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EGYPT
Population Growth Overtakes Literacy Rise
By Cam McGrath
LUXOR, Mar 12, 2010 (IPS) - Literacy programmes are teaching millions of Egyptians to read, but are
struggling to keep up with the country's high population growth.
"Egypt is one of the most challenging countries for any literacy programme," a
literacy programme administrator at Catholic relief agency CARITAS told IPS.
"You can't afford to step off the pedal for a minute."
One in every four Egyptians is illiterate. Despite free education and long-
running literacy programmes, the number of illiterates has changed little in
over two decades. Nearly 17 million adult Egyptians can neither read nor
write, according to recent government data.
Development experts prefer to see the glass half full. Ghada Gholam, an
education programme specialist at UNESCO Egypt, has no illusions about the
extent of the problem, but says progress in reducing Egypt's illiteracy rate
should not be overlooked.
"In percentage terms literacy rates have improved a lot over the past 10
years, though in actual numbers they (illiterates) have increased. And this is
directly related to population growth," Gholam says. "There are lots of
successful efforts, but with the increase in the population growth it is really
difficult to decrease the number of illiterates."
Egypt's population of 80 million is growing at 1.76 percent a year. The
strongest growth is among the rural poor - those most inclined to chose
immediate financial security over the long-term benefits of education.
Despite free, mandatory education for children ages 6 to 15, parents in poor
communities often remove their kids from the education system to help work
at home or in the fields.
"School enrolment is free, but parents don't want to spend money on
transport, private lessons or textbooks," says Ayman Tawdros, who
supervises CARITAS literacy programmes in the southern Egyptian
governorate Luxor. "If the children go to school they can't work, and they are
perceived as a financial burden on the family."
The dropout rate is highest among girls. Tawdros says parents are less willing
to invest in their daughters than their sons because they believe that by their
late teens the girls will likely "marry off and move away."
Education specialists say the pressure on girls increases significantly after
puberty.
"Once a girl hits a certain age, especially in countries where there's early
marriage, her chances of being pulled out of school increase," says Diane
Prouty of the Girls' Improved Learning Outcomes (GILO), a USAID-funded
project to increase girls' access to quality education in rural Egyptian
communities. "In addition, girls spend more hours doing housework and
chores than boys, so they have less time to study or sleep."
Women account for 69 percent of illiterates in Egypt.
"Any serious effort to tackle illiteracy starts here," says Prouty. "The literature
is really clear that girls who go to school have less mother mortality, lower
infant mortality, more discretionary cash and, importantly, are much more
likely to educate their own family."
National campaigns to eradicate illiteracy became more vigorous following
the creation of the Adult Education Authority (AEA) in 1991. The state agency
works with educational institutions and various NGOs to eliminate illiteracy,
with priority to individuals between the ages of 14 and 45. It develops the
national curriculum and administers literacy exams.
But the numbers are daunting. Educators must teach 1.4 million Egyptians to
read and write every year just to keep up with the country's population
growth. Only then can they begin to make a mark on the illiteracy rate,
shaving off one percent for every 700,000 taught.
National campaigns have helped reduce the country's illiteracy rate from over
40 percent in 1991 to about 26 percent today. Gholam, however, says the
statistics may not accurately reflect the significant progress made by
organisations and individuals working outside the state education system.
"It's very easy to get statistics for children in schools and those in formal
learning- you can follow and track them," she says. "But informal learning is
very difficult to track. Literacy is not only taught by the government; it is also
taught by civil society, peers and family members."
Literacy campaigns are utilising informal learning, encouraging university
students to instruct their peers and literate family members to teach their
relatives. But some say the government needs to show stronger commitment
to mandatory education, stiffening the punishment for parents who fail to
register their children or withdraw them from school.
The current penalty for taking a child out of school is a 1.80 dollar fine,
though it is rarely enforced.
"We must break the cycle of illiteracy that starts with parents deciding not to
educate their children," says Heba Youssef, a primary schoolteacher.
"Children who grow up illiterate are less likely to improve their economic
situation than those who can read and write. And they are less likely to
educate their own children." (END)
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