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Viewing cable 09CAIRO302, EDUCATION REFORM IN EGYPT.
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| Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09CAIRO302 | 2009-02-19 10:23 | 2011-08-24 16:30 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Embassy Cairo |
VZCZCXYZ0011
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHEG #0302/01 0501023
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191023Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1677
UNCLAS CAIRO 000302
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.0. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON PGOV EG
SUBJECT: EDUCATION REFORM IN EGYPT.
Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle accordingly.
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The poor quality of public education in Egypt is
consistently cited by Egyptians across the board as a major
impediment to both economic and political development. Reformers
agree Egypt needs an education system which encourages critical
thinking, problem solving, teamwork and innovation, rather than rote
memorization. With this as a goal, the GOE has made unprecedented
efforts in reforming its pre-university educational system over the
past three years. Moreover, despite the political risk, the GOE has
welcomed low-profile international expertise, including from USAID.
The sustainability of the reforms is uncertain given the size of the
system; inherent resistance to change in a centralized,
authoritarian political and educational system; the fragile
political legitimacy of the regime in deviating from its implicit
social contract with the Egyptian public; and the multitude of
actors with the ability to interfere. Benefits of the reforms will
take some time to show up; impact can only be observed over the
medium to long-term given the size of the system, and the breadth,
depth and pace of the reforms. The challenge will be to stay the
course. This cable addresses the situation in primary, preparatory
and secondary education. Although higher education was originally
part of the reform agenda between the USG and the GOE, the lack of
real commitment has made this a less favorable arena for reform.
END SUMMARY.
Background: This is Not a Pilot Project
---------------------------------------
¶2. (U) Egypt's pre-university education system is enormous. The
average school teacher makes LE 1,000 (about US$200) a month. At the
pre-university level alone, the system enrolls over 16 million
students and employs over 1.7 million workers, of whom around 1
million are categorized as teachers. Total public spending on
education has been high by international standards (5.9 percent of
GDP and 19 percent of total public spending in 2002/03) and
continues to increase in absolute terms, but is declining as a
percentage of the overall GOE budget. Total private costs of
education, most of which is for students in the public system (for
private tutoring, textbooks, school fees, uniforms, supplies, etc.),
amount to an additional 3.7 percent of GDP investment in education,
and has been rising for a decade.
¶3. (U) As a result of such high public investment, during the past
decade the government achieved increases in enrollment rates that
would have been remarkable even without the increase in student
population. Enrollment in basic education for both girls and boys is
now nearly universal, and secondary and tertiary enrollments are
rising. Moreover, as the World Bank's 2007 Sector Note on Education
observed, the speed with which the gender gap in basic education was
closed is not only impressive but historic. In addition, higher
education enrollment is growing rapidly. Educational outcomes in
Egypt are, on average, reasonable for Egypt's level of economic
development, but less so given the high level of public and private
investment. Outcomes are also highly unequal, a fact that clearly
reflects differences in socio-economic status across students, but
also likely inequality in the quality of schools.
¶4. (U) Minister of Education Youssry El Gamal was appointed in
¶2005. A former dean of the Arab Academy of Science and Technology
in Alexandria, he has a Phd from George Washington University and
had previously served as the civil society leader on USAID's
pioneering Alexandria Education Reform pilot. One of his first
priorities as minister was to develop a national education strategy
for 2007-2011. This strategy, developed with USAID's technical
assistance, was designed in a broad-based, participative manner,
engaging donors and civil society. In 2006, USAID agreed on a
policy reform agenda with El Gamal that addressed policy and
institutional impediments to improving educational quality. The
agenda, which formed the basis of a cash transfer program signed
that year, included:
-- establishment of a professional Teacher's Cadre and the
conversion of administrative positions to teaching ones;
-- reduction in the number of textbooks;
-- the piloting of the elimination of the use of the ninth grade
exam, that had historically been used to track two-thirds of all
students into technical/vocational secondary education, in three
governorates;
-- increased private participation in the publishing and production
of textbooks to improve quality; and,
-- the introduction of public/private partnerships in the
construction and long-term physical management of public schools.
