, knowing that they would have to providing a free meal to all students in pay higher fees. public schools, and (f) Enlarging access to university education. However, the major How do educational policy-makers thrust of official policy was improving the understand the dimensions of equality of quality of education, which does not run opportunity in access to, and performance necessarily against considerations of equity. in, the educational system? An analysis of But in a situation of shortage of financial the content of their references to gaps in the resources and a large influx of students in all educational system provides the answer to cycles of education, improvement of quality such a question (see table 6.2). There was can be achieved only at the cost of equity. almost no reference to equality of opportunity in the government statement Aspects of Educational Inequality delivered in 1991. Two years later, concern with equality of opportunity filtered into the How have such scant references to equity in government statement, but half of the the educational system been reflected in references related to improving educational practice? There are several ways of facilities for handicapped children, the other answering such a question: one is to half was divided almost equally between the examine budget allocations to different need to upgrade technical education and to types of education as well as distribution of reduce the gender gap between males and private expenditure on education through females. That statement had only one private educational institutions, and a second reference to the urban-rural disparity. way is to find the impact of such policy and allocation of resources on equality of The fact that disparities could oppose educational opportunity. middle class and poor class districts in major urban centers did not seem to capture Table (6.2) the attention of educational policy-makers at Policy - makers number of references to education gaps least in the official pronouncements of their Date of statement Gender Urban- Handi- Technical- Total policies. Urban/rural inequalities attracted a (Prime Ministers) rural Capped general relatively modest attention, while education inequalities related to gender and the 1991 handicapped were relatively more 1993 5 1 11 5 22 successful in attracting official attention. 1996 3 3 1998 4 4 Other themes related to equity in education Total 9 4 11 5 29 included: (a) Providing all students with more skills and capabilities, (b) Facilitating On the first point, successive Egyptian access to higher levels of education by Human Development Reports including this students graduating from different types of one demonstrated the intra-sectoral education, mostly to students of technical imbalances in the allocation of public schools who would like to pursue their expenditure to different types and levels of studies in universities, (c) Introducing education. For example, higher education

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 109 Education and Democracy in Egypt

still appropriates a proportion of total public educational system have been expenditure on education much higher than well-documented in several studies, its share in the total number of students. including the Egypt Human Development Moreover, the total per student cost of Report of 1997-98, the present EHDR as education at the university level is more well as several other studies, notably than seven times its value at the basic surveys conducted for the Population education level. Council, UNICEF and the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies. Some dimensions of Indeed, many performance indicators of the persisting inequity in the educational Egypt has gone a education system reflect inequities among system of Egypt will be reviewed before long way towards different types and levels of education as examining, in some detail, issues related to promoting equity indicated in chapters two and three of this recent trends in inequity in both Report. To cite only one example of these pre-university and university levels. in the educational inequalities, class density-which impacts system, but large strongly on quality of student instruction- Access to Education disparities do amounted, in 1998/99, to 43, 44, 40, and 36 as national averages respectively for Several studies have pointed to a general persist primary, preparatory, general secondary, improvement in enrollment rates in different and technical secondary education except kinds of pre-university education in Egypt. for Al-Azhar education. In this latter type of According to this Report, (see chapter 3) education, the corresponding figures were enrolment rates in the first year of primary 31.7, 32.3, and 29.2 respectively for education in particular have reached over 90 primary, preparatory, and secondary percent of all eligible children. This should Al-Azhar institutes. Concerning the national not be surprising given the interest shown averages within the general pre-university by the Ministry of Education, supported by education system, these conceal serious the government and the President, in regional inequities as regards this indicator. making schooling available to all categories For example, and in 1998/99, while primary of young people in the country. Some other class density was 54, 37, and 34 reports based on official data sources put respectively in Alexandria, Beni-Suef, and the number of children enrolled in primary Ismailia governorates, preparatory class schools at about 97 percent of all eligible density was 47, 40, and 33 respectively in children. the same governorates. However, other studies point to some As for the impact of government policy on alarming signs. One cites evidence equity of educational opportunities, there suggesting that access to primary education are usually three dimensions to equity in has stagnated since the 1980s with over 15 education, namely equity in access to percent of eligible primary school children different cycles of education, in survival in out of school. The number of such children these cycles, and finally in educational for the five grade system was 946,000 in outcome. The comparison is usually among 1990/91 growing to 1,291,000 five years students according to gender, urban or rural later in 1995/96. Another study has pointed place of residence, region as well as varying to a more disturbing trend suggesting that socio-economic status. One could add enrollment in primary school of all eligible another dimension to those mentioned in the children went down from 85.3 percent in literature, namely equity with respect to 1990/91 to about 78.6 in 1998/99. The same upward mobility within the educational studies point to lower enrolment rates for system. Thus getting into any kind of higher girls compared to boys. Findings of the education should be determined solely by survey conducted for the Population students’ aptitude and capacity for learning, Council supported such a conclusion adding and not by any other consideration. that rural areas showed lower levels of enrolment for both boys and girls than Available evidence does suggest that Egypt, urban areas. like many developing countries, has gone a long way towards promoting equity in the Educational Survival Rates educational system, but large disparities do persist. The most glaring disparities are Another disturbing sign is the lower those related to gender and to survival rate in both primary and socio-economic status of students. preparatory schools. Survival in school is measured by one minus the percentage of Many dimensions of inequity in the students who drop out as well as by those

110 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Education and Democracy in Egypt

who leave school because of their repeated Table (6.3) failure at the final grade of their cycle. To Survival rates in pre-university education in Egypt, have access to schooling and be enrolled in 1991/92-1997/98 (Proxy measures) a school is one thing, but to pursue schooling and move from one grade to 1991 / 1992 1997 / 1998 another is a different matter. The 1997/98 Number of % (Basic Number of % (Basic Egypt Human Development Report Students Education Students Education concluded that of all children enrolled in = 100) = 100) primary schools, in 1993/94, 27 percent Primary education 6541725 100 7499739 100 dropped out before they completed their primary education, while 7 percent of those Preparatory education 3593365 54.9 3927445 52.3 enrolled in preparatory schools did the Secondary Education 572026 8.7 909199 12.1 same. Depressing though this might be, it Technicalsecondary education 1110184 16.9 1808008 24.1 shows a certain improvement over an earlier period, as the same report found the drop out ratio for the basic education stage (eight 1991/92, they accounted together for little grades) to have been 51 percent for both more than one fourth of all those enrolled in girls and boys for the period primary schools in the beginning of the 1986/87-1993/94, with the girls showing decade, rising to 36.2 percent in 1997/98. better survival rates than boys, with a drop What is more alarming is that the vast out rate of 49.4 percent , compared to 52.6 majority of those who went to secondary percent for boys. schools (two thirds) find themselves in technical schools, with little prospect of The survey conducted for the Population finding jobs on graduation or continuing to Council showed drop out ratios for both higher education. young boys and girls at ages 11, 14, and 17 corresponding normally to ages of those The Outcome of Education completing primary, preparatory, and secondary schools respectively. Ratios for Finally, the last dimension of inequity in the boys were 6.2 percent, 23.3 percent and 34 educational system is related to its outcome. percent of these age groups respectively. The outcome of education can be seen from both a societal as well as an individual point Girls showed lower drop out ratios at ages of view. What is the rate of return of 11 and 14, but higher ratios compared to education to both the collectivity and the boys at age 17. Corresponding rates for girls individual? Does education, or improvement were 5 percent, 15.6 percent and 38 percent of human capital contribute to economic respectively. growth? Does it enhance an individual’s capacity to get a better job, or to earn a Upward Mobility in the Educational higher income. System Some studies have not found a positive The educational system acts as a correlation between improved education and social-selecting mechanism, with children economic growth in Egypt. The conclusion of poor backgrounds not able to make it to of several studies, on the relationship higher cycles or to the general type of between education and employment or schools, seen as normally leading to education and pay scales, is that the labor universities. The end of basic school is market punishes the educated, particularly decisive for many young Egyptians; they those who did not go beyond secondary either move to the general secondary school, (e.g. chapter five of this Report). schools, get out of the educational system or They are less likely to find jobs compared to join a technical secondary school with low the illiterates, and when they find jobs, their prospects of employment. This situation is earnings would not be much better than confirmed by data shown in table (6.3), those who did not go to school at all or who The end of basic which points to a diminishing percentage of dropped out of the early years of the primary school is decisive young Egyptians who manage to move from school. Those who completed their the primary school to the preparatory university education are also less likely to for many young school, and to a much smaller percentage find jobs compared to the illiterates or those Egyptians who make it to secondary school. with less than secondary education, but when they get jobs, they earn , on average, Although more students did go to both the double of those with no education at all. general and technical secondary schools in This last observation is probably one of the

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reasons for the popularity of university short, although greatly improved since the education in Egypt, besides the prestige it 1970s, Egypt’s distribution of human brings. capital among the working age population is worse than that of most countries in East How does all this relate to inequity? In fact Asia and Latin America, and about on par those who pay the price of deterioration in with the Middle East and North Africa all these four dimensions are the disfavored region as a whole. Hence, education’s groups. Studies have identified four of these potential as a great leveler has been groups: people of low income, in rural minimal. Education may be still reinforcing, The cost of areas, in southern Egypt, and females. On rather than undermining, the continuation of private tutors almost all these dimensions, these groups poverty and low educational attainment constitutes a would score less than their counterparts, across generations. perhaps with the exception of girls on the heavy burden for survival dimension. Thus a considerable Other chapters of this report dwell poor families proportion of young people belonging to extensively on some dimensions of low income families would figure inequity, particularly the gender, prominently among those who never went to urban-rural and regional gaps. The impact school, would exhibit a higher percentage of of the income gap has not been extensively drop outs, survive less in schools, go in their studied, nor does it figure much in the majority to technical education, and get also official discourse as one of the factors that less out of education in terms of knowledge, should be taken into consideration in efforts of reading, mathematics and other skills, aiming at increasing the internal efficiency and when they do get an education, its rate of the educational process, although it is of return would not be of much value for obviously one of the major causes of the them either in terms of employment or low survival rates in school, and low better incomes. Similar manifestations of educational achievement for a large number inequity can be seen dividing gender, rural of Egyptian young people. and urban areas, Upper Egypt and the Delta and major urban centers. The worst off of The impact of the income gap is felt by poor groups would be young girls in rural Upper Egyptian families in two ways. These have Egypt. Many studies support such to deal first with the cost of private tutoring, conclusions. as the stagnant, if not deteriorating, internal efficiency of Egyptian public schools One of these studies, (Birdsall & obliges parents to resort to private tutoring O’Connell) has put the question of if they want their children to continue to inequality in educational opportunities in climb the educational ladder. The cost of Egypt in the following strong terms quoted private tutors, particularly in secondary at length: schools and even at university level, constitutes a heavy burden for poor Egypt’s constitutional guarantee of free families. It has been estimated to range for education at all levels has become a false all Egyptian families between LE 7-10 entitlement, especially for the poor. The billion a year. education available to them has been of such poor quality that it is of little real Secondly, as the outcome of the educational economic benefit. The emergence of private system, or its rate of return in terms of a tutoring as a necessary supplement to public better job or higher earnings, is not education for passing grades, compounded attractive, a poor family which keeps a child by rising user charges and the cost of basic in school accepts to pay the opportunity school supplies also means that education is cost, namely the income that could have not, for all practical purposes free in Egypt. accrued to the family as a result of child From 1980/81 to 1990/91, education costs labor. for the poor increased by roughly 7 and 10 times in urban and rural areas respectively, Three studies at least have pointed to the compared to increases of 3 and 5 times for burden of private tutoring on the incomes of the middle and higher income groups. Using poor families. The EHDR of 1997/1998 the 1995/96 data Filmer and Pritchet report suggests that poor families account for 11.6 that 15-19 years olds from the poorest 40 percent of pre-university out of pocket percent of households completed a median education expenditure and 1.6 percent of of 7 years of schooling (showing that such expenditure at higher education level. average attainment is increasing) while the The lower share of the poor in this respect is richest 20 percent completed 11 years. In due to their limited financial capacities and

112 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Education and Democracy in Egypt not to their being favored by public ambitious in their aspirations than their expenditure. The same report has estimated parents. the per annum cost paid by poor families to support education of their children to be In all respects, low income groups score less L.E. 125 for the basic education, LE187 for not because they do not appreciate free secondary education, LE 391, for higher education, but simply because free education and LE 707.26 for university education has become a myth. It is not free education. The total annual cost on average as many of them have to compensate for would be LE 204.14 out of an average low teaching efficiency by spending more In all respects, annual income of LE 2000. on private lessons. It is not perceived to provide higher earning opportunities: The low income Many studies have demonstrated the link Population Council survey found a minority groups score less between poor income, low enrolment, and among adolescents who believe that not because they high drop out rates and modest achievement education would help them find a good job in schools. The survey of Egyptian adults and only 6 percent of interviewed do not appreciate conducted for the Cairo Population Council adolescents thought that public education free education, has pointed to the strong impact of the was associated with higher financial status but simply socio-economic background on many or a well-paid job. dimensions of education, including not only because free access to different educational cycles, but In fact such an assessment of the value of education has school achievement and educational free public education is supported by become a myth aspirations of both young people and their observation as well as studies of recruitment families. Among adults who were out of patterns in both government agencies and school, the majority (43.0 percent) came private firms (which offer higher pay to from a low socio-economic background, their employees). Such employers prefer while 29.5 percent came from a middle graduates with an excellent command of socio-economic background and only 16.6 foreign languages and good computer skills. percent had a high income status. Very few of the graduates of public education in Egypt posses such skills. Thus The same survey found more girls among such jobs tend to be almost a monopoly for those who were out of school (34.8 percent graduates of elite schools such as the compared to a total average of 26.7 American University in Cairo and percent), with the percentage of adults who potentially those of the newly established were out of school to be higher in urban private universities. Such skills can only be areas and in Upper Egypt compared to rural acquired by graduates of the public schools areas and Lower Egypt. Scholastic and universities through some form of achievement was found to be strongly private tutoring or through further training correlated with socio-economic background in Egypt or abroad. of adults. Students from poor backgrounds tend to be exam repeaters and to pass exams Is Private Education the Solution? less frequently than students of middle class and wealthy families. In examinations of How is one to deal with the dilemma of Arabic and mathematics, they are less likely equity, and the rising cost of public to get good grades, and those that do are education despite its being of low quality in only a minority: 13.7 percent and 11.4 general. One option has been to accredit percent, respectively, compared to 24 private universities, while another could be percent and 18.4 percent of students with to charge fees for what could be better higher socio-economic status. Finally, a quality education within the public lower percentage of poor parents 68.3 educational system. percent believe that their boys and girls should continue to higher education The tradition of private education in Egypt compared to 85.2 percent among parents of goes back to the past century when middle socio-economic status and 93.3 charitable religious societies set up private percent of parents of high status. However, schools to make up for the shortage of such percentages tend to be lower among schools in some parts of the country, or to boys and girls of all three categories (63.6 offer better quality education than was percent, 70.6 percent, and 83.5 percent for available in the public schooling system. boys respectively) with the exception of Christian and Muslim societies were poor girls (55.3 percent, 68.6 percent, and involved in this effort. As the demand for 81.4 percent respectively) who are more education increased, with government

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schools incapable of accommodating private universities with the support of growing numbers of students, these opted foreign embassies in Cairo where the for a more restricted admission policy medium of instruction would be the allowing only students with higher grades to language of the countries of these accede to both public preparatory and embassies. Three of these universities will secondary cycles. Private schools were start operating in the near future, a French, established in order to provide general German and British university. In all education in these cycles to pupils whose likelihood, the French University will be the parents did not wish a technical education, first to open its gates to Egyptian students, To cope with the entry into the labor market or keep girls at probably in the year 2001. increased demand home. Some of these schools required for university modest fees. Others, particularly those The size of the first four private universities which offered special quality education remains very small compared to both education under required higher fees, but were generally national universities and the AUC. The conditions of within the reach of many urban middle class number of faculties in all four did not limited financial families. exceed 26 in 1998/1999, with nearly three-quarters of these faculties in two of capacity, one Cairo University-although public - has a these universities (the Sixth of October solution was the very old and distinguished history. It once having 11 and Egypt for Science and privatization of used to be free-paying. Not withstanding, Technology having 8). Full time academic private university education dates to more staff is limited to 121, with 84 percent education within than three quarters of a century ago when concentrated in two universities, Egypt for the existing the American University in Cairo (AUC) Science and Technology, with 68 national was founded in 1919. At first, enrolment academics, followed by the Sixth of was limited, with the university opening its October University with 31. Egypt’s universities gates mostly to those who could not find a International University has only 9 faculty place in national universities. These members while the October University for restricted admission to those students with Sciences and Arts has 13. Total enrolment the highest grades at the end of their in all four universities was 3067 in secondary school cycle. 1998/1999, less than total enrolment at the AUC. About 90 percent of students are This situation changed however with the concentrated in two universities, namely the introduction of the Open Door Policy where Sixth of October and Egypt for Science and the number of students enrolled at the AUC Technology (60 percent and 30 percent increased by six-fold to reach 4552 in 1998 respectively), while the other two in addition to nearly 700 in graduate studies universities accommodated only 10 percent and almost 10000 in adult education. This (6 percent at October for Science and fast growth in enrolment took place despite Technology and 3 percent at EIU). the fact that its disciplines are still largely limited to the humanities, social sciences In order to cope with the increased demand and business administration, in addition to for university education under conditions of small departments of engineering, science limited financial capacity, one solution was and computer sciences. AUC remains the privatization of education within the relatively a very small institution in terms of existing national universities by requiring its student body, who represent no more students to pay more for special quality than 0.04 percent of all university students education. In fact despite an impressive in Egypt. These were more than one million expansion in their budgets, which rose more in 1998/1999 (1159093 undergraduates, than fifteen fold in current prices 131228 graduate students) nearly doubling expenditure by student remained quite low, their number at the beginning of the 1990s. not exceeding LE 2850 in the current academic year compared to LE 55438 at the Besides the American University, the AUC. Thus, several faculties, particularly government has authorized the those of Law, Mass Media, Commerce, establishment of private universities since Economics and Political Science at Cairo 1992. Four years on, four private University and Commerce at ’Ain Shams universities were founded in Cairo and its University introduced instruction in English satellite towns. These were the Sixth of or French for a smaller number of students October, October for Modern Sciences and who would pay fees which were Arts, Egypt for Science and Technology and nevertheless lower than what they would Egypt’s International University. Plans are have paid at private universities. Supporters underway for the introduction of other of this kind of education within national

