Comparing Between Government and Private Education in Egypt

What’s the most flexible parasite known to mankind? I believe it is an idea. A single idea within the boundaries of the human mind can build cities. An idea can completely transform the world and rewrite all the rules.A single idea, in the right person’s head, could do wonders – an idea in the head of a scientist could convert into a lifesaving invention or discovery (such as electricity, sanitation); in the head of a nation leader it could provide the means for peaceful solutions rather than life-shattering decisions of war and gore; in an architect’s head it would mean the building of a world wonder like the Great Pyramid of Giza, Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal or the Great Wall of China.Yet ideas are not suddenly generated in people’s minds out of nowhere – the sparkling seed of such incredible ideas, in fact, rooted in the education they receive for the better part of their lives.

The topic will be comparing between private and government educations in Egypt, this particular topic were chosen because iam familiar with it and have a background, also it’s interested. In the following lines I will discuss what education, the foundation of education in Egypt, the deferent between education in past and now days.Although the central focus of this paper will be education in universities, still i will mention education in schools, because it’s a part of the education process. Also will discuss the education system in Egypt (basic, secondary, post-secondary, and Al Azhar), then the deferent between government and private schools and universities. The applied part will compare between Misr International University and Ain Shams University. Afterward, will mention the possible resolutions and at end the conclusion II. What is education?What is education? Cambridge university press defined education as “the process of teaching and learning in school or college, or the knowledge that you get from this “.

Education had started in Ancient Egypt from thousands of years. Starting from age four, the kids go to schools were they used to learn arithmetic, chiefly reading, writing, sports, manors and morals. Afternoon the boys used to get to learn their dad’s job, while girls were trained by their mothers to be good wife and for the motherhood. Education in past and now daysEarly in the 19th century higher schools were established by Mohammed Ali to prepare cadres for military. About fifty years later the Educational system (basic, secondary, and post-secondary) was spread by Ismail Pasha across Egypt. Schools were still not familiar and popular by that time, also there was shortage of teachers, some of the main reasons were low salaries, and better setting in other countries. In article African women in engineering and science, it was stated that in 1873 the first primary school for girls.

In 1921 the first secondary school was open.In 1923, education became obligatory for males and females by law. Women started to join Cairo University in 1928. By the time Education has developed. it was state In the article “education” it’s stated that in 1975 primary school enrollments increased by 4. 1 percent yearly, and the intermediate schools by 6. 9 percent yearly, also in the same article it were declared that from 1951 till 1979 registration in public universities increased by 1400 percent .

Now a day’s Egypt is recognized by its higher education worldwide, a lot of schools and well known universities are spread out all around Egypt.Also Egypt is well known for receiving a huge numbers of foreign students. III. Education systems in Egypt The education systems contain three stages, basic education, secondary education, and post secondary education. The basic education includes three levels, first two years in kindergarten followed by six years in primary school then three years in preparatory school. Promotional exams are done in that stage. The secondary education hold three levels (grade 9, 11, and 12) and the exams are countrywide or standardized.

Universities studies begin from post-secondary education, due to the huge numbers of universities through Egypt, teaching and examination procedure differ from each university. Al-Azhar education is totally diverse from the previous levels, its holds of primary stage (four years), preparatory stage (3 years), and secondary stage (3 years). Then the students are automatically accepted in Al Azhar University. There are almost 8,000 Al Azhar schools crosswise Egypt and only one university. All students areMuslims and religious subjects are touched though all stages, as well girls and boys are separated in different classes. IV. Types of Schools and universities Government schools Government schools was established in the 19th century, it includes two types (experimental language schools and Arabic schools) , in experimental language schools the teaching in English but only social studies is teached in Arabic, and French is add as second language in preparatory stage.

