الأربعاء، 30 يوليو 2008


HINT : THIS PARAGRAPH IS WRITTEN BY AHMED AKTHAM


The Egyptian educational system is highly centralized, and is divided into three stages:

  • Basic Education :Arabic: التعليم الأساسى transliteration: al-Taʿaleem al-Asassī
    • Primary Stage
    • Preparatory Stage
  • Secondary Education:Arabic: التعليم الثانوىal-Taʿaleem al-Thanawī
  • Post-Secondary education :Arabic: التعليم الجامعى : al-Taʿaleem al-Gammeʿī

Since the extension of the free compulsory education law in 1981 to include the Preparatory Stage, both Primary and Preparatory phases (Ages 6 through 14) have been combined together under the label Basic Education. Education beyond this stage depends on the student's ability

.econdary education consists of three different types: general, technical, and vocational.

SECONDARY EDUCATION

Secondary education consists of three different types: general, technical, and vocational

Technical Secondary Education

Technical education, which is provided in three-year and five-year programs, includes schools in three different fields: industrial, commercial and agricultural.

Azhar Education System

The Azhar education system is supervised by the Supreme Council of the Al-Azhar Institution. The Azhar Institution itself is nominally independent from the Ministry of Education, but is ultimately under supervision by the Egyptian Prime Minister.

The Azhar schools are named "Institutes" and include primary, preparatory, and secondary phases.

All schools in all phases teach non-religious subjects, to a certain degree, although not as intensively as the state schools. The bulk of the curriculum, however, consists of religious subjects as described below. All the students are Muslims, and males and females are separated in all phases. The Azhar schools are spread all over the country, especially in rural areas. The graduates of the Azhar secondary schools are eligible to continue their studies only at the Al-Azhar University. In the early 2000s, the Azhar schools accounted for less than 4% of the total enrollment.

Post-Secondary Education


There are both private and public institutions of higher education in Egypt. Public higher education is free in Egypt, and Egyptian students only pay registration fees. Private education is much more expensive. Major universities include Cairo University (100,000 students), Alexandria University, Ain Shams University, and the 1,000-year-old Al-Azhar University, while the American University in Cairo, the German University in Cairo and the Université
Française d'Égypte are of the leading private universities

Types of Schools

Government Schools

Generally speaking, there are two types of go

vernment schools: Arabic Schools and Experimental Language Schools.

  • Arabic Schools, provide the governmental national curriculum in the Arabic Language.
  • Experimental Language Schools, teach most of the government curriculum in English, and ad d French as a second foreign language.

Private Schools

Generally speaking, there are three types of private schools:

  • Ordinary schools, their curriculum is quite similar to that of the government schools, but the private schools pay more attention to the students' personal needs and to the school facilities.
  • Language schools, teach most of the government c urriculum in English, and add French or German as a second foreign language. They are expected to be better than the other schools, because of the facilities available, but their fees are mu ch higher. Some of these schools use French or German as their main language of instruction, but it may be difficult for the student to study in governmental universities in Arabic or English afterwards.
  • Religious Schools, are religiously oriented schools that are sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood movement, especially in the western delta region. Their curricula differ from those of the state or the Azhar schools.

Many of the private schools were built by missionar

ies, are currently affiliated with chur

ches and provide quality education.

Many private schools offer additional educational programs, along with the national curriculum, such as the American High School Diploma, the British IGCSE system, the French baccalauréat,
the German


A

bitur a

n

d the International Baccalaureate

Mansoura University

Egyptian universities

Universities in Egypt are generally either state-funded or privately funded. Education in Egypt is free by law, however there are very small fees paid for enrollment. Public institutions, with few exceptions are generally overcrowded with a student body of several thousands. Private universities are either Egyptian or foreign, and usually have a much smaller student body and

with a much higher tuition rates

.

Education

Public Universities

Public universities are under government administration. Public Higher education is free in Egypt, and Egyptian students only pay registration fees. International students pay full tuition with fees that reach up to £ 1,500 a year. In 2004, the Egyptian government announced its plan to create new public universities from splitting multi-branch universities (Cairo University, Tanta University). This should allow the expansion of these

much neglected smaller rural branches and provide space for the increasing number of students.

Private Universities

Before 1993, only two private foreign institutions were established decades ago. The American University in Cairo, founded in 1919 and the Arab Academy for Scie

nce and Technology (AAST). Under a new law in 1993, Egyptian private universities were established starting from 1996. These new universities are accredited from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Universities every 3 years, in addition to accreditation from foreign educational bodies in Europe. Université Française d'Égypte and the German University in Cairo are examples of such universities in Egypt.