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universities and which relies upon foreign Table (6.4) language instruction argue that higher Students/ Teacher ratio in public and private universities in Egypt revenues collected by faculty (1998/99) administrations from these sections could be used in improving the quality of education Type of No. of Undergra- No. of Teaching Students/Teacher University dute Students Staff* Ratio in other sections. NationalUniversities 1159093 29363 39 The question of free education is a highly politicized issue in Egypt, identified by AUC 4552 457** 10 many with basic services that should be private universities 3067 339** 9 performed by the state in order to ensure a higher quality of human capital in an age of * Does not include teaching assistants, knowledge revolution. Others argue that the ** Includes part-time and seconded professors. state cannot afford to offer higher education of a good quality to a large number of As for quality, a comparison of the young Egyptians. Introducing fees for student/teacher ratio in all universities, university education is one way of limiting shown in table (6.4) could be an indicator of admissions, while endowing universities the quality of the educational service. with larger financial resources to provide Judging by the student/teacher ratio, as well better facilities and to offer higher and more as by student’s share of university realistic market determined pay to expenditure, both foreign and private university professors. universities are in a position to offer a better quality education to their students. Whether Notwithstanding the importance of the they do is a different matter. Time will tell political dimension of this debate, it is whether private universities in particular are necessary to assess the contribution of matching the expectation that their higher private education in Egypt in resolving the tuition fees are met by better service. limited capacity to accommodate large numbers of students at all levels, and the Tuition fees range from U$ 6022 to U$ 10860 per year (two semesters) at the mediocre quality of the output of the American University in Cairo, or the educational system. equivalent of LE 20535 to LE 37032 depending on students’ academic The establishment of private universities, achievement and nationality. In Egyptian Egyptian or foreign, presently does not private universities, tuition fees range from contribute much to an alleviation of the LE 15000 to LE 25000 normally for problem of the large numbers of young Medical and Engineering sciences to LE people who seek higher education. The total 5000-6500 for Humanities and Social number of students in both the American Sciences. Computer and Information University in Cairo and the Egyptian private Sciences would cost LE 9000, not to universities during the current academic mention books and other expenses. Tuition year did not reach the cap of 10000 for fees in Faculties of Medicine and undergraduate students, with whom this Engineering in national universities would problem of numbers is most acute, require payment of fees that do not exceed Time will tell amounting only to 7619 students. The four LE 70 per year, not counting books and whether private private universities had less enrolment than other expenses as well. Foreign language the AUC, with 3067 students in the former sections in national universities have tuition universities in and 4552 for the latter, and there are fees in the order of LE 4000 a year. particular are indications that the capacity of these matching the universities at present is far less than While it is not certain that private universities would provide their students expectation that required to enable them expand enrolment. with a better quality education, they, The total number of undergraduate students together with the American University in their higher in foreign and private universities Cairo, offer them better employment tuition fees are represented less than one percent of the prospects, not necessarily because they are met by better student body in national universities. This more qualified than graduates of national limited capacity was revealed when one of universities, but more importantly because service the private universities admitted more students possess the “required social students in faculties of pharmacology and background” in terms of family connections dentistry than could be accommodated by its and old school ties. Thus students of less own facilities. fortunate backgrounds find themselves

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handicapped in the labor market because advanced specialized disciplines in science. they lack qualities which have nothing to do There are also several observations that with the skills demanded in that market. students are less capable of even mastering social science disciplines when they are There are no reliable statistics linking the taught in a foreign language. Thus, in the kind of university education with the level broader disciplines which are needed by a of pay in Egypt. Observation suggests, developing country, foreign and private however, that graduates of the American universities and foreign language sections University and of foreign language sections of national universities do not seem to be It is not certain in national universities are in demand for offering much help. that foreign and the better paid jobs in banks, large private private companies, affiliates of transnational firms, It should be added that such a disparity in and even within the government in new the access, and outcome of university universities institutions which do not follow the regular education creates resentment in the minds provide their pay scale of the bureaucracy. of graduates of the national universities, graduates with many of whom were high achievers at the In this way, the educational system of Egypt end of their secondary schools and in the skills needed at both the pre-university and the university universities, but found themselves deprived by the national level contributes in fact to a highly of either employment or a decent income or economy as a inegalitarian social structure. Instead of both, because they lacked the “required” promoting the upward social mobility of the connections. whole sons and daughters of poorer classes, it perpetuates their status as members of a Finally, multiplying foreign language lower middle class, if not pushing them into sections in national universities in addition the ranks of the working class when they to the creation of more foreign and private fail, despite their university degrees, to find universities that teach also in foreign jobs that correspond to their qualifications languages, is likely to widen the social and and provide them with a decent pay that cultural gap among young people who ensures meeting their most basic needs. belong in principle to one nation. This would aggravate problems of national At this level, the principle of equality of integration in the country, rather than educational opportunity is violated certainly contribute to its enhancement. in three important ways; in access to the Alternative way of dealing with increased type of university education that opens the demand for university education, has been way for well-paid jobs, in the output of to authorize the establishment of higher higher education as the skills which sought institutes both public and private outside of by the labor market are largely the universities, which, in 1998/99 numbered monopoly of a few, and finally in the 48, accommodating 184998 students in outcome of university education which is addition to those newly admitted who were highly uneven, allocating well-paid jobs to a 48620 students. That these institutes were minority, and unemployment and low-salary meant to be an outlet for those graduates of jobs to the majority of its graduates. secondary schools who could not find places in universities is seen in the increase However, it is not certain that foreign and in the number of newly admitted students, private universities provide their graduates compared to the number of graduates which with the skills needed by the national stood at 26000, a rise of almost half (46 economy as a whole. The skills learnt are percent). There are also other institutes that good for a special category of jobs, those do not offer their graduates the equivalent that require knowledge of foreign languages of a university degree, as the studies therein and familiarity with the elementary use of are less than comprehensive, lasting less computer. Undoubtedly, the economic and than four years. Such institutes in 1998/99 social development of the country requires had an enrolment of 36241 students. They more than knowledge of foreign languages provide teaching in several areas, mostly of and computer techniques. Most graduates of a professional character, such as social foreign universities in Egypt, and of foreign services, administrative sciences, language sections in national universities agricultural extension, tourism and hotel are graduates of the liberal arts and studies, technology, engineering and business administration. Very few are applied arts, languages and computer graduates of the natural sciences or sciences. engineering. The new private universities seem to be still under-equipped to teach These institutes are accessible to graduates

116 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Education and Democracy in Egypt of secondary schools with poor grades. debates in national conferences attended by There is nothing that prevents a student with the Minister of Education, experts in relatively high grades to seek admission as education, as well as several public figures. well. Certificates, however, carry less The Minister of Education has explained prestige than a university degree. Moreover, various aspects of the Ministry’s policies in as some of these institutes are private, they televised conferences with officials of the demand higher fees from their students ministry at different levels. compared to national universities. The general impression is that the teaching staff However, important Ministry decisions in these institutes is less qualified than in were taken with respect to the curricula of Studies of the national universities and that their output pre-university education as well as the curricula of leaves much to be desired in terms of both organization of higher education without Egyptian schools the knowledge and skills their graduates are recourse to public debate or to the views of supposed to acquire. As for employment those most concerned with these decisions. point to the opportunities, it is observed that-graduates An example of the former was the decision increasing of institutes of tourism and hostelry find it to drop history as a mandatory course for interest on the easier to get jobs compared to their students of the Literary Section in secondary colleagues in other institutes or universities. schools which was reversed later on in the part of the wake of loud protests from the public. government in The Educational System and Democratic Depriving university professors of the right integrating Values to elect their deans in the terms of the amendments to the Law on the Organization human rights and Statements by the Ministers of education of Universities in May 1994 is another democratic and higher education point to the need to example of top-down decision-making at values in integrate democratic values in the the university level. educational systems, and some steps have textbooks used at been taken already to translate such Content of the Curricula the pre-university declarations of intention into concrete level action. However, progress along these lines Studies of the curricula of Egyptian schools has been slow, with ups and downs on the point to the increasing interest on the part of way. the government in integrating human rights and democratic values in textbooks used at In order to assess the extent to which such the pre-university level. However, there is declarations have been implemented in still much to be desired, so as to remove practice, it would be important to examine some of the inconsistencies in the way such the following components of the educational rights and values are introduced to young system: Egyptians, and to provide a school environment compatible with such values. w Methods of decision-making in the This section refers to findings of two educational system, and whether they are studies, the first conducted by a team of of the top-down or of the down-top Cairo University professors, and the second variety, carried out for this Report by a staff member of the National Center for Sociological and wIntegration of the values of freedom within Criminological Research. The two studies the curricula of the different educational relied mostly on content analysis of school cycles, textbooks, but the first was limited to primary and preparatory education while the w Stimulating a school and university second extended the analysis to secondary environment favorable to the exercise of schools as well. The second study also democracy, included findings of a survey of relevant attitudes among school teachers. w Ensuring full respect for teachers and academic rights. The first study has demonstrated keen interest in integrating human rights in the Decision-Making in the Educational teaching of several disciplines, including System Arabic language, religion, social studies and foreign languages. Although there is no With regard the decision-making specific course on human rights at the component, the record is not very pre-university level, there are several consistent. Reform of both primary and references to human rights in the four preparatory education has been the object of courses that were the object of analysis.

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Such references are highest in Social school textbooks in all cycles, with the Studies textbooks (39.2 percent), lowest in frequency increasing from primary schools Religion and Foreign Language textbooks to preparatory schools, but then decreasing (14.2 percent, 14 percent respectively) with in secondary school textbooks, amounting the references in textbooks of the Arabic in this cycle to nearly 40 percent of the Language coming in the middle, though corresponding level in the primary schools. closer in this respect to the level of However, duties are stressed more frequency in Social Studies textbooks, frequently than rights. Nearly one fourth judging all by the number of paragraphs (26.3 percent) related to rights and almost Frequent containing such references. However, when three-quarters were concerned with duties references to measured by the number of sentences with (73.8 percent). The emphasis in primary human rights in these references, the relative importance of and preparatory schools is on duties, which human rights in these textbooks drops to are the object of 87.5 percent of references textbooks of 18.8 percent of all sentences in Arabic in the first and 50 percent of references in basic education Language textbooks and 3.8 percent in the second. Duties are again stressed in are an important Religion textbooks, which includes books secondary school textbooks where they are meant for both Muslim and Christian school stated in 60 percent of the references to step towards children. citizenship. integrating ideals of democracy in As for the type of rights stressed in these The study went further to discern the textbooks, two consistent patterns were relative importance of citizens, the the educational found in this study. Economic, social and government and the leader in the school process peoples’ rights are emphasized in textbooks curricula. It found that references to the role of Arabic language and Islamic Religion of the leader and of the government far whereas civil and political rights get most of exceeded references to citizens. While the the references in textbooks of Social total references to citizens were limited to Studies, Christian Religion and Foreign only 30 percent of all references, the Languages. Of the latter rights, tolerance, government got 17.9 percent but the leader equality and freedom are stressed, though in got 52.1 percent. It is true that the role of general terms not in their political the populace in resisting foreign invasion dimensions. Textbooks used in private was stressed as well as their willingness to schools adopt a balanced approach in their sacrifice everything for the defense of the reference to all categories of rights, not motherland, but there were many references giving priority to any category of them to to what the government does for its citizens, the detriment of all others. and a massive number of references to the role of national leaders throughout the long Frequent references to human rights in history of Egypt. The textbooks lead the textbooks of basic education are an students to firmly believe that without such important step towards integrating ideals of leaders, the country would have remained democracy in the educational process. subjugated forever to foreign rule. However, the study in question notes that the language used in introducing human As for the relative importance of values of rights concepts to school children was far freedom and obedience, they figure less in from clear or comprehensible. A flagrant textbooks of the primary school than in example of this is the fourth lesson (on textbooks of the preparatory school where human rights) in the “Readings and Text” they are more stressed, and they figure book of the Arabic Language, which is slightly less in textbooks of the secondary taught to pupils of the second year of school. Such references emphasize more the preparatory school. Pupils had a hard time values of obedience (59.5 percent of understanding this lesson unit. In other references) than the values of freedom (40.5 passages, a contradiction was noted between percent). Freedom is mentioned as an the rights mentioned and the specific absolute value and a general goal for examples given thereof. Freedom of opinion humanity. It is also associated with national was mentioned followed by heavy emphasis independence. Its manifestation is in on the duty of obedience. Thus, an opinion freedom of thought and expression, but with different from that of the parents would be the warning that one should not impose taken to be as deviant behavior. one’s point of view on others or pressure them to accept his/her point of view. The second study corroborated findings of Freedom is suggested to be identified with the first. It found that references to citizens’ the Shura-consultation-practice which has rights and duties were quite frequent in become an imperative of the Islamic

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Shari’a. Freedom is rarely associated with The study examined also references to other electoral methods, except for election of values such as future orientation, acceptance student representatives in student bodies, of change, spirit of initiative, work ethics nor with the role of specific institutions such and the environment. The fact that such as political parties and associations. The values are stressed in school textbooks does study found textbooks stressed freedom not mean that they would be imparted more in its non-political aspects. necessarily to students. Much depends on other factors including, foremost, attitudes School textbooks attach more importance to of teachers who are expected to be the the value of obedience. Students are invited transmission agents of such values. The value of to obey God, the Prophets, parents, elders, tolerance has teachers, headmasters and leaders. Wives This second study also administered a occupied an are called upon to obey their husbands. questionnaire to a sample of 354 teachers of Obedience is frequently mentioned as an the basic education cycles that include both important absolute duty, not to be qualified in almost primary and preparatory education. It found position among any situation, a duty by the common good that 70 percent of those teachers do not the values for the society. believe in the value of political freedom, while only 38 percent are tolerant towards transmitted The value of tolerance has occupied an people of other religions, and 63 percent are through school important position among the values intolerant vis-à-vis opposing political views. textbooks transmitted through school textbooks. The Such findings, would simply suggest that same pattern noted earlier is met also with the policy of inculcating democratic values respect to this value which is particularly among young Egyptians, even using the stressed in the preparatory and secondary modest means of school textbooks, cannot schools with relatively lesser emphasis in succeed much since the agents supposed to the primary school. The study found only transmit these values do not believe in them. thirteen references to this value in primary However, attention should be drawn to the school textbooks, compared to twenty-seven very small size of the sample and therefore in preparatory schools and twenty-four in its limited credibility. Nevertheless, the secondary school textbooks. Most of the undemocratic management of the education ideas contained in these references (80 system, the low salaries of teachers, and the percent) are related more to religious neglect of well-grounded culture in the tolerance than to tolerance of other political formation of teachers are among the most important factors explaining these striking views (20 percent). The textbooks call on sample observations. students to purify themselves from feelings of resentment and bitterness and to be kind School Environment and tolerant toward each other. They refer also to religious tolerance that has been a The positive impact of such value references constant feature throughout the history of can be reinforced or diluted depending on the country. the school environment. If the method of teaching is based on dialogue, and students Women were the object of fewer references, enjoy freedom in the exercise of mentioned in no more than 4 percent of all extra-curricular activities and particularly in the relevant references found by this study. the election of their student body, the school The image of the woman presented in the would definitely contribute to the textbook is that of an active and dignified inculcation of democratic values among member of the national community children and young people. More than one throughout the long history of Egypt. observer has urged the abandonment in Women assume an equal duty with men in Egyptian schools of the authoritarian development of the country, as men are not method of teaching and its substitution with superior to women nor are women superior a more egalitarian and creative method to to men. Women constitute half of the stimulate debate and address the minds of society. It is true that they have not received students. The Minister of Education himself their fair share of education and has recognized the importance of this employment, but recently their rights have development in teaching methods. However, been stressed in the constitution, and it is no exaggeration to say that not much women have enjoyed these rights and progress has been made in this respect assumed posts of ministers and ambassadors despite the fact that parents of pupils in both and have been elected to both People’s public and private schools have complained Assembly and the Shura- Consultative- of the predominance of the authoritarian Council. method of teaching.

