Egypt Education System: An Overview
Egypt is known for its extensive education system as compared to other countries of Middle East and North Africa. In Egypt, education is offered for free and is also mandatory from grades 1 to 9th, in both public and private schools. Since the basic education is free and compulsory, there is an embedded consciousness on how education must be valued among the citizens of this country.
How it Works: Demographics
Egypt has both government schools and private schools. For government schools, there are two types: Arabic and Experimental language schools. The national curriculum for government schools is in Arabic but different languages are also taught in the primary and secondary level like English, French, Spanish, Italian and more.
For private schools, there are four types:
1. Ordinary Schools
2. Language Schools
3. Religious Schools
4. International Schools
First are the ordinary schools which almost have the same features as government schools but with increased attention to the students’ needs. There are also language schools which specialize in teaching foreign languages to students who wish to take up foreign studies in the future. There are also private schools which are identified as religious schools since they are run by religious institutions present in Egypt. The fourth type of private school in Egypt is international schools. International schools follow curriculums from other countries like the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
Levels of Education
The primary education in Egypt runs from 1st grade to 9th grade. For secondary education, a student can choose whether to pursue general education (high school) or technical (vocational track). The curriculum of technical education is centred on commercial, agricultural and industrial tracks.
As for Egypt’s tertiary education system, the country has also developed an extensive system because of the many public and private universities present in the country. Included in this list of universities is the Al-Azhar University which was founded in 970 AD and is the oldest running universities of today in the whole world.
Education as Top Priority
The government of Egypt consciously puts priority to the country’s education system. As of 2015, 6% of the GDP is allocated to the country’s education sector. The wealth gap is seen in how individuals have different levels of educational attainment because of financial status. With primary education free, the wealth gap will be of no crucial concern anymore because education is made accessible to everyone.
As compared to the US education system, Egypt proves itself to be more accessible especially in terms of tertiary education.The United States is known for its education sector to not be that accessible and wide reaching for everyone especially in the tertiary level.
As of 2010, more than two million students were enrolled in different colleges and universities in the entire Egypt. The government of Egypt is continuously taking steps in further improving the education system in the country. In 2014, the initiative to reduce gender differences and disparity in education was introduced in order to make it more accessible to everyone, regardless of the gender. In order for improvements in the education sector to flourish more, the tension between government responsibility and academic freedom should be resolved.
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