Admission

Admission to public universities and institutions operates through a cen

tralized office, Admission Office of Egyptian Universities (Arabic:مكتب تنسيق الجامعات المصرية Maktab Tanseek Al-Jame'at Al-Masriyah). This office receives applications after the results from the General Secondary Education Certificate are announced in any of its offices or online. The application dates are announced every year but usually take place every August. The application is both discipline-based and university-based. Students are asked to fill the admissions application that listing their choices of their desired discipline and university in a descending order of priority. Students with higher scores have a better chance of securing a place for themselves in their school of choice. While lower-scoring student may "get stuck" in a school or discipline different from that they desired, which might lead th

em to seek admission in private universities where competition for places is less fierce. Admission to private universities is different and is similar to world wide enrollment procedures. A student applies to a specific university and goes through its admission process. However restrictions on the admission to certain schools, especially medical school and engineering, are put by the ministry of education to add some balance and equality between the rich and the under-privileged, by putting a minimum score limit for each discipline (eg. medicine, pharmacy, engineering...) Several reforms are currently being studied, that includes canceling the free tuition rule for Egyptian students in public universities, and making this rule work for the under-privileged, honor students or based on merit.

Funding

Public universities in Egypt get their funding from the state as they are state-owned. Egyptian students receive their tuition free of charge but pay a very small registration fee. However, Non-Egyptians pay full tuition and fees that are estimated around £ 1,500.

Private universities in Egypt receive no state funding and are solely dependent on their resources and supporting foundations and societies. Tuition a

nd fees range from $ 2,000 to 11,000 per semester.

University Life

Almost all public Egyptian universities provide rented accommodation normally for relocated students (typically rooms or dormitories in same sex campuses) with the majority of local students living in their parental homes, in marked contrast to universities in the western world.

By a recent Higher Education law, students have a priority to frequent a local university

List of Egyptian universities

Public universities

Private universities



This is a movie about water an How it is teached in our egyptian schools to STOP WASTING WATER!!