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While there are no formal restrictions on collective body to promote their extracurricular activities of students in the professional interests, and not only to look pre-university stage, the physical conditions into their pay and work conditions, but also of many schools, with rundown buildings, to channel their views on the organization absence of toilets and lack of space for the and the conduct of the educational system. exercise of such activities as well as the Pre-university teachers do have their own meager salaries of teachers make the syndicate. The election of the president in undertaking of such activities an impossible this syndicate is not direct, as he is elected Democracy in dream for most public schools. Further, by the provincial councils of the syndicate, Ministry officials keep a watchful eye on each representing one governorate of the education is extra curricular activities, particularly in country. conceivable when Upper Egypt, lest the teachers use them to teaching staff in propagate the ideas of religious movements. University professors do not have a syndicate of their own, but they could be schools and in In universities, the conduct of such extra members of professional syndicates universities fully curricular activities, particularly if they are corresponding to their disciplines. Professors enjoy their rights of the cultural variety, is subject to severe of Medicine could become members of the restrictions. Based on participant observation’s Syndicate of Medical Doctors, and as members of a experience, for students to organize a public professors of Engineering could become profession as meeting, post a wall announcement or invite members of the Syndicate of Engineers. The well as citizens any lecturer, they must get the authorization academic staff as one body is represented of no less than two professors besides the by Councils of Clubs of University university police officer attached to their Professors, which are elected by all faculty. Elections to the student body is open to interference by university professors in each university. Some universities, such as Ain Shams University, administration, and by security services, who screen candidates and in fact reject do not have a council, as the university many of them without explaining their administration is opposed to the presence of reasons. Candidates who are disqualified are such a council. All councils are elected by suspected of being sympathizers with the the academic staff of each university. fanatic movements, but even such Councils of University Professors’ Clubs suspicions, though invalid as reason for used to meet in annual conferences to excluding anyone, are not well founded in discuss common affairs of the profession many cases. On more than one occasion, and of the country. Relations between these administrative courts have annulled the councils and the Ministry of Higher outcome of student elections because of the Education have been strained most of the interference of the university administration. time.

Full Respect for Teachers and Academic These councils were not consulted about the Rights amendments to the Law of the Organization of Universities in May 1994, which banned Finally, democracy in education is the election of deans of faculties, replacing conceivable when teaching staff in schools the electoral method by appointment by the and in universities fully enjoy their rights as rector of the university, who himself is members of a profession as well as citizens. appointed by the President of the Republic In these two respects, more should be done. on the recommendation of the Minister of A basic right of teachers is to have a Higher Education.

120 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

A. Human development index progressively higher rate. The present report applies a refinement introduced since The human development index (HDI) is 1999 UNDP Report, for computing the based on three key components: longevity, index of income. This refinement implies educational attainment, and standard of the application of the aforementioned living. Longevity is measured by life formula with one expception, namely, using expectancy at birth. Educational attainment the logarithms of the actual, minimum and is measured by a weighted average of adult maximum values of real GDP per capita literacy (two-thirds) and combined first-, (PPPS). second-, and third-level gross enrollment ratio (one-third). For standard of living , In the present report, GDP per capita for the adjusted measure used is the purchasing Egypt was estimated from National Income power parity of the income equivalent in Accounts of 1998/99. The estimated GDP US$ (see, UNDP Human Development per capita in local currency (LE) was Report 1995, technical note 3 pp.134-135). translated to its value in US$ using an It is to be noted that the mean years of appropriate exchange rate. Then, the real schooling was replaced by the combined GDP per capita (PPP US$) may be enrollment ratio in 1995 report. calculated by applying a suitable factor to the estimated GDP per capita in US$. In earlier years, the minimum value of each However, the implied value of this factor in of the variables was determined at the level the UNDP Reports rose markedly from of the poorest-performing country, and the about 2.1 to 6.1 for a relatively short period maximum value at that of the (1987-1994). The report team preferred the best-performing country. The HDI for a value of the factor implied in the 1999 given country was, therefore, its position report. The resulting HDI for Egypt in between the worst and best countries. 1998 amounts to 0.648 . However, the minimum and maximum values changed every year in accordance One of the main objectives of the report is with the performance of the countries at the to construct human development index at extreme ends of the scale. The basic issue the governorate level. The governorates’ with shifting the goal posts is that it life expectancies at birth are estimated from precludes meaningful comparisons detailed data on deaths and population by overtime. age. The educational attainment indices are calculated on the basis of the maximum The UNDP Report of 1994 has introduced a and minimum values of literacy and major refinement in the methodology of combined first-, second-, and third- level constructing HDI when goal posts were gross enrollment ratio given in Table (T.1). fixed for each indicator to allow analysis over time. The minimum and maximum For income per capita in different values of the four basic varialbes in the governorates, this report has benefited from subsequent ¢Reports remained the same the early information available from the with one exception where the minimum value of real GDP per capita was revised Table T.1 from PPP US$ 200 to PPP US$ 100 since Minimum and Maximum Values 1995 Report (Table T.1). Minimum Value Maximum Value The index for any component of HDI can be computed as: (the actual value - the Life expectancy at birth (years) 25 85 minimum value)/(the maximum value - the Adult literacy % 0 100 minimum value). For income, the threshold value is taken to be the global average real Combined enrollment ratio (%) 0 100 GDP per capita . Multiples of income beyond the threshold are discounted using a GDP per capita (PPP$) 100 40000

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 121 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

latest Household Income and Expenditure *Population counts 000's Survey (HIES) carried out by the Central *Population annual growth rates % Agency for Public Mobilization and *Rural population as % of total Statistics (CAPMAS). From the available *Urban population as % of total information, it was possible to determine *Annual growth rates of urban population the pattern of regional differences. In the % light of this pattern and the estimated real *Population of largest city as % of total per capita income (PPPs) from national urban income accounts, the values of real per *Demographic dependency ratio % capita income (PPPs) were estimated for *Net lifetime internal migration as % of individual governorates. total population *Population density per Km2 The following example for Assyout *Population doubling date at current rate. governorate may illustrate the above *Crude birth rate (per 1000 population) mentioned steps of calculating human *Total fertility rate development index. The estimates of the *Ratio of 1998 fertility to 1960% components of HDI for Assyout are as *Contraceptive prevalence % follows: *Average age at first marriage -Life expectancy at birth = 65.2 *Crude death rate (per 1000 population) -Adult literacy rate % = 43.4 *Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) -Combined enrollment ratio% = 62.7 *Under five mortality rate (per 1000 live -Real GDP per capita (PPP$) = 2394.6 births) *Children dying before age 5 Using these estimates as well as the *Maternal mortality rate (per 100000 live maximum and minimum values given births) above, indices of the three components and *Life expectancy at birth human development index were derived in the following manner: The first ten indicators listed above were * life expectancy index: derived from census data and population = (65.2-25)/(85-25) =0.670 projections. These indicators are given at * education index: the national and regional levels, except net lifetime internal migration which is = 1/3(.434x2+.627) =0.498 provided for each governorate only and * GDP index: population doubling date given at the = (log2394.6-log100) / (log 40000-log100) national level. The latter indicator is = 0.530 calculated by the exponential function using the annual growth rate of 2.1 % for 1986/96 Assyout human development index intercensal period . = 1/3(.670+.498+.530) = 0.566 Mortality measures, crude birth rates and B. Demograhic aspects average age at first marriage rely on vital registration. It is to be noted, however, that The main sources of demographic data are registered infant deaths suffer from population censuses, vital registration and under-registration. Therefore, the re- special national surveys. CAPMAS is the gistered and adjusted infant and under 5 official national organization responsible mortality rates are given for 1996 for carrying out and/or publishing the Moreover, the reported average age at first results of some of these sources (population marriage tends to be higher than its actual censuses and vital registration) and a major value particularly in rural areas where partner or consultant in carrying out the families report higher age to escape legal remaining sources (e.g. national fertility constraints. Life expectancy at birth, at the surveys). The demographic indicators, national and regional levels, in 1976 and derivable from these sources, reflect the 1998 were computed from detailed data on demographic situation and its trends. Some deaths and population by age and of these indicators are used in other related gender after allowing for under-registration fields (e.g. health). In addition, population of infant deaths. The maternal mortality figures (total or for specific categories) are rates are taken from the ministry of Health necessary for computing many indicators in and Population, The treservation of the various fields. Child’s life 1998.

The present report includes the following Total fertility rate and contraceptive demographic indicators: prevalence are provided by Egypt

122 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) The indicators are calculated for the 1984, 1995, 1997 & 1998, carried out by national and regional levels by gender and National Population Council. urban/rural disaggregations.

C. Labor force and unemployment D. Education and literacy

The main sources of labor force data in Education and literacy indicators require Egypt are population censuses and the three types of data: annual labor force sample surveys. a) Standard educational data, e.g. students However, the two soruces are not strictly (enrolled or graduates), teachers, classes, comparable. Population censuses provide etc. The primary sources of this type of various distributions of the labor force (by data are the Ministry of Education and gender, age, industry, occupation, El-Azhar Education Administration. These employment status, etc.) for urban/rural data are up-dated and published annually. areas of each governorate. Information on They are given in detailed gender and unemployment is covered by the governorate disaggregations for pre- distribution of labor force by employment university levels. For the tertiary level, the status and its cross-classifications. In data are published at the national level by general, however, the cross-classifications the Supreme Council of Universities. of labor force data exclude the small numbers of foreigners. On the other hand, b) Census-based data, including school-age labor force sample surveys are confined to population, and educational status of the the civilian labor force, and the data population 15 years of age and over, are provided are not as detailed as in the case of available also in census years for all levels population censuses. Secondly, labor force of disaggregation. concept is not the same in the two sources. The labor force sample surveys, as c) Economic data required for deriving population censuses, are carried out and indicators of public expenditure on publised by CAPMAS. education. The government budget, published annually by the Ministry of Labor force and unemployment data from Finance is the primary source for data about population censuses were used by the public expenditure on education. However, present report. The indicators covered are the data are not disaggregated by as follows: governorate. *Labor force 15+ as % of total population *% females in the labor force 15+. Based on these types of data, the report *Labor force 15+ in agriculture, industry , includes the following indicators on or services. education and literacy: *Wage earners, i.e. employees, (as % of *Apparent primary intake rate (%) labor force 15+) *Primary enrollment ratio (gross) (%) *Professionals and technicians as % of *Preparatory enrollment ratio (%) labor force 15+. *Basic enrollment ratio (%) *% females in legislative and managerial *Secondary enrollment ratio (%) staff. *Combined basic and secondary enrollment *% females in professional and technical ratio (%) staff. *Tertiary enrollment ratio (%) *Employees in government and public *Combined first-,second-,and third-level sector as % of total labor force 15+. enrollment ratio (%) *Unemployment rate (%): Total, females, *Primary repeaters as % of primary adults 15-29. enrollment *Urban and rural unemployment rates *Preparatory repeaters as % of preparatory 15+%. enrollment *Unemployment rate by education 15+: *Secondary repeaters as % of secondary (below secondary, secondary including enrollment above secondary but below university, and *Transition to preparatory as % of university). % enrollment in the final grade of primary *Absolute numbers of the unemployed. education in the preceding year . *Future labor force replacement ratio (%), *Transition to secondary as % of i.e. population under 15 divided by preparatory completers one-third of population aged 15-64. *Primary pupil/teacher rate (i.e., average

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 123 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

number of pupils per teacher) enrollment in higher education according to *Preparatory pupil/teacher rate the relative shares of the governorates in *Class density (average number of pupils pre-university enrollment. per calss); primary and preparatory. e. The differences between sciences vs. *Secondary technical enrollment as % of humanities and theoretical vs. practical total secondary dichotomies are mainly due to the varying *Tertiary science enrollment as % of total classification of technical institutes (2 tertiary years after secondary education). *Public expenditure on education as % of total E. Nutrition and food security *Public expenditure on education as % of GDP The report includes the following nutrition *Public expenditure on pre-university and food security indicators: education as % of all levels * Daily calorie supply per capita *Public expenditure on higher education as *Shares in daily calorie per capita % of all levels (vegetable vs. animal products) *% of basic and secondary enrollment in * Children ever breastfed % government, private and El-Azhar * Underweight below age five % schools *Food production per capita index (1979-81 *% of unfit school buildings (Total, and = 100) improper maintenance) *Agricultural production as % of GDP *Adult literacy rate % *Cereal imports (1000 metric tons) *% of population 15 + with secondary or *Food exports as % of food imports higher education *Food imports as % of merchandise exports *Tertiary graduate ratio (as % of *Food self sufficiency raito % corresponding age) *Food import dependency ratio % *Science graduates (as % of total graduates) The first two indicators are based on Food *Absolute numbers of illiterate adults 15+ Balance Sheet (FBS) published by Ministry of Agriculture and Land These indicators are given by gender for the Reclamation. The next two indicators about children nutrition are taken from national and regional levels. Moreover, (EDHS 1997 & 1998) referred to earlier for literacy indicators are also calculated for the country and its major regions. The urban and rural areas. However, remaining indicators are given at the expenditure indicators and those of the national level only. Food production per tertiary education are given for the national capita index is taken from the FAO level only. "Quarterly Bulletin of Statistics". Agricultural production as % of GDP was The following notes pertain to the derived from national income accounts indicators listed above: provided by the Ministry of Planning. Food imports and exports as well as total a)Since reliable data on enrollment by age merchandise exports are published annually are not available, specially for primary by CAPMAS. education, gross enrollment ratios were calculated for all levels. The latest four indicators depend on the b) The population figures in the age groups value of local food production, food corresponding to different educational imports as well as food and total levels were estimated by applying Sprague merchandise exports. The volumes of Multipliers to the census population by age detailed groups of commodities of local groups in 1960 and 1996 respectively. food production were available from the c) Some of the enrollment and transition Ministry of Agriculture, while the detailed ratios exceed 100% as a result of the tabulations of volumes of commodities of numbers of students above (or below) the the remaining components are published age limits of the education level, the return annually by CAPMAS. of families from abroad and/or Intergovernorate migration. The value of local food production was d) Since enrollment in higher education by computed by applying FOB prices (i.e. governorate is not available, the combined Free On Board) to the volumes of first-,second-, and third-level gross tradable commodities and producer prices enrollment ratios for various governorates to non-tradable commodities. The value of were derived after distributing total food imports were derived by applying CIF

124 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

prices (i.e. Cost Insurance Freight) the health personnel in the Ministry of whereas FOB prices were applied for Health (MOH). Consequently, they may computing the value of food exports. The not accurately reflect regional disparities in overall food self-sufficiency ratio was this respect. derived by dividing the value of local food Bed/population indicators are given for total production by the value of total food beds and those of the MOH at the national consumption (i.e. local food production - and regional levels. The indicators of food exports + food imports). On the other health-units /population include all health hand, food import dependency ratio is care units. The data required for these computed by dividing the value of food indicators by governorate were provided by imports by the value of total food the MOH. consumption. Indicators of public expenditure on health F. Health and public utilities depend on data from Government Budget published annally by the Ministry of Finance In addition to health related indicators and GDP figure from National Income covered by other sections, this report Accounts provided by the Ministry of includes the following indicators on health Planning. and public utilities. *Population with access to health Data on accessibility to piped water and services% sanitation are available from censuses. The *Pregnant women with prenatal care % indicators, given at the national and regional *Births attended by health personnel % levels, on accessibility to safe water in 1976 *Children fully immunized % and 1996 are based on census data, wheteas *Doctors per 10000 people those of 1999 are based on early information *Nurses per 10000 people available from the latest (EDHS). However, *Nurse/doctor ratio % due to differences in the classifications used, *Beds per 10000 people (Total and the trend of accessibility to safe water is Ministry of Health only) confined to piped water. *Health units per 100000 people *Public expenditure on health as % of total On the other hand, reliable data on *Public expenditure on health as % of GDP accessibility to sanitation is less satisfactory *Population or Households with access to because of the varying concepts and piped water % classifications used in the censuses and *Population or Households with access to surveys. The indicators given for the sanitation % country and governorates in 1996 are taken from 1996 census, where accessibility to Health services are constitutionally sanitation includes only the households rendered free of charge to everyone. connected to public network . On the other However, the first indicator is estimated to hand, the indicators for 1999 include the be 99% in rural areas compared to complete following categories : modern flush toilet, accessibility in urban areas. trditional w/tank flush and traditional w/bucket flush. These categories are avaiable The next three indicators are provided for for 33.4% , 3.6% and 57.5% of househlods at the country and its major regions by Egypt the national level and 7.8% , 3.7% and Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), 78.2% of households in rural areas. 1997 and 1998. It may be noted that health personnel attending births include doctors, G. Natural resources and energy nurses, trained midwives. The traditional consumption birth attendant (dayas), however, play an important role, especially in rural areas. The present report includes the following indicators on natural resources and energy The data on total health personnel are consumption: deficient as long as there is no efficient *Land area (thousand Km2 ) system to update their numbers taking into *Cultivated area: Thousand feddans account some factors such as migration, -As % of land area retirement, on-leave periods, and -Persons per feddan duplication in the statistics of personnel in *Irrigated land as % of arable land area private and government institutions. The *Crop area: Thousand feddans relevant indicators in this report for the *Crop/cultivated land ratio country and by governorate include only *Total water resources (Billion m3)