¶5. (U) Additional priority reforms of the GOE not in the cash
transfer program include school accreditation; decentralization of
school finances and administration to the district level; and,
rethinking the secondary leaving exam and higher education
admissions process.
Problems: Crowding Out the Poor/Staving Off Fundamentalism
--------------------------------------------- ---------
¶6. (SBU) The GOE's education reform program is designed to address
three fundamental challenges that the current system poses for the
government and the economy. First, the private tutoring that
students need to succeed in the system to compensate for overcrowded
classrooms and for poor teaching drives out the poor. Second, the
Muslim Brotherhood is increasingly influential within the education
sector in both public schools and a growing number of private
schools in providing a more fundamentalist education. Finally,
there is a significant disconnect between the skills of graduates at
every level and the needs of the private sector, as evidenced by
Egypt's low ratings on educational quality in economic
competitiveness reports.
Where's the Beef/Teacher?
-------------------------
¶7. In 2006, the Minister of Education had 1.7 million employees.
Of those, 700,000 were service workers and civil servants spread
across the country. The remaining 1 million were divided almost
equally between teachers and administrators, with one administrator
for every 1.2 teachers. This is one of the highest teachings:
non-teaching ratios in the world. By comparison, Jordan has 4
teachers for every administrator, and the OECD average is 8:1. Also
Egyptian teachers are the least paid in the region (compared to GDP
per capita). Under the existing pay structure, the administrator
jobs were the only route to higher pay for teachers, who were
earning starting salaries of LE 1,000. Finally, teacher/student
ratios on average are 40:1 in 50 percent of the school, but are
reported to reach 80 or 100:1 in the slum areas of Cairo.
¶8. (U) To address these imbalances, the GOE pushed the Teacher's
Cadre law through Parliament in 2007. The new law in its first
phase gave teachers a fifty percent increase in their base salary,
but required them to take qualifying exams. Once the law was
passed, most of the nearly 500,000 administrators declared
themselves teachers to benefit from the pay hike. Despite strong
resistance from the teachers to the idea of competency examinations,
in January 2008, 830,258 out of 1,064,742 persons eligible to take
the tests were actually examined in their pedagogical, Arabic
language, and subject matter expertise. In total, sixty-two
different tests were administered to these teachers based on the
grade level and specialty. Eighty-five percent passed and, based on
their scores and years of experience, have been assigned to one of
five levels in the new Teacher's Cadre.
¶9. (SBU) USAID worked closely with the ministry to develop, pilot
and publicize this examination. This was a monumental task which,
while not perfect, was completed on time and sent a strong signal to
teachers of the GOE's intent to improve teaching quality. At the
same time that the testing went forward, the ministry is also
substantially reducing the number of administrators at individual
schools, in order to get more and better qualified teachers back in
the classroom teaching.
Textbooks: the Back Door to Curriculum Reform
---------------------------------------------
¶10. (SBU) Given the political sensitivities of USG engagement in
education in Egypt, especially relating to curriculum and textbook
reform, USAID has not played a significant role in these areas. The
Ministry of Education has its publishing operation, and the GOE owns
two additional public sector publishers. Textbooks produced by
these operations have been a consistent source of corruption,
however, as publishers and ministry bureaucrats benefitted from
excessive purchases of expensive, poor quality textbooks. The World
Bank's 2005 Sector Note observed that while student enrollment rose
only 3% between 1999 and 2005, textbook production increased by 15
percent and the budget for textbook printing increased by 63
percent. The rising demand for books is due to the unregulated
Government process for authorizing the provision of materials to the
school system. In 2006, the ministry produced 450 million new
textbooks for over 16 million students, expending about LE 1
billion. Based on the World Bank analysis, Minister El Gamal
decided to take the textbook industry on and has since cut the
number of new textbook purchases to 335 million. He has answered
criticism on this issue, especially from newspaper printing houses
fearful of losing reliable income from printing textbooks, by saying
that the savings have been reinvested in better quality texts.
¶11. (SBU) At the same time, and with USAID support, El Gamal agreed
to outsource some textbook publishing and production to the private
sector. With USAID-funded technical advice, the MOE is revamping
its textbook procurement rules and increasing private and hopefully
international participation in publishing and production. Contracts
for new Arabic, math and science textbooks for grades 1-6 are slated
to be awarded in June with delivery thereafter. We expect these new
textbooks will more accurately reflect what are considered to be
fairly decent Egyptian national curriculum standards and
international best practices.