تعلیم و تربیت و مقام معلم از دیدگاه بهائی

2008-07-19

تعلیم و تربیت و مقام معلم از دیدگاه بهائی

تعلیم و تربیت و مقام معلم از دیدگاه بهائیدیانت بهائی، تعلیم و تربیت را امری، عمومی و اجباری می داند به طوری که آثار بهائی مملو از توصیه و تاکید در باب اهمیت آموزش و پرورش اطفال است:
- "طراز ششم، دانایی از نعمت های بزرگ الهی است، تحصیل آن بر کل لازم" (حضرت بهاءالله، طرازات، نبذة من تعالیم حضرت بهاءالله، ص 72) - "الیوم احبّای الهی را فرض و واجب است که اطفال را به قرائت و کتابت و تعلیم دانش و ادراک، تربیت نمایند تا روز به روز در جمیع مراتب، ترقی کنند."(منتخباتی از آثار مبارکه درباره تعلیم و تربیت، ص 91)- "ترویج علوم و معارف در این امر بدیع، اساس اعظم متین است. باید جمیع یاران بذل جهد بلیغ نمایند تا ترویج امر نور مبین گردد و جمیع اطفال به قدر لزوم بهره از علوم و فنون برند. حتی طفل دهقانی نماند که به کلی از علوم، محروم باسد. مبادی علوم فرض است و قرائت و کتابت، واجب." (مجموعه آثار مبارکه درباره تربیت بهائی، ص 23)در آئین بهائی، تعلیم و تربیت اطفال از چنان اهمیتی برخوردار است که اگر پدر و مادری، استطاعت مالی تعلیم فرزندانشان را نداشته باشند، جامعه مسئول است از صندوق ویژه ای که به همین منظور به وجود آمده است، هزینه تحصیل کودک را فراهم کند. اگر والدینی به هر دلیل از تعلیم و تربیت فرزندشان جلوگیری کنند، از حقوق خود به عنوان والدین ساقط می شوند، و جامعه، مسئولیت آموزش و پرورش فرزندان آنها را به عهده خواهد گرفت. تعلیم و تربیت، از حقوق مسلم کودکان است . عدم تربیت، طفل را با انواع مشکلات ناشی از جهل و نادانی مواجه می کند و ظلمی آشکار نسبت به اوست.ذیلاً به نکاتی در مورد تعلیم و تربیت بهائی از منظر آئین بهائی، اشاره می کنیم:- تربیت، امری عمومی و اجباری است که جمیع اطفال چه فقیر و چه غنی، چه دختر و چه پسر باید مبادی اساسی علم و دانش به خصوص خواندن و نوشتن را به یکسان، بیاموزند.- در دیانت بهائی، تربیت مقدّم بر تعلیم است. به این معنا که اطفال را باید نخست به اخلاق نیکو تربیت کرد، سپس به اکتساب علوم و فنون و صنایع مشغول داشت. (بدین منظور کودکان بهائی، پیش از سنین ورود به مدرسه، از دوره های آموزشی ویژه ای به نام " گلشن توحید" برای سنین پیش دبستان، و کلاس های "درس اخلاق"، برای کودکان و نوجوانان در ضمن تحصیل، برخوردار می شوند.)- تربیت از دیدگاه بهائی، بر سه قِسم است، اول، تربیت جسمانی که عبارت از پرورش قوای جسمانی، ورزش و سلامت تن است. دوم، تربیت انسانی که کسب معارف، علوم، صنایع و مهارت های زندگی است و سوم، تربیت روحانی که عبارت از آموزش اصول اخلاقی و پرورش احساسات روحانی و معنوی انسان است. تربیت صحیح، شامل همراه کردن هر سه قسم از اقسام تربیت در نظام آموزشی است.
- اگر به هر دلیلی والدین استطاعت تعلیم همه اولاد خود را نداشته باشند، در این صورت باید نخست به تربیت دخترانشان اهتمام ورزند زیرا در دیانت بهائی، تربیت دختران مقدم بر تربیت پسران است. زیرا دختران روزی مادر گردند و مادران اولین معلمان عالم انسانی هستند بنابراین باید در نهایت دانایی و فرزانگی باشند.در خصوص نوع تربیت کودکان نیز آموزه های ویژه ای وجود دارد که از جمله آنها می توان به این موارد اشاره کرد:- " باید اول هر امری، آخر آن ملاحظه شود و از علوم وفنون آنچه سبب منفعت و ترقی و ارتفاع مقام انسان است، اطفال به آن مشغول گردند تا رائحۀ فساد از عالم، قطع شود." (حضرت بهاءالله)- "بسیاری از علوم و مبادی مقدماتی باید برای اطفال، روشن شود و به وسایل بازی و سرگرمی، مسائلی را بیاموزند." (حضرت عبدالبهاء)- " علاوه بر تعلیم وسیع و دامنه دار، هر طفل باید شغل و پیشه ای و یا حرفه و صنعتی بیاموزد." (حضرت عبدالبهاء)- "موسیقی را کیفیت شگفت انگیزی است که قلوب اطفال را شدیداً متأثر سازد... تکلیف هر طفل، آن است که حقایقی در باب موسیقی بداند." (حضرت عبدالبهاء) - " اطفال را از صِغَر سن، نوعی تربیت نمائید که بی نهایت به حیوان، رئوف و مهربان باشند." (حضرت عبدالبهاء)- " بشارت یازدهم، تحصیل علوم و فنون از هر قبیل جائز، و لکن علومی که نافع است و سبب و علت ترقی عباد است." (حضرت بهاءالله)
- ...همچنان که ملاحظه شد، تعلیم و تربیت بهائی، در مقام اول، تربیت اخلاقی است و سپس فراگیری انواع علوم و فنون و صنایع و هنرها. تعلیم اطفال به روش کارگاهی همراه با بازی و تفریح، مورد توجه قرار گرفته است و آموزش موسیقی به عنوان، نیروی شکوفا کننده سایر استعدادهای کودکان، مهم شمرده شده است.مقام معلمنظر به اهمیت جایگاه تعلیم و تربیت، معلم نیز از مقام رفیعی برخوردار است. دیانت بهائی، هیچ امری را مهم تر از اشتغال به شغل معلمی نمی داند. زیرا مربیان، نوع بشر را تعلیم داده و به اعلا درجات ترقی و اعتلا می رسانند. در آئین بهائی، مقام مربی چنان رفیع است که معلم از شاگرد خود ارث می برد و معلم یکی از طبقات هفتگانه ورّاث به شمار می رود. در مورد جایگاه معلم، به نقل مواردی از آثار بهائی می پردازیم:- " الیوم، تربیت و تعلیم اطفال احباءالله از اعظم، مقاصد و مآرب اصفیاست. عبودیت آستان مقدس است و خدمت جمال مبارک، لهذا باید در نهایت سُرور و فرح، مباهات به این خدمت نمائی." (حضرت عبدالبهاء)- "طوبی از برای معلمی که به عهد الهی وفا نمود و به تربیت اطفال مشغول گشت. اجر آنچه در کتاب اقدس نازل، دربارۀ او از قلم اعلی ثبت شد. طوبی لَهُ طوبی لَهُ."- " ای بنده جمال مبارک، خوشا به حال تو که به خدمتی مشغولی که سبب روشنائی رخ در ملکوت ابهی است و آن تعلیم و تربیت اطفال است." (حضرت عبدالبهاء)- " ای ثابت بر پیمان،... شکرکن خدا را که موفق به آن گشتی که به تعلیم نونهالان جنّت ابهی پردازی... معلمان، خادمان رحمانند... باید شما هر دمی شکرانه نمائید که تربیت اولاد روحانی می نمائید. پدر روحانی اعظم از پدر جسمانی است... پدر روحانی سبب زندگانی جاودانی. این است که از ورّاث به موجب شریعت الله محسوبند." (حضرت عبدالبهاء)- " معلماتی که در این مدرسه (مدرسه دخترانۀ بنات) هستند، إماء (زنان) مُقربّه درگاه احدیّتند، زیرا امتثال اوامر مقدسه جمال مبارک نمودند و به تربیت اطفال اناث (دختران) برخاستند."در پایان به این بیان از حضرت عبدالبهاء اشاره می کنیم که در خصوص کودکانی که به تحصیل علوم مشغول بودند، چنین فرموده اند:" هواللهای شمع های دست افروز جمال مبارک، الحمدلله به نور معارف روشنید و در اکتساب فضائل، در نهایت جهد و همت. مقبول درگاه جمال ابهائید و شیرخوار ثَدی علوم و فنون، در مکتب تربیت. از خدا خواهم که چنان در علوم، مهارت یابید که شهیر آفاق گردید و سمیر اهل اشراق شوید. سبب عزت امرالله گردید و مظهر الطاف جمال ابهی شوید. و علیکم البهاءالابهی.ع ع" (مجموعه مناجات های حضرت عبدالبهاء مخصوص اطفال، جلد 1 ص 40).
ارسال شده توسط 'آوای دوست' در 7/19/2008 0 نظرات
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2008-07-18

