Egypt Education vs U.S. Education By: Kevin Laraia

Egypt Today (World Atlas, 2014) (Modern Egypt, 2014)

(Education in Ancient Egypt, 2014)

Egyptian Stages of Education There are 3 main stages in education in Egypt Kindergarten This is not required to take as an Egyptian student. The student has the choice to either stay in Kindergarten for two years or start off with Basic Education. Basic Education 9 years of compulsory education Secondary Education 3 or 5 years

(Hasan, 2014)

Egypt Education according to UNICEF “The percentage of children between the age 6-18 years who never enrolled or who have dropped out of basic education is 8.1%, equivalent to around 2.8 million children” (UNICEF, 2014) “Egypt has attained a school net enrolment rate of 95.4% .” (UNICEF, 2014)

Standard Curriculum of US A standard curriculum for an American secondary school would consist of Science, Math, English, Social Studies, Physical Education, Languages, Health, Computer Applications, and specific electives for 4 years. Where the student is free to pick his/her classes. Most students will take 4 years (8 semesters) of Math, English, Social Studies, Science, and rarely another language.

Standard Curriculum of Egypt The common curriculum for an Egyptian secondary school would consist of based subjects, math, and sciences for the first year. The two programs that students get to pick from starts in their second year. The options are the general program or the technical program. The technical program. “The Technical program can be completed in three or five years courses on commercial, agriculture and industrial fields.” (studylands, 2014) The most chosen option would be the general program. “The general program consist of either natural sciences or literature and language.” (studylands, 2014)

Types of Schools Egypt (British Council, 2014) United States Government Schools Arabic English Private Schools Ordinary Language Religion United States Public Schools

Egypt’s Government Schools The first type of government school in Egypt is Arabic schools where these schools provide the curriculum given by the Egyptian government, but all taught in the Arabic language The second type is experimental language schools where French is taught as the second language and the English is taught at the first language while trying to teach the majority of the governmental curriculum.

Egypt’s Private Schools The first type of private school is ordinary schools where they are alike to the Arabic schools, but the difference is that they care more about the students. “Language schools teach most of the government curriculum in English, and add French or German as a second foreign language. They are expected to be better than other schools, because of the facilities available, but their fees are much higher. Some of these schools use French or German as their main language of instruction, but it may be difficult for the student to study in governmental universities in Arabic or English afterwards.” (British Council, 2014) The last type of private school would be a religious school where they teach strictly religion. Azhar Schools

Al Azhar Education System “Another system that runs in parallel with the public educational system is the Al-Azhar system. It consists of four years of primary stage, a three year preparatory stage and finally three years of secondary stage. Al Azhar education system is supervised by the Supreme Council of the Al-Azhar Institution.” (British Council, 2014)

Egyptian Primary School The New Egypt Primary School stated on its website, “New Egypt Primary School is now accepting ALL REGISTRATIONS (Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st Grade) for the 2014-2015 school year.” (New Egypt Primary School, 2014) Egyptian primary schools are alike United States primary schools because they are open to everyone, but United States primary schools are mandatory. 

Some Statistics of Tertiary/College “There are 17 public universities, 16 private universities, 89 private higher education institutions and 51 public non-university facilities.”  "The database lists approximately 6,900 postsecondary institutions and programs, each of which is accredited by an accrediting organization recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a “reliable authority as to the quality of postsecondary education” within the meaning of the U.S. federal Higher Education Act of 1965." (The Council for Higher Education Accreditation, 2014)

More Statistics on Egyptian Schools “University and HE education enrolment has increased significantly, reaching an estimated 2,397,863 students in 2007. The number of private universities has increased, with an estimated student population of 50,000. The number of private schools has also increased steadily over recent years and is currently approaching 4,000.” (British Council, 2014)

Egyptian Education Demographics “The literacy rate in Egypt was 71% in 2005, which includes 59% of females and 83% of males. There is special attention given by the government and other NGOs to reduce the gender disparity in education and to achieve the 2015 MDG of universal primary education.” (British Council, 2014)

Egyptian Schools with Disabilities “One does not have the impression that Egypt is a country that is ideally suited to a person with disabilities.” (Sites Dot Miis, 2013) Egyptian government schools do not value their disabled students because they do not provide transportation like American schools do. This being said, the idea of what else has to be cut from the Egyptian government schools’ budgets should be thought about.

(Sites Dot Miis, 2014)

References EGYPT. (n.d.). Egypt Map / Geography of Egypt / Map of Egypt. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countr Egypt: Closer Than You Think. (n.d.).Modern Egypt RSS. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://modernegypt.info/one- hundred-facts-about-egypt/ Hasan, A. (n.d.). Higher education system in Egypt. Higher education system in Egypt. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www-db.in.tum.de/teaching/ws1112/hsufg/Egypt/Eg Education. (n.d.). UNICEF Egypt. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/egypt/education.htm Primary and Secondary Schools in Egypt. (n.d.). Primary and Secondary Schools in Egypt. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://www.studylands.com/study-abroad/primary_secondary2-EG-en-csvp.htm Egyptian Education. (n.d.). Egyptian Education. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-skills-for-employability-egyptian-education.htm#the AlAzhar Educational Website. (n.d.).AlAzhar Educational Website. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.alazhar.gov.eg/English/GrandImam. Chapter One: The Egyptian Education System. (n.d.). Impact-se. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://www.impact- se.org/docs/reports/Egypt/EgyptMarch200 New Egypt Primary School / Homepage. (n.d.). New Egypt Primary School / Homepage. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://plumsted.schoolwires.net/Domain/11 "Education System in Egypt." Egypt Education System. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://www.classbase.com/Countries/egypt/Education-System>. "Education in Ancient Egypt 2."ancienttimeskc -. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://ancienttimeskc.wikispaces.com/Edu Education In Egypt. (n.d.). Education In Egypt RSS. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://sites.miis.edu/educationinegypt/