Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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Egyptian Mothers Protest Against Ministry of Education

A vocal group of mothers are working to reform Egypt's education system, creating a Facebook group in unification against the Ministry of Education and demanding changes.

Staff Writer
A Facebook page called “Egyptian Mothers’ Revolt Against Curricula” has amassed over 12,000 members in unification against the Ministry of Education and its current methods of educating Egyptian children. 
 
Claiming that the current curriculum only teaches children via rote memorisation in lieu of critical or creative thinking, members of the Facebook group have called for a boycott of the Education Ministry by taking children out of classes for up to two weeks. Specifically calling attention to the curricula of sixth grade elementary school students, members of the group say that the amount of information that children are required to learn is unrealistic. Citing the curricula for history, 6th graders are expected to absorb information from the beginning of the 19th century through to the aftermath of the 2011 revolution. 
 
The mothers also speak of the prevalent need of having to pay for private tutors to help ease the burden on students. Their feeling is that if so many students need tutoring outside the classroom then the issue is with the curriculum, not the students. The group is asking for parts of the syllabi be removed to help alleviate the pressure on the students. 
 
Certain members of the group are calling for a total overhaul of the Egyptian education system and have taken to the airwaves to make their demands known. The Minister of Education has responded, asking for 700 of the group’s members to meet so he can address their concerns. The ministry also states that they are already taking steps to streamline textbooks and working on other changes. 
 
View the Arabic Facebook page here