دیدگاه آئین بهائی: جنبه اخلاقی جهانی شدن (بخش اول)
دیدگاه آئین بهائی: جنبه اخلاقی جهانی شدن (بخش اول)پروفسور سهیل بشروئیترجمه حوریوش رحمانیقسمت اوّل:"طوبی لمن اصبح قائماً علی خدمة الامم ... لیس الفخر لمن یحب الوطن بل لمن یحبّ العالم ... فی الحقیقه عالم یک وطن محسوب است و من علی الارض اهل آن ... مقصود اصلاح عالم و راحت امم بوده این اصلاح و راحت ظاهر نشود مگر به اتّحاد و اتّفاق".(۱)(ترجمه مضمون عربی: خوشا به حال کسی که هر صبحگاه به خدمت همه ملل جهان قائم باشد ... افتخار تنها نصیب کسی نیست که وطنش را دوست داشته باشد، بلکه آن کس که جهان را دوست دارد)این مطالب را مؤسّس آئین بهائی، حضرت بهاء الله در اواخر قرن نوزدهم بیان فرمودند. این پیام عمومی مؤکّداً همه ما انسانها را متعلّق به یک خاندان و یک وطن که این کره خاکی است میداند. حضرت بهاء الله همچنین اعلام فرموده اند که بشریّت در این زمان به مرحله بلوغ خود نائل شده و قادر است که در سرنوشت خود تحوّلی به وجود آورد و نظم جهانی جدیدی تأسیس نماید که هدف نهائی آن صلح جهانی است. حضرت بهاء الله و جانشینان ایشان بینشی جهانی، اخلاقی جهانی و نظمی جهانی ارائه فرموده اند که بهائیان را در سراسر جهان تشویق می نماید تا در یک نقشه کلّی تحوّل جهانی مشارکت داشته باشند. امروزه جامعه بهائی در بین جامعه بزرگ جهان، دارای یک هویّت زنده جهانی، تشکیلاتی عالمگیر با یک نظام اداری می باشد که به نحوی مؤثّر در سطح محلّی، ملّی و بین المللی عمل می نماید. بهائیان معتقدند که درک این مسئله که مرحله بلوغ بشریّت فرا رسیده و یک جامعه جهانی در حال شکل گیری است برای همه ما انسانها ارزش حیاتی دارد. چه که ما یا از روی عقل سلیم و یا بر اثر جبر زمان در واقع به سوی یک چنین آینده ای در حرکت هستیم.در طی چند دهه اخیر منتقدین نظام اقتصادی جهانی توجّه را به امور مهمّی مانند حفظ محیط زیست و حقوق کارگران جلب نموده اند. به این ترتیب نویسندگان و کسانی که در امور جهانی فعّال هستند به سیاستمداران، ارباب جراید و عموم مردم یاری داده اند تا چگونگی پدیده به اصطلاح "جهانی شدن" (۲) را از نو بررسی و شناسائی نمایند. مبحث جهانی شدن به خصوص در جمع سیاستمداران، اغلب تحت تأثیر منافع صرفاً ملّی اعم از منافع اجتماعی، اقتصادی یا سیاسی قرار دارد. ولی این منافع محدود و محلیّ است، در حالیکه اگر بخواهیم پدیده جهانی شدن را به دقّت مورد مطالعه قرار دهیم متوجّه می شویم که این بحث از چهارچوب مشکلات و مسائل محدودی که معمولاً مورد نظر است فرا تر می رود، بنابراین بحث درباره این موضوع را کاملاً گسترش میدهیم تا ابعاد فرهنگی و روحانی را نیز در برگیرد، چه که جهانی شدن یک جریان صرفاً مادّی و عینی نیست، بلکه یک فرآیند انسانی است که از یک سو ابعاد سیاسی، اقتصادی و اجتماعی و از سوی دیگر ابعاد فرهنگی، روحانی و مذهبی را در بر میگیرد. به عبارت دیگر در واقع جهانی شدن به همان اندازه که جنبه اقتصادی، سیاسی، اجتماعی و قانونی دارد دارای جنبه اخلاقی و روحانی نیز می باشد.هر چند پدیده جهانی شدن امکانات بسیار وسیعی برای بشریّت فراهم می سازد ولی این امکانات نباید ما را از توجّه به مشکلات بزرگی که این پدیده برای مردم جهان به دنبال دارد منصرف نماید. تنها از طریق اقدامات هم آهنگ جامعه جهانی است که میتوان امیدوار بود که خطرهای ناشی از تروریسم بین الملل، تکثیر سلاح های مرگبار، مواد مخدّر، جنایات، شیوع بیماریها و آلودگی محیط زیست نهایتاً بر طرف گردد. علاوه بر این مسائل مهم جهانی، جهت تعدیل معیشت، تجدید سازمان نظام آموزشی به نحوی که جوابگوی نیازهای قرن بیست و یکم باشد و همچنین رویاروئی با انحطاط اخلاقی عالمگیر فردی و اجتماعی، باید کوششهائی جدّی به عمل آید. از آنجائی که این مسائل رفاه تمامی جامعه بشری را تهدید می کند مقابله با آنها مستلزم اقدامی متّحد و هم آهنگ از ناحیه همه کشورهای جهان می باشد.