Hossam Badrawi Official Website
Dr. Hossam Badrawi writes in Al-Masry Al-Youm
Education priority..a new education system
I must admit that the transition from vision and policy to implementation always faces new challenges, and that we must stand before these challenges today, confront them, and discuss them with reason and objectivity.
Our belief in the priority of education does not come because education is one of the most important services that any government in any society undertakes to provide to citizens, but as a right of every child and youth, every family and small community, and every Egyptian citizen, man or woman, at all ages and at all times. . Education must be viewed through a development concept that links the future of this nation intrinsically to the development of the Egyptian human being to be a builder of civilization and a grower of culture. .
I have previously explained, over a period of fifteen years, an integrated vision for the development of education in Egypt, and multiple policies that determine how to achieve this vision based on Egyptian experiences that have accumulated over the years, and achievements made over several decades, and lessons learned from the results of different policies, sometimes successful and sometimes unsuccessful. And taking into account everything that is happening in the world around us, east and west, and the experiences of the various countries that have succeeded in achieving great leaps in the human development of their people, which has been reflected in the competitive capabilities of these countries, their economic growth, and the well-being of their members.
However, I was not at any time a decision-maker, and I acknowledged that the implementation of any of the policies agreed upon over the years has not been sustained in a way that allows for an amendment of the course or obtaining results that change the shape of society, as we dream and want.
I have carefully reviewed the strategies of the Ministry of Education for the year 2007 and 2014 (the same current government) and what the current Minister of Education sent me in 2018, as well as the policies announced by the Egyptian Parliament from 2000 to 2005, whose educational committee I had the honor at that time.
In 2014, and on behalf of the government, the Minister of Planning asked me to lead a group of more than fifty experts to put Egypt’s 2030 vision in education, and during 18 months of hard work, auditing and involving five hundred thousand citizens on a dedicated page in the social media, a vision was developed, in which every word expresses About meanings and goals. In order not to repeat the mistakes of the past, we moved, in this vision attached to the article, to defining basic and sub-goals for each word and meaning, the time period for achieving them, the responsibility for implementing them, and indicators for measuring the success of the application. I had hoped that with this clear vision we would compensate for the unsustainability of previous strategies and their change with the change of ministers.
Since the vision was announced by the President of the Republic, I think that it has become the responsibility of the ministries to present the means of implementation and be held accountable for their achievement.
And I found that the best comment on what the current government is offering is through the Minister of Education, (who I consider to be one of the wise, familiar with the latest developments in the world, and has been involved in setting policies for a long time with me, and has the courage and presidential support that has the ability to bring about change and development that he could not Ex-Ministers of Education), his reference must go back to announcing the vision, and my mind rested when I found him repeating that one of his references is Vision 2030, which the state must adhere to.
The methodology of my opinion will be based on the axes of the vision and on what I have of the information, and I will avoid discussing the subsections in this article, except for the part of the experimental schools and the controversy that arose about it due to the conflicting understanding about the statements of Minister Tariq Shawky, who explained to me the truth of his position that there is no decision to abolish government schools for languages and their number About 800 schools, but there is a tendency to start studying science and mathematics in them at the preparatory stage instead of the primary stage, which I did not agree with.
The fourth talks about shaping the conscience and building a normal personality, for a citizen who is proud of himself, is creative, enlightened, accepts pluralism, respects difference, is proud of his country’s history and is passionate about building its future and capable of global competition in all fields..
What the government is offering now is divided into sections that address the realization of the vision over a period of time, as I understand it.
1- The Minister focused on one of the most important changes taking place in the world of education now, which is empowering students with technology, and making knowledge available at no cost to them. The current technological revolution provides Egypt with a golden opportunity to stand on the same stage of development with the rest of the world striving for the same goal. We have had a long way to go to catch up with modernization, and technology has cut that short of what was not available ten years ago. In my experience, our children are born digital, and in the poorest places it is surprising that all children have the superior technological ability to obtain information, to take tests and to compete in the new world of imagination.