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 125 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

*Water consumption as % of total water Fish catch indicators were calculated from resources the data available in CAPMAS, Statistical *Internal renewable water as % of total Yearbook 1998 . water resources *Per capita internal renewable water The indicators on energy consumption for (m3/year) 1997/98 were computed from data in : *% of water withdrawals by: "Energy in Egypt 1997/98" published by -Agriculture Agency of Energy Planning . The main -Municipal difference between commercial and final -Industry energy consumption is the exclusion in the -Navigation later of the amounts of energy source ( or *Total fish catch (thousand tons) sources) consumed as input in the * % of fish catch from: production of another source (e.g. the use of -Fresh water(Nile & lake Nasser) natiural gas or oil products in the -Marine (Mediterranean & Red Sea) production of electricity). The commercial -Other lakes energy consumed in kg oil equivalent per LE 1000 of GDP in 1997/98 is based on -Aqua culture GDP at market prices . *Electricity consumption: Total (billions of kilowatt-hours) H. Communication *Electricity consumption per capita (kilowatt-hours) Communication profile is represented by a *Total commercial energy consumption number of indicators. The major sources of (million ton oil equivalent) data required for deriving these indicators *Commerccial energy consumption per are population censuses and annual reports capita (kg oil equivalent) on related areas. CAPMAS publishes these *% of commercial energy consumption reports in cooperation with the concerned from : ministries, organizations, etc. -Oil prooducts -Gas The communication indicators presented in -Electricity this report are: * Commercial energy consumed in kg of *Households with television % oil equivalent per LE 1000 of GDP *Net commercial energy imports (as % of *Households with radio % energy consumed *Daily newspaper circulation per 1000 *Final energy consumption: Total (million people tons of oil equivalent) *Average number of people served by one *% of final energy consumption from: post office. -Oil prooducts *Annual cinema attendance per 1000 -Gas people. -Electricity *Annual theater attendance per 1000 people -Coal *Annual museum attendance per 1000 *% of final energy consumed by: people -Transportaion *Library books per 1000 people -Agriculture *Passenger cars per 1000 people -Households & commercial -Other The first two indicators, are taken from the latest EDHS. The remaining indicators The total land area by governorate is were derived from the latest abailable available in several CAPMAS' publications CAPMAS' annual reports for the related among which is the " Annual Statistical areas of communication. Yearbook, 1997". The data on cultivated and crop area were taken from the All indicators are given at the national publications of the Ministry of Agriculture and regional levels with the exception of (MOA ) . the daily newspaper circulation which is given at the national level only. The The indicators on water resources, latter was calculated by dividing the withdrawals and consumption were derived annual circulation of daily newspapers from unpublished data from the Ministry of by (365) to get daily circulation and Public Works and Water resources (Centre relating the daily circulation to the of Water Resources). population.

126 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

I. Economic Aspects *Annual growth rate of real GDP % *Annual growth rate of per capita GDP % Economic indicators included in this report *Consumer price index (1986/87 = 100) are as follows: *Annual growth rate of consumer price *GDP per capita (LE) index % *GDP per capita (ppp $) *Wholesale price index (1986/87 = 100) *Income share of lowest 40% of people % *Annual growth rate of wholesale price *Ratio of highest 20% to lowest 20% index *Gini coefficient *Annual grwoth rate of exports % *Total poor persons as % of the population *Annual growth rate of tax revenue % *Ultra poor persons as % of the population *Direct taxes as % of total taxes *Total and ultra poor persons (000's) *Wages of poor households as % of their *Overall budget surplus (deficit) as % of income GDP at market prices *Wages of poor households as % of total GDP per capita (LE) and GDP per capita wages (PPP $) were derived for the country and at *% of total expenditure spent on social the governorate level using national income security accounts, provided directly by the Ministry *% of total expenditure spent on defense, of Planning (MOP), and the results of (in addition to % of public expenditure CAPMAS' Household Income and spent on education and health referred to Expenditure Survey "(HIES) in the manner earlier) described in Section A above. *Public expenditure on social security as % of GDP The results of HIES were used in deriving *Public expenditure on defense, as % of the next eight indicators. It is noteworthy, GDP. however, that a poor person (or household) is defined in the present report as the one (in addition to public expenditure on whose expenditure is less than the specified education or health as % of GDP poverty line in urban and rural areas. The referred to earlier) following procedure was adopted for *Total GDP (LE billions) estimating poverty lines. *Agricultural product as % of GDP (i) The composition required is set to *Industrial product as % of GDP accord with the observed diet pattern of the *Services as % of GDP poor to reflect their consumption habits and *Private consumption as % of GDP tastes. *Government expenditure as % of GDP (ii) The actual diet per adult equivalent in *Gross domestic investment as % of GDP the reference households was augmented to *Gross domestic saving as % of GDP yield adequate energy intake, i.e. 2200 *Tax revenue as % of GDP caloires daily. *Exports as % of GDP (iii) The cost of the selected diet per *Imports as % of GDP houshold was estimated using the actual *Total civil external debt as % of GNP current prices. The cost of such diet was *Civil external debt service ratio (as % of estimated as LE 3264 and 3123 for urban exports) and rural areas respectively. This is *Workers' remittances from abroad (LE considered as food-based povety line. millions) Those who are below this line are referred to as ultra poor. *Export/import ratio % *Trade dependency (exports plus imports as (iv) Non-food expenditure was estimated % of GDP) for households who are capable of reaching *Current account balance (LE millions) their food requirements, but choose not to *Gross international reserves including so in order to get their essential non-food gold :(US $ million) needs. This is the non-food expenditure of households whose total expenditure is just Months of import coverage equal to the food-based poverty line. *GDP at constant (1991/92)factor cost (LE Non-foods is added to the food poverty line billions) to yield poverty line used in this report (i.e,

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 127 Technical Notes and Sources of Data

LE 4438 and 3963 in urban and rural areas the estimates. It is understandable that the respectively) . estimates for a late year can be only preliminary. But persistent revisions of the Indicators of public expenditure on various data not only reduce its credibility, but also sectors were derived from the government complicate the time series necessary for budget published annully by the Ministry of trend analysis. Finance (MOF). The data required for deriving the next The eight indicators on "resource flow twelve indicators on national income imbalances" were taken or derived from accounts were provided directly by the data available in the "Economic Bulletin" Ministry of Planning (MOP). These data published by the National Bank of Egypt are regularly included in the successive (NBE) and the "Annual Report" of the follow-up reports. Nevertheless, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), with the following observations are pertinent to this exception of trade dependency (i.e. exports type of data; plus imports as % GDP) which was a) The available estimates of sectoral value calculated from data provided directly by added were always given at the constant the Ministry of Planning. price of the Plan base-year. However the GDP expenditures (namely consumption The indicators of GDP (growth rates and and investment) are estimated at current per capita growth rates), as well as growth prices. A resource-use balance is thus hard rates of exports are calculated from data to compile annually. provided directly by the Ministry of Planning. Finally, the indicators of taxes b) The national income accounts have been and budget surplus (deficit) were calculated frequently revised by the MOP. An from data provided directly by the Ministry explanation is rarely found for revisions of of Finance.

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Lewis, Brawn (Translated by Anwar ------,Quality Imt Committee, and El-Abed), òAdvantages of Using some Modernizing Education, Education Educational Instruments - åEducation Development Studies, Cairo, 1987. Technology, 7th Edition, 1981. ------, åThe National Project of Mubarak Lofty, Amira, òUniversity Education from 1991-1998ò, Cairo, 1999. Planning, and the Economies in Egyptian Universitieså, A Diploma Research Paper Noweir, Abdel-Salam, Education and INP, 1988. Culture in Egypt, Background Papers Series, Egypt- Human Development Report Mansour, E. Hassan, and Moahmed -1998/99 INP-Cairo. Hussein El-Morshedy, òThe Egyptian Experience in improving the Information Psacharopoulos, George åReturns to Base, and the Ways of gathering Data about Investment in Education: A Global Women, and Girls Education in Rural And Update, òWorld Development, Vol.22, No. Remote Areas, Cairo, 1995. 9, 1994.

Messarat, Ahmed, åDeveloping Radwan, M. Mohamed, åIlliteracy, and Educationò,Towards Better Education By Adult Learning in Egyptò, UNESCO Using Educational Technology in Arab Regional Bureau for Education in Arab Countries, The Egyptian Society for Countries, the Expert Meeting, Amman, in Education Technology, The First Annual New Education, 1975.

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Rizk, K. Soad, Education and Labor Market Education Technology, The First Annual in Egypt, Background Papers Series, Egypt- Scientific Conference, October 1991. Human Development Report -1998/99 INP-Cairo Smaak, Andrea (1974), åMeasurement of the Internal Quantitative Efficiency of Saad, L. Samir, åThe Increase in Class Education ò, The New Educational Density in Pre-University Education, and Magazine - The Regional Office of its Effect on the Education Process, A UNESCO, Beirut, The 3rd edition. Statistical Study, The National Center for Educational Researches, 1988. Soliman, Azza, åAn Analytical Study for the Basic Education Stage in Egypt on the ------, òEstimation of Future Number for Provinces Levelò, INP, Research Paper No Enrolled Pupils in all Classes of (1469), 1998. Pre-University Education till year 2000, The National Center for Educational Stiglitz, Joseph, Participation and Researches (1990). Development, Perspectives from the Comprehensive Development Paradigm,å ------, Factual Students Enrollments in The World Bank Group, Seoul, Korea, Basic Education, Estimation of February,1999 Effectiveness and Education Efficiency from 1989/90 to 1997/98 Background Swansoun, Irik, Samir Lewis Saad, Salah Papers Series, Egypt- Human Development El-Din Abdo Saleh, and Mohamed Report -1998/99 INP-Cairo El-Hamshary, òPreventation of Illiteracy, A General Look on Basic Education in Sadeghi, M. Javad, åPrivate Rate of Return Egyptå- A study Presented to Conference of To Education of Male and Female Basic Education between Theory and Household Heads IN ISFAHAN, IRAN,ò Application (1981). Economic Research Forum for Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey, Working Paper Tabala, M. Zinat, Pre-University Education Series No. 9915, Cairo,1998. and Indicators of the Educational Sadek, A. Mona, åDeveloping Pre- Effectiveness, Research Papers Series, University Education Structure in light of Egypt- Human Development Report the Developmental Needs of Rural Areas in -1998/99 INP-Cairo Egyptò, Unpublished Master Thesis, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams ------, òExpenditure on Educationå, University, 1996. Background Paper for Egypt Human Development Report (19997/98), INP, Seif, Alyoot (Translated by Mounir Cairo. Mahmoud Sweed), åDo We Dare to Set a New Methodology for a New Generation?ò ------, Mass Media and Education, The International Culture, Fourth Edition, Background Papers Series, Egypt- Human First Year, 1982. Development Report -1998/99 INP-Cairo.

Selem, I. Soheir, åPrivate Lessons The National Center for Educational and Spreading in English Language among Developmental Researches, Teachers, Secondary School Students- An Applied Buildings since 90/91 till 2030/2031 - A Study, òThe Egyptian for Education Statistical Study ò, (1991). Technology, The First Annual Scientific Conference from 21-31 October 1991. ------,1996 åEducational Progress in Egyptò, 1994-1996, Cairo 1996. Sharaf El-Din, Abd El-Tawab åNational Information Networks, and Continuous ------,1996 åDeveloping Education in Educationò, Towards Better Education by Egyptò, 1994-1996, Cairo 1996. Using Educational Technology in Arab Countries, The Egyptian Society for The National Council for Education,

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Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 133 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS National Indicators

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Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 137 National Indicators

138 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 National Indicators

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 139 National Indicators

140 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 National Indicators

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 141 National Indicators

142 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 National Indicators

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 143 National Indicators

144 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators

G.1 Human development index Combined Adult 1st, Real 2nd & 3rd literacy level GDP Life rate gross per Human expectancy (15+) enrolment capita Life Development Rank at birth % ratio (%) (ppp$) expectancy Education GDP Index of 1998 1998 1998/99 1998/99 Index Index Index 1998 Gov. Cairo 67.5 75.1 70.1 8092.1 0.708 0.734 0.733 0.725 3 Alexandria 67.7 74.4 72.8 6420.0 0.712 0.739 0.695 0.715 4 Port-Said 68.3 77.8 71.7 9629.0 0.722 0.758 0.762 0.747 1 Suez 68.0 74.1 76.6 7287.7 0.717 0.749 0.716 0.727 2 Urban Govs 67.6 75.0 71.2 7857.2 0.710 0.737 0.728 0.725 .. Damietta 68.4 64.1 73.6 4974.9 0.723 0.673 0.652 0.683 6 Dakahlia 67.5 59.8 72.1 3480.8 0.708 0.639 0.592 0.646 12 Sharkia 67.0 54.4 71.0 3328.2 0.700 0.599 0.585 0.628 13 Kalyoubia 68.3 61.8 65.5 4291.2 0.722 0.630 0.627 0.660 9 Kafr-El Sheikh 66.4 48.0 71.2 4009.4 0.690 0.557 0.616 0.621 14 Gharbia 68.0 61.8 72.9 4229.9 0.717 0.655 0.625 0.666 8 Menoufia 68.6 59.8 70.6 3352.7 0.727 0.634 0.586 0.649 11 Behera 67.3 48.3 67.4 3719.0 0.705 0.547 0.604 0.619 15 Ismailia 66.7 66.0 73.4 4766.7 0.695 0.685 0.645 0.675 7 Lower Egypt 67.6 57.0 70.3 3973.6 0.710 0.614 0.615 0.646 .. Urban .. 70.7 ...... Rural .. 51.5 ...... Giza 66.2 63.7 68.6 4897.3 0.687 0.720 0.649 0.685 5 Beni-Suef 65.4 43.0 60.7 2651.1 0.673 0.489 0.547 0.570 20 Fayoum 67.4 39.6 59.8 2875.3 0.707 0.463 0.561 0.577 19 Menia 65.3 41.0 62.5 3314.9 0.672 0.482 0.584 0.579 18 Assyout 65.2 43.4 62.7 2394.6 0.670 0.498 0.530 0.566 21 Suhag 66.5 42.1 66.5 2608.9 0.692 0.502 0.544 0.579 17 Quena 65.8 44.2 73.1 3128.0 0.680 0.538 0.575 0.598 16 Aswan 66.0 63.1 75.1 3804.7 0.683 0.671 0.607 0.654 10 Upper Egypt 66.0 47.8 65.9 3191.1 0.683 0.531 0.578 0.597 .. Urban .. 68.1 ...... Rural .. 38.3 ...... Red Sea .. 74.8 76.4 .. .. 0.753 ...... New Valley .. 72.3 78.5 .. .. 0.744 ...... Matrouh .. 50.6 63.4 .. .. 0.549 ...... North Sinai .. 61.3 68.3 .. .. 0.636 ...... South Sinai .. 69.7 65.9 .. .. 0.684 ...... Frontier Govs .. 63.8 70.1 5142.9 .. 0.659 0.658 .. .. Urban .. 74.3 ...... Rural .. 48.1 ...... Egypt 66. 9 57.7 68.8 4407.3 0.698 0.614 0.632 0.648 .. Urban .. 72.1 ...... Rural .. 45.9 ......