Decentralization: Modernizing the State A La NDP
--------------------------------------------- ---
¶12. (SBU) Since taking office in 2004, the Nazif government has
focused on improved service delivery in the areas of health,
education, social services, transportation and housing in an effort
to mitigate the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood's informal yet
effective social safety net services. The NDP appears ready to
decentralize government services, but with the goal of energizing a
new generation of National Democratic Party activists, rather than
with the aim of giving average Egyptians an opportunity for greater
participation and increased local governance. Because of the
minister's activism, and the government's focus on education, the
GOE selected this sector as the leading edge for decentralization.
Observers are concerned, however, that efforts to improve the
quality of education by decentralization will get lost in the
political drive to decentralize for the purpose of broadening and
strengthening the ruling party itself. To maintain the focus on
reform, the GOE is relying heavily on USAID-funded technical
assistance to run pilot decentralization programs in three
governorates. Gamal Mubarak and the Policy Committee of the
National Democratic Party are closely guiding and monitoring this
process.
Tracking: The Warehousing of Egyptian Youth
-------------------------------------------
¶13. (SBU) Egypt has a very high proportion of secondary students in
technical and vocational education, compared to some other countries
in the Middle East and North Africa as well as other low middle
income countries. Sixty percent of Egyptian students who complete
preparatory (middle) school are tracked to technical/vocation
education at the secondary level. Serving more social and political
than educational or economic objectives, these schools are
overcrowded, do not graduate students with basic literacy and
numeracy, and are poorly connected to the need of employers. As a
2006 study noted, these schools are perceived as a last educational
chance for low performing students to enable them to complete their
basic education. The technical/vocational curriculum does not
reflect international best practices, which espouse a core
curriculum at the secondary level, combined with practical
application for all secondary students.
¶14. (U) World Bank-funded reforms to transform 205 secondary
commercial schools have not been successful because of the lack of
curricular and assessment reform. USAID agreed to support pilot
programs in three governorates that eliminated the use of the
results of the 9th grade examination as the basis for tracking
students into general secondary and secondary tech/voc education.
While the change in the first year was modest, the trend from
tech/voc schools to general education in the second year has been
dramatic. On average, the enrollment of students in general
secondary in the three pilot governorates of Alexandria, Marsa
Matrouh and Dakahlia rose from 11% to 54% from 2007/08 to 2008/09
with a concomitant decline in tech/voc enrollment. Other
governorates are expressing interest in adapting this new policy.
¶15. (SBU) More broadly, the GOE needs to rethink the goals of its
secondary education system and higher education admissions in order
to align it with market needs, produce employable youth, and ensure
equitable access to quality education. President Mubarak launched
such a rethink with his Secondary Education/Higher Education
Admissions Conference last March. We understand Prime Minister
Nazif has agreed to delink secondary education leaving exam results
with admission to higher education. This would turn the twelve
grade exam into a completion exam. The Ministry of Higher Education
would then have to find other criteria upon which to base admissions
into institutes for higher education. Considerable additional work
is needed on all of these proposals; at this time the GOE does not
have the technical expertise to do this.
School Construction: You Can Only Lay So Much Cement
--------------------------------------------- --------
¶16. (U) In response to World Bank findings of significant
inefficiencies in school construction, USAID and Germany's aid
agency, KfW did a study for the GOE citing the need for fundamental
reform. One result has been a GOE decision to outsource
construction and management, over a fifteen year period, of fifty
public schools to the private sector. In cooperation with the
Ministry of Finance and USAID technical assistance, the ministry has
prepared and plans to award a public-private partnership contract in
April. The success of the project will depend on the availability
of long-term financing, not guaranteed under current market
conditions.
Accreditation: What's the Incentive?
------------------------------------
¶17. (SBU) The GOE has decided to use accreditation as a mechanism
to improve the quality of basic and higher education. Egypt's
parliament passed legislation creating an accreditation system for
universities in 2006 to be managed by the newly created National
Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA). Its
management was named in early 2008. USAID's School Team Excellence
Awards Program (STEAP) has substantially raised awareness of
national educational standards through a nationwide competition
among primary schools. However, NAQAA, which the NDP leadership is
using to push education quality in schools, appears more punitive
than motivational in its approach to school improvement, and is not
a long-term solution for pre-university education.