Therefore, what the government is offering in terms of providing the technological environment and using its mechanisms, starting from a first secondary stage within the framework of gradual generalization, is a commendable and required trend, and we have to support and support it.
2- Also, the cumulative evaluation of students who did not succeed in 2003 in the era of Dr. Hussein Kamel Bahaa El-Din, he will succeed now by using modern technology and education will move a fundamental step forward by partially removing the human element from the evaluation equation to ensure integrity and control of unhealthy teachers in the course of cumulative evaluation of students.
Perhaps I would not add much if I add that by eliminating the negative effects of the cumulative evaluation experience for the educational stage, a great psychological burden will be lifted from suspending the students’ future on the one-chance exam, allowing them to repeat the test from multiple times, and allowing the student’s achievement to be fairly evaluated over a period of time for an educational stage, including his activities and research.
3- I also reviewed what came to me from the Minister regarding the framework of the kindergarten and first grade curricula, which is based on life skills and education for citizenship, which was prepared by the Center for Curriculum and Educational Materials Development and
He saw fit, renewable, and worthy of support, but he lacked a clear implementation plan. It was added that there was a project funded by the World Bank with millions of dollars in 2003 to increase the availability of kindergartens for sixty percent of children within five years, and the availability at that time was for 18 percent. According to a simple calculation, availability without quality has increased by eleven percent in fifteen years. What are the new means in the Ministry’s plan to overcome this challenge?
4- I carefully read the lengthy World Bank report to support Egypt’s steps to improve education in kindergartens, the method of providing educational services to students and raising the efficiency and capabilities of teachers, and the supporting projects, and I see them all moving in good steps to raise the level of education in Egypt. The article does not have enough space to list it.
But I return to the reference, and stick to it, and I know that there are many technical details that cannot be delved into all of them, as it is the mouthpiece of the experts and not the ordinary reader. However, this requires transparency in providing knowledge of the projects that will serve the new strategy in its details, so that specialists can return to it when necessary.
As a matter of positive construction, I would also like to read a report on the last two strategic plans of the ministry in 2007/2011, and the 2014/2030 plan under the title “Towards a Qualitative Leap in Education” for the first and “Together We Can” for the second, and what was accomplished or failed in them and the reasons for success. And failure in order to avoid mistakes and push for success in the renewed strategy.
However, I must admit that the transition from vision and policy to implementation always faces new challenges, and that we must stand in front of these challenges today, face them and discuss them with reason and objectivity, seeking to overcome them to reach the desired results, and we have to share with the community in understanding these challenges, And steadfastness on these policies so that we can move from the place where we stand to the place we mean by developing education.
Any strategy needs complementary and quick steps, perhaps the most important of which is the development of a plan for its implementation, and a work program through which this strategy is linked with its various components, and the current development programs and initiatives undertaken by the ministry, local levels, international donors, the private sector, as well as non-governmental organizations. . Implementation plans and work programs must have specific time frames, clear plans for financing, and strict monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as defining responsibilities and accountability.
Talking about a strategic plan for a sector such as the education sector must take place within an institutional, financial and administrative framework that guarantees its success and guarantees its coexistence and building on initiatives and programs that serve the strategy, and those that are under implementation now and in the future.
By reviewing the education strategies announced every five years and the policies that were developed and approved by successive governments but not implemented in the last twenty years, I found that there are many vocabulary that are still used as labels for new systems, which are in fact close to what was presented and not implemented.
Therefore, what the government is doing now is a brave attempt that we have to support in it and to correct any errors that appear to us by implementing it with a serious and studied opinion and in a positive way that builds and does not destroy.
Overcoming application challenges
I see several priorities to overcome the challenge of implementing the policies that the government is now calling for and the strategy that translates these policies into actionable programs that can be implemented:
First: Availability of political will that cannot be compromised to achieve a sustainable boom in the level of education in Egypt, whatever the cost, and community participation through a serious program that promotes these policies and involves the community in implementing and evaluating them (I see them being more available than before).