In Arabic schools, all subject are teached in Arabic except the English language, also French is added in the secondary stage.Mona Makram Ebeid states that Egypt, largely non-democratic and patriarchal, human rights violations, and obscurantism, and the dictatorial approach of teachers for students of all present. It is hoped to be displayed discipline in the civic education curriculum, where a teacher learners can support principles of democracy through good examples and public advocacy, and able to rise a new generation of creative citizens and officials concerned. Private schools There are four types of private schools (ordinary schools, language schools, religious schools, and international schools).Ordinary schools are parallel to public schools, but the only different that they take care of the students need. In language schools most government subjects are teached in English. Most of these schools apply German or French as major language.

Because of their high cost, they are likely to be more advance with more facilities . Religious Schools, mainly their teaching depends on religious subjects such as Catholic schools and Azhar schools. International schools follow other countries systems such as French, British and American systems; they have different exams and education system depending on the country system.Government universities Government universities are under the government administration. It the ten years after 1952 revolution, the education grows up by 1400 percent. In 1989-90 there were fourteen public universities and total enrollment of 700,000. Education is free, students only pays the registration fees.

The public university gets their finance from the state. Some of advantages are low cost; a lot of extracurricular activities are available for students, and more students which means more opportunities to find the right friends.Some of disadvantages are very high numbers of student in small classes, no facilities are available for students, also Dena Rashed mentioned that due the social-political factors, public universities student suffer from right of acceptance, and this effected on the quality of education which is in downward. Some of well known public universities are: Ain Shams University, Cairo University, Alexandria University, Helwan University, and Mansoura University. Now a day’s Public universities have almost the same education as in the private universities called “special education”, the change the student for extra fees.The point from it to improve the education system in public universities Private universities Private universities are Foreign or Egyptian, and mostly small size of student with higher tuition cost. The first private universities were established in Egypt were in 1919 and they are The American University in Cairo.

There are almost twenty one private universities through Egypt. Paul Cochrane pointed out that by the next year new nine private universities will reopen and will raise the acceptance of Egyptian students by 2. million. Some of the advantages are: High- Quality education, smaller class size, greater class participation, and better environment. Some of disadvantages are high cost; cultural may not be suitable for the student, and limit major offering. In Private universities admission system is different than public universities but similar to enrollment procedures worldwide. Some of the known Private universities are: Ahram Canadian University, French University, British University, Future University, and Misr International University.

MIU and AIN SHAMS University: Misr international university is private university established in 1996, all the courses teach in English, the rank of the university worldwide is 500. Some of the faculties that MIU offers are Pharmacy, Business Administration, Architecture Engineering, Electronics ; communication engineering, Alsun, Mass communication, Computer Science, and Dentistry. Also the university offer cross- cultural programs, for example with Bremen University of Applied Science and University of Prince Edward Island.Ain Shams University is Government University founded in 1950, it contain eight campuses. Its rank 15th in Africa, It has seventeen facilities, some of them are: Law, Medicine, Specific Education, Women’s College, Institute of Environmental Studies and Research, and Nursing. Solutions: Mohamed Aboulghar position the three stages for basic university education, first, it enhance the general knowledge and culture among students and this will help him/her in starting a career with a lot of knowledge about life and with extra global vision.Second, help the students to have their own personalities and to be more creative and independent, having the ability of thinking freely and make decisions on their own.

Third teaching the students professional skills beside their basic knowledge. Other are the social climate, Gray D. Borich point out the three different types of social climate, first, competitive climate where student compete to the right solution, second cooperative climate where students work with each other to reach a satisfaction solution, third individualistic climate where the students complete the assignment based on the best answer they think about.Also motivation is important, Robert E. Slavin state that it’s the educator’s job to motivate students and merge in entertaining activities that can help in learning. Conclusion: Egypt have strong and historical education systems, but in the recent years were filled up with problems and careless from the ministry of education. All students have problems, either in Ain Shams or MIU University.

In Ain Shams the main problems are not professional doctors, less facilities, bad environment, huge number of students in one class, and unfair grading system. For MIU the problems were drop because of attendance, and the location of university. As I see MIU students, like their university and satisfied by the exams level and facilities, and they have great environment. The majority of AIN SHAMS students are hard worker, they appreciate the education but their environment doesn’t help.