The Shadow Cabinet
------------------
¶18. (SBU) There is strong public consensus that Egypt's education
system is broken and quality must be improved. There are, however,
a number of actors in the process, limiting Minister El Gamal's
effectiveness and room for maneuver. They include First Lady
Suzanne Mubarak, Gamal Mubarak and NDP Policy Committee member
Hossam Badrawi, Moushira Khattab of the National Council of
Childhood and Motherhood, NAQAA's Magdy Kaseem, and Minister of
Higher Education Hani Helal. The inability of the government to
collaborate and speak with one voice remains a challenge. On a
positive note, Mrs. Mubarak sees the need for strong private
financial support and engagement in school-based reform.
Increasingly, it appears this group also understands the role of
broader civil society engagement in education. However, Mrs.
Mubarak's approach seems more patronizing and controlling than
consultative and participative, and unlikely to foster needed
reforms.
School-Based Reform: A Glimmer of Hope
--------------------------------------
¶19. (U) USAID, the Canadian International Development Association
and UNICEF have made solid gains in supporting the Ministry of
Education in its efforts to promote school-based reform through
changes in pedagogy, assessment, school management, parent
engagement and early grade reading, among others. Donors are
supporting pedagogical changes in over 400 schools to engage
students more actively in their learning. USAID now has three years
of data on its Critical Thinking, Achievement and Problem-Solving
(CAPS) test and is using the results to change how teachers teach
and assess their own assessment tools. The Canadians have a
participative school leadership program in Assiut, Sohag and Qena.
Parents in these donor schools are running for school board
elections and volunteering. The USAID-funded STEAP program rewards
good teachers based on results of a national competition in all
16,000 primary schools, thereby supporting broad-based reforms in
pedagogy, school management, and student achievement. USAID has
delivered school libraries totaling almost 25 million books to all
39,000 public K-12 schools in Egypt. Reading camps are springing up
to address the critical challenges related to early grade reading of
Arabic and literacy in general in Egypt. USAID recently convened
donors and civil society, including entities working with Gamal
Mubarak and Mrs. Mubarak, to share best practices regarding
school-based reform. The challenge now is to scale up and diffuse
innovations across the system.
Higher Education: The next challenge
-------------------------------------
¶20. (SBU) Higher education was originally part of the reform agenda
between the USG and the GOE; however, the lack of real commitment to
reform in 2006/2007 in terms of greater autonomy for public
universities, and deregulation of private universities, combined
with the current Minister of Higher Education Hany Hilal's fixation
on a socialist planning model and greater control has made this a
less favorable area for reform. A recent study also confirmed that
despite several million dollars of World Bank investment in higher
education technical institutes, this area remains very difficult and
these institutes amount to little more than warehousing Egyptian
youth to reduce unemployment and stave off political instability.
USAID is working with private sector leaders as they champion
reforms in higher education as a wedge to reforming this critical
area and modeling innovative programs with faculties at Cairo and
Alexandria University.
¶17. (SBU) COMMENT: One cannot speak of democracy or sustained
economic growth in Egypt without bumping up against the constraints
of the educational system. It is big, overstaffed with
underqualified employees, corrupt and overly centralized. It is
driving out the poor and warehousing youth. It has multiple masters
with competing political agendas. But there are glimmers of hope.
The GOE should be commended for taking political risk associated
with implementation of the Teachers' Cadre personnel reforms.
Unlike his predecessors, Minister of Education El Gamal has welcomed
discreet, high quality expert technical assistance. He and his
circle are dedicated to decentralization and are willing to
experiment. His ministry has made tough decisions regarding
textbooks, school construction and the tracking of students. At the
same time, micro reforms at the school level are taking root and
spreading to other schools and districts. The stakes for Egypt in
addressing the shortfalls of the system in terms of economic and
political development are enormous, but results will mainly be seen
only in the medium- and long-term. The challenge to the reformers
is to stay the course. SCOBEY