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 145 Governorate Indicators

G.2 Profile of human development Life Households with Combined GDP expectancy access to Literacy basic and per Households with at birth Piped water Sanitation rate(15+) secondary capita Electricity Radio Television (Years) (%) (%) (%) enrollment % (LE ) % % % 1998 1999 1999 1998 1998/99 1998/99 1999 1999 1999 Cairo 67.5 99.9 99.9 75.1 86.7 8854.3 99.9 90.9 95.9 Alexandria 67.7 99.7 99.8 74.4 88.1 7024.7 99.4 87.9 93.7 Port-Said 68.3 96.5 100.0 77.8 86.7 10536.0 99.8 93.1 97.6 Suez 68.0 99.7 100.0 74.1 89.9 7974.2 99.5 97.5 96.7 Urban Govs 67.6 99.7 99.8 75.0 87.2 8597.3 99.7 90.3 95.3 Damietta 68.4 99.2 99.4 64.1 88.0 5443.5 98.6 85.3 90.7 Dakahlia 67.5 85.3 99.3 59.8 84.9 3808.7 99.6 90.7 95.5 Sharkia 67.0 61.3 98.5 54.4 82.5 3641.7 97.2 75.4 86.2 Kalyoubia 68.3 94.1 98.7 61.8 77.3 4695.4 99.3 95.2 95.3 Kafr El-Sheikh 66.4 97.1 95.3 48.0 82.9 4387.1 98.8 78.2 85.6 Gharbia 68.0 95.0 97.4 61.8 85.9 4628.3 99.3 87.4 92.6 Menoufia 68.6 75.0 97.8 59.8 83.2 3668.5 98.6 88.6 88.8 Behera 67.3 79.7 97.2 48.3 79.0 4069.3 98.1 71.6 86.2 Ismailia 66.7 92.5 100.0 66.0 87.0 5215.7 99.2 91.3 94.9 Lower Egypt: 67.6 83.8 98.1 57.0 82.5 4347.9 98.7 83.9 90.4 Urban ...... 70.7 ...... Rural ...... 51.5 ...... Giza 66.2 94.0 98.9 63.7 80.4 5358.5 99.2 92.3 93.1 Beni-Suef 65.4 69.0 83.2 43.0 68.3 2900.9 91.0 50.8 78.8 Fayoum 67.4 99.4 81.4 39.6 69.1 3146.1 92.4 73.2 76.0 Menia 65.3 69.8 89.3 41.0 71.0 3627.1 93.0 57.8 78.6 Assyout 65.2 83.7 73.0 43.4 72.2 2620.2 92.8 66.6 78.4 Suhag 66.5 74.8 75.7 42.1 75.3 2854.6 94.5 66.2 83.9 Quena 65.8 80.8 86.2 44.2 83.0 3422.6 97.1 79.6 84.3 Aswan 66.0 99.0 88.3 63.1 88.2 4163.1 98.1 68.6 90.7 Upper Egypt: 66.0 83.9 86.3 47.8 75.7 3491.7 95.3 71.9 83.6 Urban ...... 68.1 .. .. 99.0 .. .. Rural ...... 38.3 .. .. 93.3 .. .. Red Sea .. 98.8 99.5 74.8 93.0 .. 99.4 81.5 90.8 New Valley .. 97.9 98.4 72.3 91.8 .. 99.0 96.9 95.3 Matrouh .. 63.1 77.9 50.6 74.8 .. 70.5 71.9 61.3 North Sinai .. 78.6 91.1 61.3 80.4 .. 93.7 80.4 83.5 South Sinai .. 78.8 88.5 69.7 78.8 .. 95.6 82.3 84.1 Frontier Govs .. 81.6 90.2 63.8 83.0 5627.3 89.7 81.4 81.2 Urban ...... 74.3 ...... Rural ...... 48.1 ......

Egypt: 66.9 87.4 94.5 57.7 80.7 4822.4 93.7 81.9 89.4 Urban ...... 72.1 ...... 89.3 94.5 Rural ...... 45.9 ...... 74.6 84.3

146 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators G.3 Profile of human deprivation Thousands

Without Without Children Unemployed access access Children not in basic Poor personss Malnourished persons to piped to dying before or secondary Illiterates (% of total) children 15 + water sanitation age 5 schools (15+) Total Ultra poor below age 5 Total Female

1996 1996 1998 1998/99 1996 1995/96 1995/96 1997 1996 1996

Cairo 207.0 567.2 5.2 249.1 1270.1 749.4 201.2 .. 155.8 47.3 Alexandria 6.0 447.6 2.4 111.9 634.2 1025.5 373.2 .. 76.4 24.3 Port-Said 0.1 48.8 0.3 17.8 79.1 20.2 11.4 .. 15.8 6.8 Suez 0.3 41.6 0.4 12.9 75.2 11.4 5.7 .. 11.6 4.3 Urban Govs 213.4 1105.1 8.3 391.7 2058.6 1831.8 591.5 109.5 259.6 82.7 Damietta 9.0 443.9 0.7 33.7 225.3 6.3 0.0 .. 18.1 8.3 Dakahlia 442.2 1631.0 3.6 196.8 1138.8 475.4 75.1 .. 150.6 64.5 Sharkia 1058.9 2606.8 4.5 241.1 1249.0 579.9 79.3 .. 117.9 46.6 Kalyoubia 924.3 1950.8 2.6 244.3 833.1 957.7 297.8 .. 70.9 23.3 Kafr El-Sheikh 66.1 1642.3 1.6 121.5 744.8 220.0 56.6 .. 82.5 35.3 Gharbia 599.2 2410.2 2.5 146.1 883.8 321.9 54.8 .. 135.3 62.0 Menoufia 924.7 2366.2 2.4 150.5 735.1 613.8 220.7 .. 75.1 31.5 Behera 853.6 3116.7 2.5 278.8 1322.0 1136.0 291.0 .. 108.2 38.6 Ismailia 134.2 411.0 0.8 29.7 162.7 72.2 29.8 .. 16.0 5.4 Lower Egypt: 5012.2 16578.9 21.2 1442.5 7294.6 4385.3 1105.1 262.3 774.7 315.4 Urban 334.4 1890.9 .. .. 1468.3 1527.5 472.7 53.1 225.3 93.6 Rural 4677.8 14688.0 .. .. 5826.3 2857.8 632.4 209.2 549.4 221.8 Giza 607.7 2065.2 5.5 299.6 1149.7 613.9 133.0 .. 71.6 13.2 Beni-Suef 472.4 1598.7 4.4 197.3 624.7 600.4 189.0 .. 40.9 15.4 Fayoum 31.3 1665.9 3.0 224.5 702.3 791.7 273.0 .. 44.0 13.8 Menia 1511.7 3067.4 7.9 324.2 1160.6 1142.7 399.0 .. 79.5 21.9 Assyout 793.0 2076.5 7.2 261.9 941.7 1446.1 698.7 .. 73.1 23.6 Suhag 1253.1 2820.2 6.2 256.7 1078.4 1153.6 360.1 .. 72.9 18.1 Quena 922.2 2060.0 5.7 156.4 945.8 1065.5 420.1 .. 68.1 13.6 Aswan 42.8 762.6 1.5 36.8 235.0 306.5 100.5 .. 39.0 12.0 Upper Egypt: 5634.2 16116.5 41.4 1757.4 6838.2 7310.0 2573.4 427.0 489.1 131.7 Urban 405.0 2955.5 .. .. 1438.2 2377.6 883.3 64.7 198.3 69.0 Rural 5229.2 13161.0 .. .. 5400.0 4932.4 1690.1 362.3 290.8 62.6 Red Sea 11.0 118.7 0.1 2.9 26.0 ...... 2.8 0.9 New Valley 4.0 72.7 0.1 3.6 26.6 ...... 5.3 2.4 Matrouh 63.6 204.6 0.3 17.3 64.5 ...... 1.5 0.2 North Sinai 51.2 238.9 0.4 15.7 58.8 ...... 4.6 1.7 South Sinai 16.9 28.0 0.1 2.9 10.9 ...... 0.4 0.1 Frontier Govs 147.1 662.9 1.0 42.4 186.8 110.9 24.9 .. 14.6 5.3 Urban 0.3 360.9 .. .. 81.1 83.8 22.5 .. 10.0 3.7 Rural 146.9 302.0 .. .. 105.7 27.1 2.4 .. 4.6 1.6 Egypt: 11006. 34463.4 71.0 3634.0 16378.2 13638. 4294.9 798.8 1538.0 535.1 9 0 Urban 953.0 6312.5 .. .. 5046.2 5820.7 1970.0 227.3 693.2 249.1 Rural 10053. 28151.0 .. .. 11332.0 7817.3 2324.9 571.5 844.8 286.0 9

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 147 Governorate Indicators

G.4 Trends in human development Life Infant mortality Population with Literacy Combined basic expectancy at (per 1000 live access to piped water rate (15+) and secondary birth (Years) births) (%) (%) enrollment 1976 1998 1961 1998 1976 1996 1960 1998 1960* 1998/99 Cairo 57.0 67.5 151 25.7 91.1 96.9 48.9 75.1 58.9 86.7 Alexandria 59.1 67.7 139 25.1 94.9 99.8 45.3 74.4 57.6 88.1 Port-Said 59.2 68.3 108 22.8 90.5 100.0 42.2 77.8 63.4 86.7 Suez 52.6 68.0 157 26.3 92.9 99.9 38.3 74.1 68.0 89.9 Urban Govs 57.6 67.6 147 25.4 92.3 98.0 46.9 75.0 59.1 87.2 Damietta 57.5 68.4 82 17.3 89.5 99.0 31.3 64.1 45.7 88.0 Dakahlia 56.9 67.5 71 20.4 77.4 89.5 27.9 59.8 42.9 84.9 Sharkia 54.6 67.0 72 24.5 72.8 75.2 21.5 54.4 36.3 82.5 Kalyoubia 53.9 68.3 137 23.0 62.3 71.9 24.8 61.8 43.4 77.3 Kafr El-Sheikh 56.6 66.4 60 18.4 73.2 97.0 15.3 48.0 23.2 82.9 Gharbia 55.5 68.0 107 21.3 76.0 82.4 25.3 61.8 45.2 85.9 Menoufia 54.8 68.6 130 23.6 71.2 66.4 24.2 59.8 46.2 83.2 Behera 56.0 67.3 77 16.6 47.8 78.6 18.8 48.3 28.1 79.0 Ismailia 57.7 66.7 99 22.7 56.3 81.2 29.2 66.0 52.7 87.0 Lower Egypt: 55.6 67.6 93 21.1 69.2 80.5 23.1 57.0 38.9 82.5 Urban ...... 80.8 95.3 .. 70.7 .. .. Rural ...... 65.0 75.0 .. 51.5 .. .. Giza 55.2 66.2 126 30.0 61.1 87.2 27.9 63.7 45.8 80.4 Beni-Suef 50.1 65.4 106 42.8 67.7 74.6 18.6 43.0 43.6 68.3 Fayoum 49.3 67.4 151 30.9 83.0 98.4 16.3 39.6 40.9 69.1 Menia 52.1 65.3 108 42.7 58.9 54.2 18.1 41.0 35.2 71.0 Assyout 53.2 65.2 107 49.0 58.4 71.4 17.4 43.4 37.8 72.2 Suhag 54.7 66.5 86 34.3 56.2 59.7 14.2 42.1 27.0 75.3 Quena 53.6 65.8 80 39.1 45.6 67.0 13.5 44.2 28.7 83.0 Aswan 51.4 66.0 109 49.8 67.0 95.6 20.0 63.1 45.8 88.2 Upper Egypt: 53.0 66.0 102 38.6 60.4 73.9 17.8 47.8 36.5 75.7 Urban ...... 72.4 93.8 .. 68.1 .. .. Rural ...... 55.2 65.1 .. 38.3 .. .. Red Sea .. .. 114 22.5 77.5 91.4 37.7 74.8 .. 93.0 New Valley .. .. 181 27.0 42.2 97.1 20.3 72.3 .. 91.8 Matrouh .. .. 98 22.5 42.0 69.7 12.3 50.6 .. 74.8 North Sinai .. .. 94 25.7 .. 79.6 39.9 61.3 .. 80.4 South Sinai .. .. 17.1 .. 61.6 69.7 .. 78.8 Frontier Govs .. .. 124 23.9 47.8 81.0 22.5 63.8 .. 83.0 Urban ...... 63.6 99.9 .. 74.3 .. .. Rural ...... 28.7 54.1 .. 48.1 .. .. Egypt: 55.0 66.9 108 29.2 70.9 81.4 25.8 57.7 42.0 80.7 Urban ...... 84.2 96.2 .. 72.1 .. .. Rural ...... 60.6 70.4 .. 45.9 .. .. * Excluding El-Azhar education.

148 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators G.5 Human capital formation % of population 15+ Professional & tech- Literacy rate Basic & secondary with secondary or nical staff (as % of (15+) enrolment ratio higher education labor force ( 15+) Total Female Total Female Total Female Total Female 1998 1998 1998/99 1998/99 1996 1996 1996 1996 Cairo 75.1 67.8 86.7 88.0 43.4 38.8 31.6 52.2 Alexandria 74.4 66.9 88.1 88.1 36.5 33.2 25.9 48.5 Port-Said 77.8 71.7 86.7 87.7 45.4 43.0 33.0 49.9 Suez 74.1 64.3 89.9 91.4 39.0 33.9 27.5 52.0 Urban Govs 75.0 67.6 87.2 88.2 41.3 37.1 29.8 51.0 Damietta 64.1 59.5 88.0 90.8 27.6 27.8 18.6 49.5 Dakahlia 59.8 48.7 84.9 85.7 29.7 25.5 19.5 34.2 Sharkia 54.4 41.3 82.5 80.6 26.7 21.1 19.8 40.6 Kalyoubia 61.8 48.8 77.3 75.8 29.4 24.4 20.5 38.4 Kafr El-Sheikh 48.0 35.5 82.9 79.9 24.3 18.8 15.3 27.4 Gharbia 61.8 48.9 85.9 85.1 31.8 26.5 21.7 32.9 Menoufia 59.8 45.6 83.2 81.3 29.9 24.1 21.0 31.7 Behera 48.3 34.5 79.0 72.8 22.2 16.1 14.9 35.1 Ismailia 66.0 55.5 87.0 85.6 33.4 28.6 23.3 45.4 Lower Egypt: 57.0 44.5 82.5 80.6 27.9 22.8 19.2 35.4 Urban 70.7 62.2 .. .. 39.0 35.0 28.6 47.3 Rural 51.5 37.3 .. .. 23.4 17.8 15.2 27.6 Giza 63.7 52.7 80.4 78.2 32.7 26.9 24.4 56.5 Beni-Suef 43.0 27.5 68.3 58.3 21.6 14.3 15.5 24.3 Fayoum 39.6 26.9 69.1 57.8 20.1 14.0 14.3 41.6 Menia 41.0 26.2 71.0 58.5 20.8 13.1 15.0 30.1 Assyout 43.4 29.9 72.2 63.3 22.9 15.3 17.5 39.9 Suhag 42.1 26.5 75.3 66.5 19.3 11.2 16.5 41.6 Quena 44.2 29.2 83.0 75.5 19.8 10.4 18.1 43.4 Aswan 63.1 50.5 88.2 85.2 30.5 21.2 24.4 42.1 Upper Egypt: 47.8 34.0 75.7 67.8 24.0 16.5 18.5 41.3 Urban 68.1 58.6 .. .. 39.8 33.7 30.4 51.1 Rural 38.3 22.6 .. .. 16.0 8.0 12.0 26.7 Red Sea 74.8 61.7 93.0 94.0 41.2 28.6 20.2 30.3 New Valley 72.3 61.7 91.8 89.4 38.7 31.1 33.5 47.8 Matrouh 50.6 33.8 74.8 61.9 17.4 11.3 13.3 54.0 North Sinai 61.3 46.9 80.4 74.0 30.5 22.7 24.1 37.0 South Sinai 69.7 45.0 78.8 76.4 39.9 23.8 21.1 29.6 Frontier Govs 63.8 48.7 83.0 77.2 31.4 22.3 22.2 39.1 Urban 74.3 61.0 .. .. 39.0 30.3 28.4 46.9 Rural 48.1 31.3 .. .. 20.0 11.1 12.9 23.2 Egypt: 57.7 45.7 80.7 77.0 29.3 23.5 21.2 41.0 Urban 72.1 63.8 .. .. 40.2 35.6 29.6 49.8 Rural 45.9 31.1 .. .. 20.3 13.6 13.9 27.3