Second: The priority of determining and providing the necessary budget for this, which may require the community, represented by its popular leaders at the local level, and at the general level in Parliament with the government, to make choices that clearly translate this priority. Choice is a positive will, which means giving up other priorities in favor of a priority that society sees as ruling, and we talk about it all the time. It is the priority of education and human building. Reliance on funding from outside the budget and from supporting institutions such as the World Bank may be unsustainable, and I hope we are aware that stopping in the middle of the road is fatal to the idea and destroys sustainability. Let’s forbid it.
Third: Advertising, and adhering to the community about the time period in which the development will take place, rather marketing it at all levels in all media. I may add that the government should build allies in this direction and in the positive and professional marketing of the strategy.
Fourth: Adopting the principle of achieving an effective critical volume of development and succeeding in it, to restore trust between society and the educational institution once again. This requires advertising and adhering to the indicators of success that we must adhere to and involve the community through them in accounting and evaluating the experience at the decentralized and public level. As well as determining this critical effective size, taking into account the resources that can be mobilized to finance this process, which is one of the most important determinants of success.
First: Always start with school principals, who have been proven by global experience to be an essential axis in achieving success and implementing decentralization.
Second: Commitment to developing or transferring science, mathematics and technology curricula from other education systems that have proven success, at all educational levels, with Arabic, English and a second foreign language at the heart of this development, which must be combined with the development of the rest of the curricula, which may take take longer.
In this context, the experience of government schools of languages that teach science and mathematics in English should not be stopped or the teaching of these sciences should be Arabized under the pretext of fear for identity. .
Third: no
Continuation of teacher training programs and upgrading their level at all levels and training service providers from civil society, and providing the necessary funding for this is a top priority, while recognizing the need to develop training institutions in all society, and prepare a wide range of trainers to do this work, which is the most difficult matter. And the basic human challenge in the development process.
This includes developing the teacher’s academy to fulfill its entrusted role, and seriously considering the faculties of education called in Egypt the faculties of education, which is the breeding factory for teachers. However, what the report mentioned confirms that what teachers were trained in the first quarter of 2018, which ended, amounted to more than Five hundred thousand teachers, which I doubt to achieve.
Fourth: Legislative protection for all development frameworks, especially if development is implemented in a phased manner, or educational evaluation systems are established in them that differ from what is available in the rest of society.
Fifth: The application of quality and accreditation systems, through the authority established for this purpose, to these schools, which calls for institutional work to develop the authority.
Sixth: As the responsibility for the electronic calendar falls on the National Center for Evaluation, which is affiliated with the ministry, which will cost 120 million dollars, in partnership with a foreign company!! Which will start next September, the center needs to be restructured, which contradicts its mandate, which will happen within a few months.
All of these are tasks that the ministry should carry out in parallel with the announced projects and programs.
I cannot finish this article without going back to the school’s role in building the normal personality of the Egyptian citizen.. With the availability of knowledge and the spread of means of obtaining it, the presence of students within the school’s framework will be its first goal, which is education through coexistence. All the skills that the student will acquire from the twenty-first century, and the basic values of the normal citizen who sees and feels beauty, are the primary school mission in the next stage. It is the task of the school administration and its teachers, which is something that I hear a lot about and see implementation in only a few.
Practicing sports, arts and activities, is the most important part in building a person. I would like to see and read how the Ministry will prepare its schools for this, and we are with it a positive civil society.
Therefore, I go back and repeat that the education, culture and youth file is one file and it must have a common vision to benefit from the country’s wealth of cultural palaces and youth centers, in combination with the activities of schools.
An important matter remains, which is Al-Azhar education, which includes millions of students, and it has not yet been dealt with, despite my knowledge that His Eminence, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, is ready to develop in it, taking into account the data of the times and the possibilities of the future. His eminence received me, wishing to open the file of developing Al-Azhar education as well. I will present my opinion in writing on this matter shortly.
Also, technical education, which accommodates more than sixty percent of our children at the age of fourteen, and its weakness is one of the reasons for Egypt’s delay in determining international competitiveness, and the unjustified delay in the legislation on the national qualifications framework in Egypt. I will give this file a full explanation in a subsequent article.
a. Dr.. Hossam Badrawi