در میان آشفتگی و اضطرابی که بر روابط بین المللی کنونی حکمفرماست، همه گروهها و هیئت های مسئول در جهان امروز خود را ملزم به یافتن طرحی جهانی جهت حل اختلاف و داوری می دانند. سؤالی که به خصوص باید مطرح گردد اینست که "چگونه میتوان از یک برخورد فاجعه آمیز و پیروزی ناپذیر بین تمدّن ها اجتناب نمود؟ نویسنده این تز بحث انگیز خود پاسخی برای این پرسش دارد. پرفسور "ساموئل هانتینگتون" در کتاب خود به نام "برخورد تمدّن ها و تجدید بنای نظم جهانی" که در سال ۱۹۹۶ منتشر شد این نکته را که عموماً مورد غفلت واقع گردیده عنوان نموده است:"همانگونه که بسیاری اشاره نموده اند، به هر اندازه که بشریّت را به شعب و فرق گوناگون تقسیم نموده باشند، ادیان بزرگ جهان یعنی مسیحیّت غربی، فرق ارتدوکس، هندوئیسم، آئین بودا، اسلام، فلسفه کنفوسیوس، تائوئیسم و یهود همگی در عین حال ارزش های اخلاقی مشترکی را نیز ترویج می نمایند، اگر هرگز قرار باشد بشر تمدّنی جهانی تأسیس نماید، این تمدّن تدریجاً بر اثر بررسی و گسترش این ارزش های مشترک ظاهر خواهد شد".(۳)حدود ۱۲۵ سال پیش، حضرت بهاء الله با توجّه به نیاز شدید بشریّت به رفع اختلاف دینی و روحانی، در آثار خود به شرایطی که برای ایجاد یک تمدّن عالمگیر و یک نظام اداری جهانی ضروری است اشاره نموده و بر لزوم ظهور یک وجدان عمومی جهانی، یک آگاهی روحانی و یک حس مسئولیّت تازه تأکید فرموده اند. در یکی از الواح خود، مردم جهان را به این نحو نصیحت فرموده اند:"ای دوستان سراپرده یگانگی بلند شد به چشم بیگانگان یکدیگر را مبینید همه بار یک دارید و برگ یک شاخسار. انشاء الله نور انصاف بتابد و عالم را از اعتساف مقدّس فرماید"(۴)برای جامعه بین المللی بهائی، جهانی شدن دیدگاهی است از اتّحاد جهانی در عمیق ترین و وسیع ترین شکل خود که همه جنبه های حیات بشری را در بر خواهد گرفت. امّا یک چنین دیدگاهی از وحدت و یگانگی اهل عالم با بازار جهانی بی روح و غالباً بی شکل و هویّتی که امروزه ناظر عملکرد آن هستیم هیچگونه ارتباطی ندارد، بلکه این بینش در عین حال که وحدت اصلی نوع بشر را مورد تأیید قرار میدهد، به تنوّع شکوهمند عقاید و فرهنگها آگاه بوده آن را ارج می نهد. نظر آئین بهائی در مورد جهانی شدن را میتوان در تعهّدی نسبت به مفهوم "وحدت در کثرت" و نتایج عملی آن در حیات فردی و اجتماعی خلاصه نمود.یک جامعه جهانی باید از گرایش به همگونگی و یک شکلی عمومی که معمولاًاز ناحیه یک قدرت مستبدّ مرکزی ناشی می گردد آزاد باشد. زیرا که یک جهان متنوّع بهترین شرایط را برای همه به وجود می آورد تا از طریق مساعی مستقلّ، عقلانی، روحانی و طبیعی استعدادهای خود را به بهترین وجهی شکوفا سازند. وقتی که وحدت عالم انسانی در وجدان بشری رسوخ یابد، تنوّع و کثرت به جای آنکه موجبی برای اختلاف و نفاق باشد، خود سدّی در مقابل استبداد و خودکامگی خواهد بود.بینش چند فرهنگی حائز اهمیّت است، چه که در مقابل تصوّری که امروزه از جهانی شدن وجود دارد، نمونه مناسبی ارائه می دهد. با پایان گرفتن جنگ سرد بیش از یک دهه پیش، طرفداران جهانی شدن با اشتیاق، امکانات تحوّل آفرین بازار و عملکرد آنرا به عنوان نوعی علاج کلی برای همه دردهای جهان پذیرفتند. شکی نیست بازار در بعضی موارد در این راستا مؤثّر بوده است. در طی زمان، بازار به صورت وسیله مفیدی برای ارائه کالاها و خدمات در آمده و تا حدّی در ارتباط و همبستگی مردم نیز موفّق بوده است. اخیراً یکی از مطالعات بهائی در این زمینه چنین نتیجه گیری میکند که: "کره زمین هم اکنون صورت "یک وطن" و ساکنان بلاد مختلف حال حکم "اهل آن" را یافته است." (۵) ولی آیا نمونه های اقتصادی دیگری وجود نخواهد داشت، نمونه هائی که در عین حال که از گرایش ذاتی انسان به عدالت و شفقت ناشی می گردد بتواند استعدادهای انسانی را پرورش داده شکوفا سازد؟