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 149 Governorate Indicators

G.6 Status of women Maternal Females Professi- mortality Average 15+ with Legis- onal & Women Life rate (per age at secondary lative & techni- in labor expectancy 100000 first Enrollment ratios (gross) or higher managerial cal staff force at birth live marriage Basic education education staff(% (% (as % of (years) births) (years) Total Primary Preparatory Secondary % females) females) total) 1998 1998 1998 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1996 1996 1996 1996 Cairo 68.9 .. 25.2 103.5 104.9 101.5 59.5 38.8 13.5 32.5 19.7 Alexandria 69.0 .. 26.3 107.4 111.7 100.5 49.6 33.2 11.8 33.8 18.1 Port-Said 68.8 .. 24.1 99.3 97.3 102.3 64.5 43.0 10.6 37.4 24.8 Suez 69.0 .. 23.2 103.3 99.7 108.8 66.0 33.9 10.7 35.4 18.7 Urban Govs 68.9 122 25.3 104.5 106.5 101.5 57.1 37.1 12.8 33.2 19.4 Damietta 69.5 .. 22.4 105.0 102.2 109.2 61.9 27.8 11.3 40.9 15.3 Dakahlia 69.0 .. 22.5 98.6 99.1 97.4 59.2 25.5 12.8 32.0 18.3 Sharkia 68.6 .. 22.1 93.7 96.9 88.5 52.5 21.1 11.0 27.5 13.4 Kalyoubia 69.2 .. 22.3 91.3 96.1 83.9 43.9 24.4 11.3 28.1 15.0 Kafr El-Sheikh 68.2 .. 22.8 93.2 95.1 90.1 52.4 18.8 10.8 28.9 16.1 Gharbia 69.6 .. 23.2 98.7 101.3 94.6 57.3 26.5 15.7 31.4 20.7 Menoufia 70.0 .. 22.5 96.2 99.3 91.4 51.2 24.1 16.6 28.1 22.8 Behera 68.5 .. 22.8 88.7 93.3 81.1 39.9 16.1 9.3 27.1 11.5 Ismailia 67.9 .. 23.6 101.3 104.1 97.0 53.9 28.6 15.9 33.8 17.4 Lower Egypt: 69.0 91 22.6 94.8 97.6 90.3 51.3 22.8 12.7 29.8 16.1 Urban ...... 35.0 13.8 35.8 21.6 Rural ...... 17.8 11.0 25.1 13.8 Giza 67.1 .. 22.9 94.2 99.4 85.6 43.5 26.9 10.7 28.8 12.4 Beni-Suef 66.4 .. 21.0 68.1 73.4 59.0 34.3 14.3 16.2 25.3 16.2 Fayoum 68.3 .. 21.1 67.7 74.0 56.6 33.5 14.0 13.7 28.9 9.9 Menia 66.1 .. 21.1 68.6 73.3 60.2 33.6 13.1 12.3 24.1 12.0 Assyout 65.9 .. 22.0 75.6 79.9 68.0 34.8 15.3 10.9 26.7 11.7 Suhag 67.1 .. 21.8 80.5 83.6 74.3 32.4 11.2 7.2 22.6 8.9 Quena 66.0 .. 21.9 89.2 90.1 87.6 43.0 10.4 5.8 19.6 8.2 Aswan 67.1 .. 23.4 100.4 98.3 104.0 52.6 21.2 9.1 26.3 15.2 Upper Egypt: 66.7 92 21.9 80.5 84.3 73.8 38.0 16.5 10.5 25.8 11.5 Urban ...... 33.7 12.9 33.0 19.6 Rural ...... 8.0 6.0 15.8 7.1 Red Sea .. .. 24.9 105.1 106.0 103.5 66.6 28.6 6.3 23.2 15.5 New Valley .. .. 23.0 99.2 100.6 97.4 68.9 31.1 11.0 31.8 22.3 Matrouh .. .. 28.6 79.2 85.3 67.2 22.7 11.3 2.9 25.0 6.2 North Sinai .. .. 24.9 88.4 91.9 81.7 41.2 22.7 10.4 28.4 18.5 South Sinai .. .. 27.7 88.3 88.8 87.3 39.6 23.8 6.2 17.0 12.1 Frontier Govs .. .. 25.5 90.8 93.8 85.4 45.7 22.3 6.7 26.7 15.2 Urban ...... 30.3 7.6 28.0 16.9 Rural ...... 11.1 3.6 22.6 12.5 Egypt: 68.0 96 22.8 90.8 93.7 85.9 47.5 23.5 12.0 29.6 15.3 Urban ...... 35.6 13.0 33.8 20.1 Rural ...... 13.6 8.9 21.9 11.2

150 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators G.7 Female-male gaps Females as percentage of males Labor Life Literacy rate Primary enrollment Preparatory Secondary force expectancy Population 15+ enrollment enrollment (15+) 1998 1998 1960 1998 1960 * 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1996 Cairo 104.2 95.1 50 82.6 80.5 94.3 97.7 105.5 24.6 Alexandria 103.9 95.6 48 82.0 75.7 90.1 95.8 107.0 22.1 Port-Said 101.5 94.8 50 85.8 83.7 92.3 98.4 98.6 33.0 Suez 102.8 95.0 40 77.2 69.1 92.6 94.7 110.6 23.1 Urban Govs 103.9 95.2 48 82.4 78.7 92.7 97.0 105.7 24.1 Damietta 103.1 95.5 44 86.9 79.6 88.0 108.3 124.6 18.1 Dakahlia 104.4 96.2 28 69.0 65.8 91.1 98.4 100.6 22.4 Sharkia 104.9 94.5 21 61.7 55.9 88.9 89.7 87.8 15.5 Kalyoubia 102.5 93.6 19 66.1 59.8 89.3 92.4 93.6 17.6 Kafr El-Sheikh 105.4 98.9 20 58.6 56.9 88.6 88.6 87.1 19.1 Gharbia 104.8 97.9 24 65.6 61.7 91.6 94.2 97.7 26.2 Menoufia 104.0 94.3 20 62.3 54.4 88.9 89.4 92.6 22.8 Behera 103.6 96.2 21 55.9 52.8 81.3 80.3 80.6 13.0 Ismailia 103.7 96.0 33 72.9 60.5 88.7 94.0 94.2 21.0 Lower Egypt: 104.2 95.8 23 64.4 59.7 88.3 91.1 92.7 19.2 Urban ...... 78.8 ...... 27.6 Rural ...... 57.3 ...... 16.1 Giza 102.8 93.3 31 71.3 58.1 86.9 87.1 88.8 14.2 Beni-Suef 102.9 96.3 20 47.1 69.4 69.1 62.2 60.9 19.3 Fayoum 102.7 92.7 26 52.3 74.2 71.9 63.6 57.5 11.0 Menia 102.3 95.9 23 47.1 54.2 68.1 58.6 57.5 13.6 Assyout 102.0 95.1 25 52.7 54.0 72.5 69.0 69.0 13.3 Suhag 101.7 95.8 18 46.0 35.8 75.0 68.6 60.5 9.8 Quena 100.5 98.5 21 49.0 53.1 82.3 76.5 63.1 8.9 Aswan 103.4 99.5 22 66.5 60.9 91.0 89.2 82.0 18.0 Upper Egypt: 102.1 95.4 23 55.5 55.6 77.0 72.3 68.0 13.0 Urban ...... 76.0 ...... 24.4 Rural ...... 42.1 ...... †7.7 Red Sea .. 75.0 54 74.1 .. 92.1 93.6 102.4 18.3 New Valley .. 93.9 21 75.1 .. 88.7 86.2 96.4 28.6 Matrouh .. 90.9 17 51.5 .. 70.6 58.5 50.6 6.6 North Sinai .. 92.9 37 62.8 .. 84.6 76.1 62.8 22.6 South Sinai .. 61.8 55.1 .. 81.4 77.1 71.4 13.8 Frontier Govs .. 86.5 25 63.9 .. 82.3 76.7 75.5 17.9 Urban ...... 71.8 ...... 20.4 Rural ...... 49.9 ...... 14.3 Egypt: 103.2 95.4 30 65.9 63.2 84.5 84.8 85.9 18.0 Urban ...... 79.8 ...... 25.1 Rural ...... 51.5 ...... 12.6 * Excluding El-Azhar education.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 151 Governorate Indicators

G.8 Rural-urban gaps

Households with access to Literacy (15+) Rural population Piped water % Sanitation % % Rural-urban disparity (as % of total) Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural Water Sanitation Literacy 1960 1996 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 1999 Cairo 0.0 0.0 99.9 .. 99.9 .. 75.1 ...... Alexandria 0.0 0.0 99.7 .. 99.8 .. 74.4 ...... Port-Said 0.0 0.0 96.5 .. 100.0 .. 77.8 ...... Suez 0.0 0.0 99.7 .. 100.0 .. 74.1 ...... Urban Govs 0.0 0.0 99.7 .. 99.8 .. 75.0 ...... Damietta 75.1 72.6 100.0 98.8 100.0 99.1 71.2 61.2 98.8 99.1 86.0 Dakahlia 81.9 72.2 99.7 78.7 100.0 99.0 70.9 55.2 78.9 99.0 77.9 Sharkia 83.8 77.5 98.6 49.0 99.5 98.3 72.3 48.8 49.7 98.8 67.5 Kalyoubia 74.6 59.4 99.8 88.6 100.0 97.3 69.7 56.1 88.8 97.3 80.5 Kafr El-Sheikh 83.0 77.1 98.8 96.3 98.2 94.1 63.3 43.1 97.5 95.8 68.1 Gharbia 71.8 68.9 100.0 91.6 99.2 96.3 75.7 55 91.6 97.1 72.7 Menoufia 86.4 80.1 100.0 65.2 98.8 97.3 71.3 56.8 65.2 98.5 79.7 Behera 81.8 77.2 88.9 76.5 98.9 96.6 65.5 42.9 86.1 97.7 65.5 Ismailia 0.0 49.7 98.0 86.8 100.0 100.0 76.7 54.4 88.6 100.0 70.9 Lower Egypt: 78.3 72.4 98.4 76.5 99.4 97.5 70.7 51.5 77.7 98.1 72.8 Urban ...... Rural ...... Giza 67.6 45.9 98.4 86.7 99.6 97.8 74.2 49.7 88.1 98.2 67.0 Beni-Suef 78.6 76.5 98.3 60.8 97.5 79.2 62.6 36.3 61.9 81.2 58.0 Fayoum 80.7 77.5 100.0 99.2 97.3 75.3 59.9 32.9 99.2 77.4 54.9 Menia 82.8 80.6 96.7 62.5 97.4 87.1 66.5 34 64.6 89.4 51.1 Assyout 78.2 72.7 99.2 75.8 96.2 61.3 65.0 34.2 76.4 63.7 52.6 Suhag 81.9 78.3 99.2 69.5 92.2 72.0 62.1 36.1 70.1 78.1 58.1 Quena 86.3 75.6 97.9 75.0 95.2 83.2 63.3 37.4 76.6 87.4 59.1 Aswan 74.6 57.4 100.0 98.2 97.7 80.8 70.7 57 98.2 82.7 80.6 Upper Egypt: 79.4 69.2 98.6 75.6 97.7 79.9 68.1 38.3 76.7 81.8 56.2 Urban ...... Rural ...... Red Sea 0.0 25.3 100.0 90.5 99.3 100.0 77.4 66.8 90.5 100.7 86.3 New Valley 0.0 51.7 100.0 96.1 96.7 100.0 81.8 63.0 96.1 103.4 77.0 Matrouh 0.0 44.5 93.5 9.0 97.1 43.6 60.9 37.3 9.6 44.9 61.2 North Sinai 0.0 40.9 99.4 24.2 99.4 69.5 75.8 10.1 24.3 69.7 52.9 South Sinai 0.0 50.0 69.8 90.0 92.1 84.0 89.0 44.4 28.9 91.2 49.9 Frontier Govs .. 41.3 ...... 74.3 48.1 .. .. 64.7 Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 62.0 57.4 99.0 75.9 99.2 89.6 72.1 45.9 76.7 90.3 63.7 Urban ...... Rural ......

152 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators

G.9 Child survival and development Maternal Children Pregnant mortality Births 12-23 women rate (per attended month old Under with 100000 Under five Children by fully weight prenatal live Infant mortality rate mortality rate ever health immun- (below age 5 care % births) Registered Adjusted Registered Adjusted breastfed personnel ized %* years) % 1998 1998 1961 1998 1998 1961 1998 1998 1998 1997 1998 1998 Cairo .. .. 151 25.7 25.7 240 32.0 31.2 ...... Alexandria .. .. 139 25.1 25.1 216 29.9 30.0 ...... Port-Said .. .. 108 22.8 22.8 147 26.7 26.7 ...... Suez .. .. 163 26.3 30.0 236 30.1 34.3 ...... Urban Govs 59.1 122 147 25.4 26.3 231 31.1 31.2 94.0 82.3 97.3 9.2 Damietta .. .. 82 17.3 22.9 136 22.0 27.4 ...... Dakahlia .. .. 71 20.4 25.7 179 27.5 32.5 ...... Sharkia .. .. 72 24.5 28.2 159 33.2 36.6 ...... Kalyoubia .. .. 137 23.0 23.5 297 29.9 30.3 ...... Kafr El-Sheikh .. .. 60 18.4 21.3 125 26.2 29.0 ...... Gharbia .. .. 107 21.3 22.3 215 27.5 28.8 ...... Menoufia .. .. 130 23.6 24.1 275 31.8 32.3 ...... Behera .. .. 77 16.6 17.2 158 23.2 23.6 ...... Ismailia .. .. 99 22.7 26.6 161 30.4 34.9 ...... Lower Egypt: 48.8 91 †93 21.1 23.9 194 28.4 30.7 95.3 60.3 82.4 8.4 Urban 65.8 ...... 94.2 79.3 86.7 4.7 Rural 43.7 ...... 95.6 54.5 81.3 9.5 Giza .. .. 126 30.0 32.1 254 39.8 41.8 ...... Beni-Suef .. .. 106 42.8 50.0 196 60.9 67.8 ...... Fayoum .. .. 151 30.9 34.0 290 44.0 46.7 ...... Menia .. .. 108 42.7 54.2 213 59.3 66.5 ...... Assyout .. .. 107 49.0 56.8 207 64.2 72.0 ...... Suhag .. .. 86 34.3 42.5 173 48.2 56.5 ...... Quena .. .. 80 39.1 51.2 154 53.2 61.2 ...... Aswan .. .. 109 49.8 49.8 191 65.8 65.8 ...... Upper Egypt: 40.5 92 102 38.6 44.9 199 52.8 58.7 93.7 41.3 81.2 13.7 Urban 60.3 ...... 94.2 66.2 91.7 12.1 Rural 33.4 ...... 93.5 32.3 77.7 14.2 Red Sea .. .. 191 22.5 22.5 266 29.7 29.7 ...... New Valley .. .. 181 27.0 29.7 334 31.7 35.0 ...... Matrouh .. .. 98 22.5 35.1 176 28.6 41.6 ...... North Sinai .. .. 94 25.7 41.7 136 34.1 50.0 ...... South Sinai .. .. 17.1 31.7 27.9 42.6 ...... Frontier Govs .. .. 124 23.9 34.1 210 31.0 41.3 ...... Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 47.2 96 108 29.2 32.4 204 39.1 42.1 94.4 56.4 84.3 10.7 Urban 61.0 ...... 94.1 76.9 93.1 8.9 Rural 38.5 ...... 94.6 43.2 79.5 11.9 * Those who have received BCG , measles and three doses of DPT and pilio vaccines.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 153 Governorate Indicators

G.10 Health profile Physicians Nurses per Nurse / Maternal Health per 10000 10000 physician mortality rate Beds units per Households with access to people people ratio % (per 100000 per 10000 people 100000 Piped water % Sanitation % MOH* MOH* MOH* of live Total MOH* population births) 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 Cairo 99.9 99.9 7.8 7.7 99.0 .. 43.0 35.0 4.9 Alexandria 99.7 99.8 14.4 11.4 79.0 .. 32.0 28.0 3.7 Port-Said 96.5 100.0 10.8 24.8 229.0 .. 33.0 32.0 4.1 Suez 99.7 100.0 7.0 16.8 241.0 .. 28.0 23.0 6.3 Urban Govs 99.7 99.8 9.9 9.9 100.0 122 39.0 32.0 4.6 Damietta 99.2 99.4 10.4 36.6 351.0 .. 31.0 28.0 4.5 Dakahlia 85.3 99.3 9.3 11.5 123.0 .. 16.0 15.0 3.7 Sharkia 61.3 98.5 5.4 8.3 154.0 .. 14.0 13.0 2.4 Kalyoubia 94.1 98.7 4.1 10.2 251.0 .. 24.0 23.0 2.9 Kafr El-Sheikh 97.1 95.3 6.9 16.1 234.0 .. 16.0 16.0 2.5 Gharbia 95.0 97.4 10.9 26.6 244.0 .. 20.0 17.0 4.1 Menoufia 75.0 97.8 4.4 12.3 280.0 .. 15.0 14.0 3.4 Behera 79.7 97.2 4.8 12.5 263.0 .. 11.0 10.0 2.5 Ismailia 92.5 100.0 4.9 12.1 245.0 .. 26.0 24.0 4.2 Lower Egypt: 83.8 98.1 6.7 14.3 215.0 91 17.0 16.0 3.2 Urban ...... Rural ...... Giza 94.0 98.9 8.8 8.3 95.0 .. 20.0 13.0 4.6 Beni-Suef 69.0 83.2 4.2 14.3 344.0 .. 13.0 13.0 3.6 Fayoum 99.4 81.4 4.0 11.3 284.0 .. 10.0 10.0 2.2 Menia 69.8 89.3 4.9 11.7 238.0 .. 15.0 14.0 2.9 Assyout 83.7 73.0 4.8 11.3 237.0 .. 19.0 17.0 3.8 Suhag 74.8 75.7 4.3 3.0 70.0 .. 13.0 12.0 3.0 Quena 80.8 86.2 4.2 3.3 80.0 .. 10.0 10.0 2.9 Aswan 99.0 88.3 8.1 15.1 186.0 .. 23.0 19.0 5.5 Upper Egypt: 83.9 86.3 5.6 8.9 160.0 92 15.0 13.0 3.5 Urban ...... Rural ...... Red Sea 98.8 99.5 9.8 18.0 185.0 .. 19.0 18.0 8.0 New Valley 97.9 98.4 8.3 36.4 441.0 .. 50.0 50.0 10.3 Matrouh 63.1 77.9 16.0 13.2 82.0 .. 28.0 24.0 9.2 North Sinai 78.6 91.1 7.7 18.9 245.0 .. 17.0 17.0 3.9 South Sinai 78.8 88.5 17.2 32.5 189.0 .. 34.0 34.0 15.8 Frontier Govs 81.6 90.2 11.0 21.2 193.0 .. 27.0 26.0 8.0 Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 87.4 94.5 6.9 11.6 168.0 96 21.0 18.0 3.6 Urban ...... Rural ...... * MOH = Ministry of Health

