N EVINE Ahmed, an English language teacher steers her group of I I year old boys and girls out of the confining classroom and Into the open air With their small faces raised to the sky Ms Ahmed asks simply. What do you see when you look at the shapes of the clouds?"
The question is met by silence Of the 40 students, not one Is able to see anything but clouds It was only after repeated examples and enco uragement that figures began to emerge from the white masses and the children are able to explore their individual creativity
Ms Ahmed Is not surprised, because the students have often found It difficult Io be Inventive in similar exercises. Yet she is quick to explain that they are not to blame
Our children should be Imaginative, yet their imagination Is blocked ' she says They are losing their own persona litles and words In the schools.
As’the population of Egypt continues to grow at 2.8 per cent annually.' students are entering the school system each year at an astounding rate. In 1981, 83 per cent of school-age children entered primary schools Today that figure has climbed to nearly 95 per cent, and In the past two decades enrolment in kindergarten alone has Increased by more than 500 per cent.
Inside the classrooms, students encounter both a curriculum and a testing system that many educators believe are badly in _ need of reform The current 'syllabus does not encourage creativity and does not address the new technological and economic needs of the society. Monthly examinations promote memorisation rather than obser vatlon. analysis and comprehension. further inhibiting students' development as Individuals.
The system needs to be revised and aimed to help students survive In the 21st century, says Dr Waguida el Bakary, coordinator of Education Programme at the American University in Cairo.
In a government school in el-Sahafeyeen. students of the first shlfl begin I heir exercises
at 7 a m Packed into a small dirt filled lot. they stand within easy reach of one another to perform basic caltsthenlc drills The area la congested and their motions are small. Scrambling indoors at 7:30. the students remain seated until 11:30 when class is finished and they must leave the school grounds to make room for the next shift
In this second grade cWss.
47 students sit at battered desks, and five days each week listen to their teacher methodically Instruct them In Arabic, mathematics, science and religion. They have no classes In music or an and no time for recreation They have grown accustomed to the broken window and during the winter months sit bundled in their coats throughout the morning
While students In some private schools may have access to better facilities and quality of Instruction, they are not immune to the effects produced by the government syllabus and the examination system. As early as kindergarten. the emphasis Is on accumulating information, and there is little room for developing individual creativity. Young children grow accustomed to massive amounts of homework that require them to study well Into the night.
The emphasis on memorisation rather than analysis is accentuated by the nature of the examination system. Success in school is determined by exam marks, so the emphasis Is on testing rather
than learning. Students are tested monthly, so they are forced to memorise endless numbers of tacts that they have often not understood or asaim llated. Frequently. students are asked to recite full chapters but not to provide any analysis of the material
Although no current dropout figures are available to determine how many children abandon their formal education many students especially In rural areas, leave before secondary school Some chi I dren drop out because the system has killed their desire to learn, while others can't afford the school fees or must go to work to help support the family Girls drop out more often than boys because parents believe that since they will eventually leave the ifonily when they marry, they offer a poor return on their Investment
Statistics compiled by the United Nations Educational. Scientific and Cultural Organ Isation (UNESCO) showed that as of 1985. more than half — or 55.5 pef cent — of Egypt s population aged 15 and above were Illiterates
Enrolment in primary school for the year shoed only a slight Improvement over the 1981 figure — 85 per cent. Secondary school enrolment for the same year was 82 per cent Only 2.057 of every 100.000 Egyptians were enr oiled In post secondary programmes.
Reform has begun and significant changes are taking place In testing, curriculum and teacher training. This year, the National Centre For exams and Educational Evaluation Introduced questions that rely on reason and critical thinking. The Centre for Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development is creating a new curriculum designed to stimulate problem solving -r-! ~atlvity.
When Ms Ahmed asks her class what they think about the main character in The prisoner pf Zenda' by Anthony Hope, one student repeats what Ms Ahmed herself had said the previous day.
Tell me In your own* words." she says. Remember, my words are not the Quran, my words can be changed.' — Depthnews Asia.