Egypt: Country Overview

 

     First, this research considers Egypt. Egypt is the largest country in North Africa, and its population in 2013 was over 86.9 million people, with 56 percent considered rural (UIS). The breakdown of this population is roughly 32.1 percent under age fifteen, 17.8 percent between fifteen and twenty-five years, 38.4 percent between twenty-five and fifty-four years, and 11.7 percent over age fifty-four (CIA World Factbook). Egypt’s GDP per capita in 2012 was 3,256 USD (UIS). The vast majority of Egyptians are Sunni Muslim, with a 10 percent minority of other religions including Shia Muslim and Christian (CIA World Factbook). Egypt’s largest cities, Cairo and Alexandria, are densely populated, as most Egyptians live along the banks of the Nile River (Napier 201). These serve as the urban hubs of Egypt, while the other 26 governorates are considered rural (Napier 201).

 

     A formal schooling system began in Egypt between 1805 and 1848, when ruler Muhammad Ali Pasha instituted two systems: traditional Islamic schools for the general public, and separate school system for “elite civil servants and technicians, who studied a broader range of subjects, general of western origin” (Allard 385). These included military academies, medical and veterinary schools, as well institutes for sciences, engineering, the arts, agriculture, finance, and languages. When Britain colonized Egypt as a protectorate in the 20th century, low level education for the general population ceased to exist, and education became for the elite only. As a result, when Egypt gained its independence in 1922, over 95 percent of the population was illiterate (Allard 386). This remained the status quo until Gamal Abdel Nasser gained power in 1956, when the government expanded both Islamic and secular education. Nasser’s five-year plans in the 1960s included mass education as well as guaranteed employment within the government for all tertiary-level graduates, though these goals were not totally achieved. Anwar Sadat later ended this hiring requirement, which in the 1980s resulted in mass unemployment among university graduates: as high as 30 percent (Allard 386). Hosni Mubarak’s educational approach championed education as a way to increase the labor force in order to kick-start the Egyptian economy; his technical education programs increased student enrollments, as well as to rid the educational system of all Islamic influences, including the wearing of the veil.

 

     As of 2001, there were 18,522 primary schools in Egypt, and schooling is compulsory for eight years. In 2008, Egypt spent about 3.8 percent of its GDP on education, and this represented 9.86 percent of total government expenditure (UIS). The enrollment rate declines with level of education, with 101 percent enrolled in primary, 75 percent in secondary, and only 20 percent of the general population enrolled in tertiary education (Allard 384). Comparatively, for the female population, these rates are 94 percent, 70 percent, and 16 percent respectively, showing a slight but steady gap (Allard 384). In 2015 the literacy rate of the general population was estimated at 73.8 percent, though this rate is 65.4 percent for females (CIA World Factbook). In the wake of modern political turmoil, Egyptian society and education have also seen major changes. Women’s access to education in Egypt is stifled by the same obstacles that face the region as a whole: societal roles, resources, and structure.