154 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators

G.11 Education flows Primary Transition Preparatory Transition Secondary Primary Primary repeaters to preparatory Preparatory repeaters to secondary Secondary repeaters intake rate enrollment (as % of (as % of enrollment (as % of (as % of enrollment (as % of (%) ratio(gross) primary primary ratio preparatory preparatory ratio secondary Total Female (%) enrollment) completers) (%) enrollment) completers) (%) enrollment) 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 Cairo 116.9 115.9 105.2 4.2 101.2 100.0 6.3 90.3 56.4 4.3 Alexandria 109.7 108.0 114.5 8.4 98.4 99.8 14.3 84.7 46.7 3.8 Port-Said 102.3 104.3 98.2 5.7 101.9 100.8 3.6 95.2 62.1 3.5 Suez 109.9 111.0 100.8 7.0 103.8 108.6 11.4 92.0 60.5 2.4 Urban Govs 113.7 112.7 107.6 5.8 100.5 100.3 9.0 89.0 54.0 4.1 Damietta 117.2 114.3 106.2 8.3 97.3 102.5 11.7 93.9 53.9 2.8 Dakahlia 143.7 134.9 100.4 6.1 99.5 95.3 8.2 95.4 56.9 3.5 Sharkia 146.4 133.3 99.3 4.3 100 90.5 6.1 97.3 53.7 2.2 Kalyoubia 108.1 103.7 98.8 8.3 98.7 84.6 14.9 94.0 44.3 2.7 Kafr El-Sheikh 151.6 134.3 97.7 4.6 98.6 93.4 8.6 95.5 55.3 3.5 Gharbia 155.5 142.5 103.0 6.6 99.4 95.4 8.3 94.4 56.8 2.6 Menoufia 131.1 125.5 102.3 7.9 101.5 94.0 10.2 94.9 51.5 2.4 Behera 129.2 110.3 100.3 8.3 98.1 88.2 16.2 91.3 43.8 4.1 Ismailia 127.2 121.0 107.6 8.1 97.1 97.2 9.8 98.4 53.8 3.0 Lower Egypt: 136.9 125.6 100.7 6.7 99.2 92.0 10.4 94.9 51.8 3.0 Urban ...... Rural ...... Giza 120.3 115.5 103.1 5.2 97.4 88.6 9.4 85.4 43.9 4.1 Beni-Suef 98.7 85.9 83.9 6.2 97.9 71.3 11.0 94.6 42.8 3.4 Fayoum 106.8 90.2 86.8 3.8 99.3 70.4 5.4 100.9 41.1 2.9 Menia 111.6 93.2 86.2 4.8 97.2 77.1 11.1 94.5 42.4 2.4 Assyout 128.4 111.0 89.9 7.5 98.1 79.0 13.8 91.4 40.3 2.7 Suhag 157.9 135.7 92.0 5.0 97.9 85.3 18.2 86.9 40.1 2.6 Quena 138.8 118.9 95.4 2.5 101.6 96.3 8.1 92.9 52.9 4.5 Aswan 119.7 114.3 100.2 2.7 99.0 107.4 7.5 89.4 56.8 4.1 Upper Egypt: 125.0 109.8 92.6 4.9 98.4 83.6 10.8 91.0 44.1 3.4 Urban ...... Rural ...... Red Sea 126.5 125.6 108.2 7.7 111.9 104.9 10.0 102.0 60.7 1.6 New Valley 117.8 116.2 103.1 3.6 106.4 102.7 5.6 95.7 68.5 2.3 Matrouh 114.2 104.5 97.6 7.0 93.6 85.5 15.1 83.7 32.0 5.1 North Sinai 121.5 120.0 95.4 5.7 99.2 89.3 6.5 96.2 50.7 5.6 South Sinai 134.6 123.3 93.6 5.3 97.2 90.1 14.1 81.9 40.3 6.5 Frontier Govs 120.5 116.1 99.4 6.0 101.1 93.7 9.4 93.8 50.2 3.9 Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 128.3 117.1 98.5 5.9 99.2 90.2 10.2 92.4 49.3 3.3 Urban ...... Rural ......

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 155 Governorate Indicators

G.12 Education imbalances Secondary technical % of basic and % of Primary Preparatory Primary Preparatory enrollment (as secondary enrollment in unfit Pupil/ Pupil/ Class Class % of total Government Private El-Azhar school teacher rates teacher rates density density secondary) schools schools schools buildings 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1998/99 1999 Cairo 22 17 42 43 39.6 74.5 21.3 4.2 15.6 Alexandria 26 18 51 46 46.8 84.2 13.8 2.0 19.5 Port-Said 13 17 34 38 62.3 92.3 5.4 2.3 19.0 Suez 16 17 36 39 67.9 90.5 6.9 2.6 16.4 Urban Govs 22 17 44 43 43.8 78.9 17.7 3.4 16.9 Damietta 14 16 37 42 57.4 93.9 2.5 3.6 22.2 Dakahlia 19 21 39 42 66.0 87.7 2.0 10.4 25.5 Sharkia 24 20 43 43 62.8 87.0 0.9 12.1 30.2 Kalyoubia 21 26 43 47 64.4 91.1 3.4 5.5 24.2 Kafr El-Sheikh 25 25 42 42 64.9 86.2 0.4 13.5 28.5 Gharbia 25 19 44 46 59.8 84.4 2.1 13.4 27.6 Menoufia 23 23 43 46 65.7 91.3 1.5 7.2 24.9 Behera 29 32 43 47 72.7 90.9 1.5 7.7 24.1 Ismailia 21 19 34 33 67.6 91.0 3.6 5.4 19.3 Lower Egypt: 23 22 42 44 64.9 88.6 1.8 9.6 26.0 Urban ...... Rural ...... Giza 31 28 48 49 51.1 79.2 15.6 5.2 17.4 Beni-Suef 26 25 37 40 70.5 91.8 2.5 5.7 20.2 Fayoum 25 25 45 45 77.4 93.0 1.8 5.2 16.2 Menia 27 20 43 44 71.4 91.3 3.2 5.5 26.4 Assyout 25 20 45 41 67.5 87.0 2.5 10.4 24.6 Suhag 24 26 44 42 62.1 82.3 1.3 16.4 29.1 Quena 22 26 41 45 66.7 88.2 0.8 11.0 27.9 Aswan 21 24 36 38 69.2 93.3 0.3 6.4 28.7 Upper Egypt: 26 24 43 44 64.9 86.6 5.0 8.5 24.2 Urban ...... Rural ...... Red Sea 15 13 29 30 64.7 93.4 2.2 4.4 19.0 New Valley 7 8 23 29 65.3 95.1 0.0 4.9 20.5 Matrouh 20 19 29 39 68.4 92.7 2.1 5.2 20.6 North Sinai 11 10 29 27 69.8 91.9 1.4 6.7 20.8 South Sinai 9 10 16 25 47.1 89.4 0.0 10.6 20.0 Frontier Govs 12 11 27 30 66.5 92.9 1.4 5.7 20.4 Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 23 21 42 44 60.9 86.2 5.7 8.1 23.9 Urban ...... Rural ......

156 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators

G.13 Communication profile Average Annual Annual Annual % of house number of cinema theater Museum Library Passenger holds with Telephones people served attendances attendances attendances books² Cars Radio Tele- (per 1000 by one post (per 1000 (per 1000 (per 1000 (per 1000 (per 1000 vision households) office people) people) people) people) people) 1999 1999 1996/97 1997 1997 1997 1997 1996 1998 Cairo 90.9 95.9 828 8412 644 84 533 34 99 Alexandria 87.9 93.7 477 9872 513 11 273 126 85 Port-Said 93.1 97.6 516 7401 498 115* 27* 106* 66 Suez 97.5 96.7 338 4070 134 279 Urban Govs 90.3 95.3 691 8399 640 65 413 72 100 Damietta 85.3 90.7 257 6644 175 .. 5 .. 19 Dakahlia 90.7 95.5 156 6214 63 ...... 12 Sharkia 75.4 86.2 160 4991 75 .. 6 .. 12 Kalyoubia 95.2 95.3 87 7934 60 .. 10 .. 12 Kafr El-Sheikh 78.2 85.6 214 5364 50 ...... 8 Gharbia 87.4 92.6 152 6045 117 .. 7 .. 15 Menoufia 88.6 88.8 185 5228 5 ...... 10 Behera 71.6 86.2 93 5165 26 .. 11 .. 7 Ismailia 91.3 94.9 256 8449 363 .. 7 .. 27 Lower Egypt: 83.9 90.4 153 5796 71 9 5 29 12 Urban ...... Rural ...... Giza 92.3 93.1 157 10797 89 .. 132 .. 50 Beni-Suef 50.8 78.8 110 7322 6 .. 5 .. 8 Fayoum 73.2 76.0 97 5843 60 .. 2 .. 11 Menia 57.8 78.6 72 6119 28 .. 4 .. 5 Assyout 66.6 78.4 112 6574 85 .. 2 .. 10 Suhag 66.2 83.9 161 6744 109 ...... 5 Quena 79.6 84.3 216 6453 39 .. 71 .. 6 Aswan 68.6 90.7 189 4071 19 .. 46 .. 15 Upper Egypt: 71.9 83.6 139 6890 63 9 42 30 17 Urban ...... Rural ...... Red Sea 81.5 90.8 462 5478 .. .. 263 .. 37 New Valley 96.9 95.3 472 3094 .. .. 63 .. 21 Matrouh 71.9 61.3 181 4733 120 .. 102 .. 17 North Sinai 80.4 83.5 538 5903 .. .. 12 .. 18 South Sinai 82.3 84.1 626 2520 ...... 55 Frontier Govs 81.4 81.2 423 4451 31 23 92 152 24 Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 81.9 89.4 266 6522 173 19 95 39 30 Urban 89.3 94.5 ...... Rural 74.6 84.3 ...... * Port-Said and Suez Together . ² Public libraries only .

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 157 Governorate Indicators

G.14 Labor force Labor force % of Professional Wage earners (as % Employees in gov. 15+ women & technical of labor force & public sector (as (as % of in Percentage of labor force staff (as % of 15+) % of total labor total labor 15+ in labor force 15+) population) force 15+ Agriculture Industry Services force 15+) Total Females Total Females 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 Cairo 31.5 19.7 1.1 32.4 66.5 31.6 76.7 85.4 38.3 59.2 Alexandria 31.5 18.1 5.8 35.8 58.4 25.9 72.9 84.8 38.1 57.8 Port-Said 35.7 24.8 8.2 14.6 77.2 33.0 68.0 82.5 45.7 65.9 Suez 31.7 18.7 6.9 30.7 62.4 27.5 75.1 81.1 45.4 62.8 Urban Govs 31.7 19.4 3.1 32.5 64.4 29.8 75.1 84.9 38.9 59.3 Damietta 32.2 15.3 23.2 32.4 44.4 18.6 66.1 79.0 24.8 62.5 Dakahlia 31.4 18.3 34.2 15.1 50.7 19.5 56.6 62.2 28.3 43.2 Sharkia 29.0 13.4 37.5 14.7 47.8 19.8 58.2 67.6 29.4 49.6 Kalyoubia 29.6 15.0 17.6 30.5 51.9 20.5 70.7 72.4 34.5 47.5 Kafr El-Sheikh 29.6 16.1 44.8 9.2 46.0 15.3 45.6 53.3 22.7 32.2 Gharbia 31.3 20.7 24.3 20.9 54.8 21.7 60.7 63.7 34.0 43.3 Menoufia 31.0 22.8 36.9 14.2 48.9 21.0 59.1 58.9 32.9 41.1 Behera 28.8 11.5 45.8 14.1 40.1 14.9 52.0 63.6 24.0 40.1 Ismailia 30.7 17.4 25.1 17.8 57.1 23.3 69.7 82.6 38.2 59.4 Lower Egypt: 30.2 16.1 33.5 17.7 48.8 19.2 58.6 64.6 29.6 44.2 Urban 32.2 21.6 10.7 25.0 64.3 28.6 68.7 77.7 39.1 59.9 Rural 29.4 13.8 43.0 14.7 42.3 15.2 54.4 56.0 25.6 34.0 Giza 28.2 12.4 13.3 30.5 56.2 24.4 70.6 88.2 30.9 60.1 Beni-Suef 27.7 16.2 46.8 12.5 40.7 15.5 59.3 56.6 25.1 32.9 Fayoum 26.7 9.9 46.8 13.7 39.5 14.3 57.6 66.8 21.4 49.4 Menia 26.5 12.0 53.0 8.1 38.9 15.0 62.9 66.5 22.2 36.6 Assyout 25.0 11.7 46.3 9.9 43.8 17.5 60.0 65.3 25.3 47.0 Suhag 24.8 8.9 43.4 13.9 42.7 16.5 54.9 67.2 23.0 49.6 Quena 23.5 8.2 35.8 18.7 45.5 18.1 62.7 68.4 28.1 47.3 Aswan 27.3 15.2 24.5 17.1 58.4 24.4 61.2 67.2 37.7 44.2 Upper Egypt: 26.2 11.5 36.9 17.0 46.1 18.5 62.3 70.9 26.4 47.2 Urban 30.0 19.6 9.4 22.2 68.4 30.4 70.8 79.5 39.4 59.3 Rural 24.5 7.1 52.0 14.2 33.8 12.0 57.7 58.1 19.2 29.1 Red Sea 41.1 15.5 7.6 21.7 70.7 20.2 68.7 46.0 31.8 34.2 New Valley 34.0 22.3 19.9 13.0 67.1 33.5 70.9 76.4 59.8 61.1 Matrouh 28.0 6.2 43.9 13.1 43.0 13.3 46.2 83.4 20.6 69.5 North Sinai 30.1 18.5 32.7 10.4 56.9 24.1 58.4 70.5 38.7 55.2 South Sinai 46.7 12.1 10.8 16.8 72.4 21.1 69.1 57.3 35.6 48.5 Frontier Govs 33.5 15.2 24.9 14.7 60.4 22.2 61.4 66.2 36.6 52.4 Urban 34.3 16.9 10.9 18.9 70.2 28.4 73.2 78.1 46.5 64.9 Rural 32.3 12.5 46.0 8.4 45.6 12.9 43.6 42.1 21.6 27.1 Egypt: 29.1 15.3 28.3 20.5 51.2 21.2 63.2 71.4 30.5 49.0 Urban 31.5 20.1 7.0 27.5 65.5 29.6 72.1 81.2 39.2 59.6 Rural 27.3 11.2 46.6 14.4 39.0 13.9 55.6 56.3 23.0 32.7

158 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators

G.15 Unemployment Urban /Rural unemployment Unemployment rate by Future labor Unemployment rate (%) rate 15+ (%) education 15 + force replacement Total Females Adults Urban Rural Below Secondary University ratio* 15-29 Secondary % 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 1996 Cairo 7.3 11.2 19.0 7.3 .. 3.0 13.9 6.2 140 Alexandria 7.3 12.8 17.7 7.3 .. 2.7 14.0 7.9 146 Port-Said 9.4 16.2 24.9 9.4 .. 2.0 16.0 8.2 144 Suez 8.8 17.2 21.6 8.8 .. 2.6 15.4 5.7 176 Urban Govs 7.4 12.2 19.0 7.4 .. 2.9 14.1 6.7 143 Damietta 6.2 18.3 13.7 5.7 6.4 0.6 18.2 7.9 172 Dakahlia 11.4 26.7 24.7 10.4 11.8 1.1 28.5 12.4 181 Sharkia 9.5 28.1 20.6 9.9 9.4 0.7 26.3 10.7 201 Kalyoubia 7.3 15.9 15.9 7.5 7.1 2.2 15.8 8.2 189 Kafr El-Sheikh 12.6 33.4 26.4 13.1 12.4 0.8 35.1 14.7 194 Gharbia 12.7 28.0 28.2 11.3 13.4 0.9 29.4 12.2 177 Menoufia 8.8 19.8 19.1 10.2 8.4 0.9 21.2 9.7 190 Behera 9.4 29.2 19.6 10.2 9.2 1.1 26.8 12.0 197 Ismailia 7.3 14.1 16.6 8.0 6.4 1.7 15.5 5.4 185 Lower Egypt: 10.0 25.1 21.5 9.8 10.0 1.1 25.4 11.0 189 Urban 9.8 18.9 23.3 .. .. 1.9 19.8 8.8 165 Rural 10.0 29.2 20.8 .. .. 0.8 28.2 13.5 199 Giza 5.3 7.9 12.9 6.1 4.2 2.2 11.3 5.2 186 Beni-Suef 7.9 18.5 16.7 11.5 6.6 0.5 24.4 9.7 245 Fayoum 8.3 26.3 16.7 10.3 7.6 0.4 27.4 9.5 247 Menia 9.1 20.8 19.6 13.4 7.8 1.0 27.3 12.2 239 Assyout 10.4 28.7 21.8 13.0 9.2 1.2 29.7 10.6 240 Suhag 9.4 26.2 20.7 12.2 8.5 0.7 29.1 14.4 238 Quena 10.3 25.4 23.5 11.4 9.9 1.8 26.8 10.1 231 Aswan 14.7 29.7 30.7 14.7 14.7 3.3 27.1 9.6 198 Upper Egypt: 8.6 20.1 19.0 9.9 7.9 1.3 23.9 8.6 225 Urban 9.9 17.6 23.5 .. .. 2.5 19.8 6.8 179 Rural 7.9 23.9 16.8 .. .. 0.9 27.2 13.2 248 Red Sea 4.4 8.5 10.4 5.5 2.1 1.8 8.7 3.1 152 New Valley 10.9 22.6 23.7 10.6 11.3 1.3 19.9 4.1 188 Matrouh 2.6 6.6 5.7 3.7 1.3 1.3 7.1 3.1 214 North Sinai 6.0 12.3 13.0 7.2 3.9 1.0 13.3 3.5 214 South Sinai 1.4 3.9 3.7 1.7 1.0 0.8 2.9 0.7 157 Frontier Govs 5.3 12.9 12.1 6.1 4.2 1.3 12.1 3.1 192 Urban 6.1 13.5 14.0 .. .. 1.7 11.5 3.1 184 Rural 4.2 11.5 9.4 .. .. 0.8 13.7 3.1 204 Egypt: 8.9 20.3 20.1 8.7 9.1 1.4 22.3 8.7 192 Urban 8.7 15.6 21.3 .. .. 2.5 17.3 7.2 159 Rural 9.1 27.6 19.1 .. .. 0.9 27.7 13.3 219 * Population under 15 divided by one - third of population aged 15-59.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 159 Governorate Indicators

