EDUCATION IN EGYPT

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

★ Basic Education - (Arabic:''Marhalet Al-Taaleem Al-Asassi'')

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★ Primary Stage

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★ Preparatory Stage

★ Secondary Education (''Marhalet ElTaaleem Al-Thanawi'')

★ Post-Secondary education
Since the extension of the free compulsory education law in 1981 to include the preparatory phase, both the primary and preparatory phases (Ages 6 through 15) have been combined together under the label 'Basic Education'. Education beyond this stage depends on the student's ability.

Contents

Primary Education

Secondary Education

General Secondary Education

Technical Secondary Education

Azhar Education System

Post-Secondary Education

Types of Schools

Government Schools

Private Schools

See also

Primary Education

Children are mandated to attend primary school by law. The vast majority of children do attend but some working children and street children do not attend.

Secondary Education

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

General Secondary Education

In his first year, the student studies both humanities and scientific subjects. At the end of the year, and on the basis of his or her grades, the student enters one of three streams in which he will study for the next two years: humanistic, scientific, or mathematical, each with its specific curricular focus, although some subjects, such as Arabic and religious education, are taught in all streams.
Since this system is known to impose tremendous psychological and financial stress on the students and their families, refining or even overhauling the entire system is always on the agenda of every Minister of Education. A new Secondary Education system is being proposed and in a current advanced stage of planning. The new system has many similarities with the American High school diploma providing more choices in the student in choosing the academic courses.

Technical Secondary Education

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

Azhar Education System

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

Post-Secondary Education

There are both private and public institutions of higher education in Egypt. Public higher education is free in Egypt, and Egyptian students only pay registration fees. Private education is much more expensive. Major universities include Cairo University (100,000 students), Alexandria University, Ain Shams University, and the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar University, one of the world's major centers of Islamic learning.

Types of Schools

Government Schools

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

★ The 'Arabic Schools' provide the governmental national curriculum in the Arabic Language.

★ The 'Experimental Language Schools' teach most of the government curriculum in English, and add French as a second foreign language.

Private Schools

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

★ The curriculum of the 'Ordinary schools' is quite similar to that of the government schools, but the private schools pay more attention to the students' personal needs and to the school facilities.

★ The 'Language schools' teach most of the government curriculum in English, and add French or German as a second foreign language. They are considered to be much better than the other schools but their fees are much higher. Some of these schools use French or German as their main language of instruction.
Many of the private schools were built by missionaries, are currently affiliated with churches and provide quality education.
Many private schools offer additional educational programs, along with the national curriculum, such as the American High School Diploma, the British IGCSE system, the French baccalauréat, the German Abitur and the International Baccalaureate.

★ The 'Religious Schools' are religiously oriented private schools that are sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood movement, especially in the western delta region. Their curricula differ from those of the state or the Azhar schools.

See also

★ Egyptian universities

★ List of Egyptian universities