اگر بر این باور باشیم که نوع بشر در حال حاضر، بدون آنکه یک مقام مالی و پولی بر اساس عدالت، همکاری و انسان دوستی بنا نهاده باشد، به نقطه اوج پیشرفت اقتصادی خود نائل گشته است، سخت در اشتباه خواهیم بود. علاوه بر این وقتی جنبه اخلاقی جهانی شدن مطرح می گردد، باید بر این مسئله تأکید گردد که بازار پاسخ مثبت و قانع کننده ای برای مسائل مهمّی از قبیل چگونگی تأسیس یک حکومت جهانی و یا چگونگی ایجاد توافق و سازش بین فرهنگها ندارد. به طور خلاصه کاملاً واضح است که ما نمیتوانیم آینده جامعه جهانی را که اکنون در حال شکل گیری است تماماً در گرو اتکاء به نیروهای بازار بگذاریم.از نظر بهائیان، اتّحاد زیر بنای تعالیم همه ادیان را تشکیل میدهد، امّا در امور اجتماعی، تأسیس موازین عمومی عدالت اهمیّت خاص دارد، چه که عدالت اساس اصلی اتّحاد است و بدون اتّحاد صلح امکان پذیر نیست. بنا نهادن یک جامعه جهانی صلح جو مراحلی را در بر دارد. ابتدا عدالت برای عموم باید تأسیس گردد، سپس وحدت جهانی باید تحقّق پذیرد و نهایتاً صلح جهانی جلوه نماید. به این ترتیب نظام جهانی که بشریّت در راه استقرارش تلاش می نماید به هیچ وجه نباید اجازه دهد گروهی گروه دیگر را استثمار نماید، تجارت بین المللی باید آزاد و عادلانه باشد و همه کارگران و مدیران و صاحبان صنایع باید در سودی که تولید می شود شریک و سهیم باشند. نظم جدید جهانی باید تعدیل معیشت را تضمین نماید و برای همه اعضای خانواده بشری امکانات مساوی فراهم سازد و بالاتر از همه، تساوی حقوق زن و مرد را رعایت نماید.قسمت دوم:غالباً توجّه به "نسبیّت گرائی فرهنگی" مبحث جهانی شدن را خنثی می نماید. نسبیّت گرائی فرهنگی در تئوری عبارت است از این عقیده که بعضی از سنن اجتماعی، اقتصادی، فرهنگی و سیاسی برای گروه خاصی، ذاتی است و تحمیل ناگهانی موازین ساختگی و بیگانه بر آن گروه، یک نوع تجاوز ناروا به حریم دیگران محسوب می شود. امّا این نوع اعتراضات غالباً تلاشی در جهت شانه خالی کردن از رعایت موازین عمومی حقوق بشر می باشد. در واقع نسبیّت گرائی فرهنگی یعنی نظریّه ای که منکر چنین موازین کلی می باشد، خود یک حیله سیاسی است که که بر این استدلال غلط تکیه دارد که جوامع جهان امروز جدا از یکدیگر و در انزوای چهار چوب فرهنگ خود پرورش یافته اند، حال آنکه حتّی نظری سطحی به تاریخ بشر، بدون تردید نمایانگر آنست که هر جامعه ای در روی زمین هزاران نوع بستگی با جوامع دیگر دارد و این واقعیّتی است که تحقیقات باستان شناسی و غیره هر روز بیشتر بر آن مهر تأیید می نهد. دیگر نمیتوان با اتّکاء به این استدلال سست و بی پایه، نیاز به موازینی کلی و جهانی را در مورد رفتار و نحوه اداره جامعه نادیده گرفت. هر گونه شرایطی که افراد را در پرورش استعدادهای ذاتی خود محدود سازد و مانع پیشرفت و ترقّی آنان گردد باید تغییر یابد.شاید بتوان گفت که وحدت اصلی و اولیّه ای که همه مردم و نژادهای جهان را به هم مرتبط می سازد بیش از هر چیز در خرد همیشگی بشر متجلّی می باشد، خردی که "گوتفرید لایپنیتز" آن را "فلسفه همیشگی" می نامد یعنی آن "سنت کلی و مورد قبول عموم" که بین همه فرهنگها مشترک بوده به صور گوناگون جلوه می نماید و دید مشترکی از تعهد بشری را منعکس می سازد. بدون شک با مراجعه به این دیدگاههای اساسی، میتوان آن وجوه مشترک اصلی را که موجب اتّحاد همه مردم می گردد یافت و نتیجتاً یک نظام اداره کننده جهان واحد بر اساس ارزش های کلی طرح ریزی نمود. از یک چنین طرحی میتوان یک نظام اخلاقی فراگیر جهانی و یک "قانون عمومی حقوق و مسئولیّتهای بشری" مشترک به وجود آورد. هنگامی که این مقصود به طور کامل حاصل گردد، آن وقت است که بشریّت آمادگی آن را خواهد داشت تا به بلوغ اخلاقی و خرد لازم جهت ایجاد یک جامعه حقیقتاً جهانی یا یک نظم جدید جهانی نائل گردد. هیچگونه قدرت اداره کننده دیگری را که بتواند عدالت و اتّحاد واقعی را منظور نماید و در تصمیم گیری بر اصول اخلاقی و روحانی متّکی باشد نمیتوان تصوّر نمود.