G.16 Income distribution and poverty GDP Income share per Ratio of Poor persons Wages of poor households capita highest 20% Gini (% of total) as % of total as % of their (LE ) Lowest 40% lowest 20% coefficient Total Ultra poor wages income 1998/99 1995/96 1995/96 1995/96 1995/96 1995/96 1995/96 1995/96 Cairo 8854.3 20.6 4.9 33.7 10.8 2.9 4.4 62.4 Alexandria 7024.7 19.0 5.6 37.2 29.4 10.7 21.1 66.5 Port-Said 10536.0 23.4 8.7 28.5 3.7 2.1 0.3 44.9 Suez 7974.2 23.2 6.0 30.0 2.4 1.2 0.4 47.6 Urban Gov's 8597.3 19.7 5.4 35.2 16.0 5.2 8.0 64.8 Damietta 5443.5 27.6 2.7 21.4 0.7 0.0 0.4 54.5 Dakahlia 3808.7 26.0 3.1 23.4 11.4 1.8 8.3 37.7 Sharkia 3641.7 28.0 2.8 22.0 13.9 1.9 9.5 38.3 Kalyoubia 4695.4 25.2 3.3 25.1 28.3 8.8 14.5 48.8 Kafr El-Sheikh 4387.1 24.6 3.7 28.1 10.1 2.6 6.3 33.6 Gharbia 4628.3 24.6 3.4 25.9 9.4 1.6 7.0 56.6 Menoufia 3668.5 23.6 3.7 27.8 22.8 8.2 16.6 47.3 Behera 4069.3 27.3 2.6 21.0 28.5 7.3 22.4 50.4 Ismailia 5215.7 22.8 4.3 27.5 9.7 4.0 3.6 65.2 Lower Egypt: 4347.9 24.9 3.4 25.5 17.1 4.3 11.8 46.5 Urban .. 23.0 4.0 29.5 21.7 6.7 13.0 50.7 Rural .. 26.4 3.0 23.0 15.4 3.4 11.1 44.1 Giza 5358.5 22.1 4.4 31.2 12.0 2.6 5.2 38.3 Beni-Suef 2900.9 24.2 2.9 28.1 34.0 10.7 23.7 36.2 Fayoum 3146.1 25.5 3.4 25.5 40.6 14.0 33.0 37.4 Menia 3627.1 27.3 2.9 22.5 35.8 12.5 26.4 34.6 Assyout 2620.2 25.4 3.3 25.9 53.4 25.8 36.8 41.6 Suhag 2854.6 29.4 2.3 17.4 39.4 12.3 35.1 33.5 Quena 3422.6 26.5 3.1 23.0 38.3 15.1 34.3 42.8 Aswan 4163.1 26.2 3.0 23.7 30.8 10.1 23.5 49.2 Upper Egypt: 3491.7 23.4 3.8 28.7 34.1 12.4 21.8 38.3 Urban .. 20.6 5.0 34.9 35.0 13.4 17.4 45.0 Rural .. 26.7 3.0 22.7 33.7 11.9 26.0 35.0 Red Sea ...... New Valley ...... Matrouh ...... North Sinai ...... South Sinai ...... Frontier Govs 5627.3 22.2 3.8 29.6 16.0 3.6 9.7 45.3 Urban .. 24.4 3.4 26.4 20.2 5.4 12.7 47.0 Rural .. 21.6 4.1 31.5 10.2 0.9 5.6 40.8 Egypt: 4822.4 21.9 4.4 31.6 22.9 7.4 12.9 45.2 Urban .. 20.4 5.0 33.8 22.5 7.7 11.0 53.4 Rural .. 25.7 3.1 24.0 23.3 7.1 16.0 38.6

160 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators

G.17 Urbanization Urban Urban Population Households Population Population annual of largest city with (as % of total) growth rates (%) (as % of total urban) electricity % 1960 1976 1986 1996 1960/76 1976/86 1986/96 1960 1976 1986 1999 Cairo 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 2.6 1.8 1.1 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.9 Alexandria 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 2.7 2.4 1.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.4 Port-Said 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 0.4 4.3 1.6 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.8 Suez 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 -0.3 5.4 2.5 100.0 100.0 100.0 99.5 Urban Govs 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 2.4 2.2 1.3 63.0 64.6 62.4 99.7 Damietta 24.9 24.8 25.2 27.4 2.4 2.7 3.0 74.2 65.5 47.8 100.0 Dakahlia 18.1 24.0 26.2 27.8 3.7 3.3 2.6 41.5 39.5 34.6 99.3 Sharkia 16.2 20.2 21.1 22.5 3.7 3.1 3.0 42.1 38.2 34.0 99.5 Kalyoubia 25.4 40.8 43.8 40.6 6.4 4.9 2.0 40.2 57.5 64.7 100.0 Kafr El-Sheikh 17.0 20.7 22.8 22.9 3.6 3.5 2.2 23.9 26.6 25.0 100.0 Gharbia 28.2 33.3 32.7 31.1 2.9 2.1 1.2 38.0 38.2 38.2 99.7 Menoufia 13.6 19.7 20.1 19.9 3.8 2.9 2.1 29.9 30.5 29.7 99.4 Behera 18.2 24.1 23.4 22.8 4.2 2.5 1.8 41.2 28.7 25.5 98.9 Ismailia 100.0 49.2 48.8 50.3 -3.0 4.3 3.1 79.0 83.8 80.0 100.0 Lower Egypt : 21.7 26.4 27.6 27.6 3.8 3.2 2.2 8.0 9.4 12.4 99.9 Urban ...... Rural ...... Giza 32.4 57.0 57.5 54.1 7.4 4.5 1.9 57.8 89.3 88.8 99.4 Beni-Suef 21.4 24.9 25.1 23.5 2.6 2.8 1.9 42.9 42.7 41.9 98.3 Fayoum 19.3 24.1 23.2 22.5 3.3 2.7 2.2 63.1 60.6 59.2 100.0 Menia 17.2 21.0 20.8 19.4 3.5 2.5 1.6 35.2 34.0 32.6 96.7 Assyout 21.8 27.7 27.9 27.3 3.0 2.8 2.2 44.0 45.4 44.2 98.5 Suhag 18.1 21.3 22.0 21.7 2.2 2.7 2.4 21.7 25.1 24.8 98.4 Quena 13.7 22.9 23.4 24.4 4.8 3.0 2.6 31.1 23.9 23.9 99.5 Aswan 25.4 37.9 39.6 42.6 5.5 3.2 2.6 49.4 61.7 59.8 99.1 Upper Egypt 20.6 30.5 31.7 30.8 4.5 3.4 2.1 13.1 31.8 34.5 98.9 Urban ...... Rural ...... Red Sea 100.0 87.4 85.5 74.7 4.1 4.7 4.4 25.1 25.9 30.8 99.3 New Valley 100.0 40.8 44.5 48.3 0.2 3.8 3.1 36.4 76.6 76.4 97.8 Matrouh 100.0 46.0 50.8 55.5 -4.2 4.7 3.7 29.6 53.3 52.4 100.0 North Sinai 100.0 100.0 61.6 59.1 - 9.6 28.2 3.5 58.9 64.3 64.0 100.0 South Sinai 39.5 50.0 9.1 38.6 96.8 Frontier Govs 100.0 55.0 57.8 58.7 -2.3 7.9 4.0 13.8 19.1 20.8 99.3 Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 38.0 43.8 44.0 42.6 3.0 2.8 1.8 34.4 31.6 28.6 99.5 Urban ...... Rural ......

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 161 Governorate Indicators

G.18 Demographic profile Annual Net lifetime Demographic population Crude Crude Contraceptive internal dependency migration Population growth rates birth death prevalence (as % of ratio total (000's) % rate rate rate (%) population) (%) 1960 1986 1996 60-86 86-96 1998 1998 1998 1996 1998 Cairo 3349 6069 6801 2.3 1.1 23.1 6.8 .. 3.2 52.6 Alexandria 1516 2927 3339 2.5 1.3 23.7 6.7 .. 6.4 54.5 Port-Said 245 401 472 1.9 1.6 22.3 6.1 .. 10.2 53.2 Suez 204 328 418 1.8 2.5 25.4 5.5 .. 17.4 63.2 Urban Govs 5314 9725 11030 2.3 1.3 23.3 6.7 62.1 .. 53.6 Damietta 388 740 914 2.5 2.1 28.3 5.7 .. -1.4 62.5 Dakahlia 2015 3484 4224 2.1 1.9 25.7 6.2 .. -5.6 66.0 Sharkia 1820 3414 4281 2.4 2.3 27.6 6.1 .. -4.2 72.2 Kalyoubia 988 2516 3301 3.6 2.8 25.0 5.3 .. 11.9 67.6 Kafr El-Sheikh 973 1809 2224 2.4 2.1 23.3 5.9 .. -1.6 69.4 Gharbia 1715 2885 3406 2.0 1.7 24.2 6.1 .. -4.2 64.9 Menoufia 1348 2221 2760 1.9 2.2 26.2 6.4 .. -10.4 70.3 Behera 1686 3249 3994 2.5 2.1 25.9 5.6 .. -0.8 70.3 Ismailia 284 545 715 2.5 2.8 30.3 6.1 .. 13.5 66.2 Lower Egypt 11217 20863 25819 2.4 2.2 25.8 5.9 59.2 .. 68.3 Urban 2432 5750 7117 3.3 2.2 .. .. 62.2 .. .. Rural 8785 15113 18702 2.1 2.2 .. .. 58.1 .. .. Giza 1336 3726 4784 4.0 2.5 26.6 6.2 .. 16.6 66.5 Beni-Suef 860 1449 1859 2.0 2.5 33.5 7.8 .. -4.3 88.9 Fayoum 839 1551 1990 2.4 2.5 31.8 6.3 .. -5.3 88.7 Menia 1560 2645 3310 2.0 2.3 34.7 7.8 .. -3.5 86.5 Assyout 1330 2216 2802 2.0 2.4 34.5 7.7 .. -8.1 86.9 Suhag 1579 2447 3123 1.7 2.5 33.8 7.4 .. -9.3 86.1 Quena 1351 2259 2803 2.0 2.2 32.4 8.2 .. -7.1 84.6 Aswan 385 809 974 2.9 1.9 22.6 6.8 .. -0.9 72.8 Upper Egypt 9240 17102 21646 2.4 2.4 31.6 7.2 36.5 .. 81.2 Urban 1905 5415 6659 4.1 2.1 .. .. 50.8 .. .. Rural 7335 11687 14987 1.8 2.5 .. .. 29.9 .. .. Red Sea 25 90 157 4.9 5.7 25.7 3.4 .. 31.6 53.5 New Valley 34 113 142 4.7 2.3 27.3 4.7 .. 4.6 68.9 Matrouh 104 161 212 1.7 2.8 36.7 4.1 .. 13.8 74.6 North Sinai 50 171 252 5.4 4.0 31.2 4.6 .. 10.7 75.5 South Sinai 29 55 6.6 24.7 4.1 .. 34.4 54.4 Frontier Govs 213 564 818 3.8 3.8 30.4 4.2 .. .. 68.0 Urban 213 326 480 1.6 3.9 ...... Rural .. 238 338 .. 3.6 ...... Egypt 25984 48254 59313 2.4 2.1 27.5 6.5 51.8 .. 69.7 Urban 9864 21215 25286 3.0 1.8 .. .. 59.3 .. .. Rural 16120 27039 34027 2.0 2.3 .. .. 45.6 .. ..

162 - Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 Governorate Indicators

G.19 Land resources Land area Cultivated area Crop area Population as % of Persons Crop / density* Thousand land per Thousand cultivated 2 Km2 (per km ) feddans** area feddan feddans** land ratio 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 Cairo 214.2 32824.0 3.8 7.5 1850.2 8.1 2.1 Alexandria 2679.4 1288.0 53.0 8.3 65.1 148.0 2.8 Port-Said 72.1 6775.0 6.5 37.9 75.1 11.6 1.8 Suez 17840.4 24.0 14.8 0.3 29.2 25.8 1.7 Urban Govs 20806.1 548.0 78.1 1.6 146.0 193.5 2.5 Damietta 589.2 1603.0 112.6 80.3 8.4 203.8 1.8 Dakahlia 3470.9 1258.0 638.9 77.3 6.8 1243.4 1.9 Sharkia 4179.5 1059.0 668.3 67.2 6.6 1277.5 1.9 Kalyoubia 1001.1 3409.0 190.4 79.9 17.9 343.5 1.8 Kafr El-Sheikh 3437.1 669.0 644.3 78.7 3.6 1088.4 1.7 Gharbia 1942.2 1813.0 379.7 82.1 9.3 699.0 1.8 Menoufia 1532.1 1863.0 308.7 84.6 9.2 643.1 2.1 Behera 10129.5 408.0 773.6 32.1 5.3 1459.8 1.9 Ismailia 1441.6 513.0 169.6 49.4 4.4 277.9 1.6 Lower Egypt: 27723.2 963.0 3886.1 58.9 6.9 7236.4 1.9 Urban ...... Rural ...... Giza 85153.6 58.0 174.1 0.9 28.4 410.2 2.4 Beni-Suef 1321.5 1454.0 242.5 77.1 7.9 498.5 2.1 Fayoum 1827.1 1126.0 366.9 84.4 5.6 705.6 1.9 Menia 2261.7 1513.0 448.6 83.3 7.6 833.2 1.9 Assyout 1553.0 1865.0 334.7 90.5 8.7 611.7 1.8 Suhag 1547.2 2087.0 273.1 74.1 11.8 569.4 2.1 Quena 1850.6 1566.0 357.5 81.2 8.1 475.3 1.3 Aswan 678.4 1484.0 133.5 82.7 7.5 178.3 1.3 Upper Egypt: 96193.1 333.0 2330.9 10.2 9.6 4282.2 1.8 Urban ...... Rural ...... Red Sea 203685 0.8 13.3 .. 12.2 13.3 1.0 New Valley 376505 0.4 73.3 0.1 2.0 102.0 1.4 Matrouh 212112 1.0 210.6 0.4 1.0 259.0 1.2 North Sinai 60714 5.0 164.1 1.1 1.9 169.9 1.0 South Sinai Frontier Govs 853016 1.0 461.3 0.2 1.8 544.2 1.2 Urban ...... Rural ...... Egypt: 997738 61.5 7761.1 3.3 8.3 13858.7 1.8 Urban ...... Rural ......

* Excluding desert areas, population density amounts to , 10981, 1406, 12564, 900, 1203, 4674, 1850 and 1743 for Alexandria, Suez, Urban governorates , Behera , Lower Egypt, Giza , Upper Egypt and total Egypt respectively . ** Feddan = 4200.8335 m2 . The National total includes 1004.7 and 1602.4 thousand feddans of new cultivated and crop areas.

Egypt Human Development Report 1998/99 - 163

It is the illiteracy rate that pulls down the average value of the HDI and lowers Egypt’s rank. Many developing countries with similar or even lower levels of per capita income enjoy higher literacy rates than Egypt. Depicted from Figure 1.6 in the Report, it indicates that if the literacy rate would increase to the levels achieved in China or Jordan, Egypt’s HDI would significantly increase, reflecting an improvement in human development.