(۶)بهائیان جهانی شدن را به طور کلّی جزوی از تکامل تمدّن بشری میدانند و آن را مرحله اجتناب ناپذیری از بلوغ تدریجی بشریّت می شمرند. حضرت ولیّ امرالله جهانی شدن یا نظم جهانی را به عنوان "هدفی که بشریّت تحت تأثیر نیروهای متّحد کننده حیات ناچار به سوی آن در حرکت است" (۷) توصیف نموده و امور ذیل را به عنوان شرایط ضروری تأسیس یک نظام جهانی زنده ذکر فرموده ا ند:· یک پارلمان جهانی با اختیار وضع قوانین لازم الاجرا که به طریق دموکراتیک انتخاب شده باشد.· یک هیئت اجرائی جهانی که مسئول اجرای قوانین باشد.· یک قوّه قضائیّه بین المللی که در اختلافات قانوناً داوری نماید.· یک سیستم ارتباطات جهانی که همه جهان را در بر گیرد و در دسترس همه شهروندان جهان باشد.· یک زبان کمکی بین المللی.· نظام متّحد الشکل اوزان و مقادیر و پول جهانی.· مطبوعات و وسائل ارتباط جمعی جهانی که بر اصول اخلاقی متّکی باشد.· عدالت اقتصادی برای همه مردم جهان.· آزادی از قید تعصّبات. (۸)لازم به تذکّر است که علّت طرح نقشه ای که حضرت ولیّ امرالله توصیف فرموده اند وقوع دو جنگ جهانی و مصائب قرن بیستم نبوده است، بلکه در واقع عناصر اصلی این طرح در آثار مقدّسه دیانت بهائی مدّتها قبل از آغاز قرن بیستم ظاهر شده است. بهائیان از همان آغاز ظهور آئین خود در نیمه قرن نوزدهم، در تلاشهای خود برای بنا نهادن جهانی بر اساس اصل وحدت در کثرت، با مسئله جهانی شدن از نزدیک روبرو بوده اند.در طی یک قرن و نیمی که از ظهور آئین بهائی می گذرد، توسعه و گسترش پی گیر جامعه بهائی در صحنه جهانی منتهی به ایجاد جامعه ای گردیده که امروزه حقیقتاً دارای ویژگی های یک جامعه جهانی می باشد. به این ترتیب هنگامی که در سال ۱۹۸۵ بیت العدل اعظم که عالیترین مرجع دیانت بهائی است بیانیه جامعی تحت عنوان "وعده صلح جهانی" منتشر نمود، به خصوص به این پدیده به این نحو اشاره فرموده است:"تجاربی راکه جامعه بهائی به دست آورده میتوان به عنوان نمونه و مثالی بارز از این اتّحاد روزافزون دانست. جامعه بهائی جامعه ای است مرکب از سه تا چهار میلیون نفر از بسیاری از کشورها و فرهنگها و طبقات و افرادی که سابقاً متدیّن به ادیان مختلف بوده و حال در خدمات روحانی و اجتماعی و اقتصادی در اغلب نقاط عالم که خدماتشان مورد نیاز است مشغول به کار و کوششند. جامعه ای است به صورت یک واحد زنده و متحرّک که مظهر تنوّع خانواده انسانی است و امورش را به نظامی مقبول بر اساس اصول مشورت اداره می نماید و نیز از فیوضات هدایت الهی که در تاریخ بشری جاری گشته مستفیض می گردد."(۹)قسمت سوم:در مورد مسئله امنیّت جمعی و حفظ نظم و قوانین بین المللی باید گفت که این مسئلۀ حسّاس ابتدا توسّط حضرت بهاء الله در بین سالهای ۱۸۶۷ و ۱۸۶۸ مطرح گردیده است. در یک سلسله توقیعاتی خطاب به سلاطین و فرمانروایان جهان در آن زمان، حضرت بهاء الله بر اهمیّت ایجاد یک نظام جهانی امنیّت جمعی که همه کشورها را در بر گیرد تأکید فرموده اند. به خصوص یک نظام دو مرحله ای پیشنهاد فرموده اند که ابتدا مکانیزم رسمی مشورت است که موجب برقراری ارتباط بین دولت ها و مردم می گردد و به این ترتیب در رفع تشنّج و تجاوز و حلّ اختلافات کمک می نماید و فقط در مرحله دوّم و پس از آنکه همه تلاش های صلح آمیز به جائی نرسد، مکانیزم مؤثّر اجرائی لازم است که برای کشورها و گروههائی که سیاست های جنگ طلبانه در پیش گیرند، نظارت یا مجازات هایی را لازم می داند. این دو بعد امنیّت جمعی یعنی مشورت و اقدام را حضرت بهاء الله چنین توصیف فرموده اند:"لابد بر اینست مجمع بزرگی در ارض بر پا شود و ملوک و سلاطین در آن مجمع مفاوضه در صلح اکبر نمایند و آن اینست که دول عظیم برای آسایش عالم به صلح محکم متشبّث شوند."(۱۰)با وجود آنکه بهائیان بر این باورند که علل اختلافات بشری نهایتاً رفع خواهد گردید، ولی طرح امنیّت جمعی پیشنهادی به طور واقع بینانه ای امکان اختلاف را به عنوان یک واقعیّت ذاتی طبیعت بشری در نظر می گیرد. به این دلیل جامعه بهائی از تأسیس نیروی پلیس بین المللی جهت نظارت بر حفظ صلح جانبداری می نماید. برای آنکه جهانی شدن در عالیترین مفهوم خود متجلّی گردد، جامعه جهانی باید از نظر روانی، سیاسی و نظامی آمادگی داشته باشد تا بتواند جهت حفظ حق مسلّم امنیّت و ایمنی کشورها، جوامع و افراد اقدام نماید.به همین ترتیب اتّحاد واقعی را به نحوی که بتواند تداوم یک نظام عادلانه امنیّت جمعی را تضمین نماید نمی توان صرفاً از طریق همبستگی سیاسی و اقتصادی حاصل نمود، گر چه این همبستگی ها خود عوامل مهمی در یک فرآیند بزرگتر به شمار می روند. نیل به اتّحاد در عمیق ترین و کامل ترین شکل خود مستلزم دو تحوّل اخلاقی می باشد: یکی در قلوب افراد بشر و دیگری کلّاً در جامعه بشری. "اروین لازلو" رئیس کلوپ بوداپست، در کتاب جدید خود تحت عنوان You can change the World ، بر این نکته به این نحو تأکید نموده است: "نیل به صلح در قلوب مردم مقدّمه ای است برای نیل به صلح در جهان و صلح درونی تا حد زیادی به ایجاد شرایط منصفانه تری در دهکده جهانی که ما شتابان به سوی آن ره پیموده ایم متّکی می باشد." (۱۱)قسمت چهارم:جهانی شدن علاوه بر احتمال خطر استثمار اقتصادی منابع طبیعی و انسانی، مسائل دیگری را نیز برای جوامع سنّتی و در حال توسعه مطرح می سازد. اگر جهانی شدن مفهومی بیش از ایجاد بازار بزرگی از کالاها داشته باشد، این مفهوم چه بازتابی در بازار عقاید یعنی موازین اجتماعی و فرهنگی محلّی خواهد داشت؟ کشورهائی که از رفاه مادّی کم تری برخوردارند و جوامع مذهبی متعدّد و متنوّعی که در این کشورها زندگی می کنند باید عمیقاً و به طور جدّی بیاندیشند که چگونه می توانند بدون آنکه از منافع اقتصادی جهانی شدن محروم گردند، هویّت فرهنگی خود را به بهترین وجهی حفظ نمایند. در واقع مشکل مهمّی که امروزه در مورد جهانی شدن مطرح است اینست که چگونه می توان هویّت جوامع مختلف را در چهار چوب همبستگی و اتّحاد کلّی جامعه جهانی حفظ نمود.امّا حفظ هویّت فرهنگی بایستی در چهارچوب یک وفاداری وسیع تر یعنی وفاداری نسبت به نوع بشر به طور کلّی و کره ارض به عنوان وطن مشترک در نظر گرفته شود. همه جوامع صرف

education in egypt

the importance of education is stressed in almost all the speeches delivered by His Excellency President Mubarak. In a speech published in Al-Gomhorira daily newspaper on 16,17 Sept. 1993. His Excellency president Mubarak said:


"Education and its progress is our path and gate to the New World map. Education is the cornerstone of our national security in its broad context, covering economy, politics, our intellectual role which precedented other nations and which leads to stability, development and welfare. Education as such is our way to local and international competition"

In another speech of His Excellency President Hosney Mubarak on 23 Sept 1999; he focussed on the objective of social policy in Egypt which supports the umbrella of social security to protect the individual, provide care for the family and guarantee the rights of limited income classes; in the context of a world of unprecedented quick changes and development. This philosophy identifies economic and social policy in Egypt; in the context of a number of axes, the most important of which is concerned with education. It says:
" More attention has to be given to modern education which is the centre of our future In Ancient Egypt the child's world was not as clearly separated from the adult's as it tends to be in modern Western society. As the years went by childish pastimes would give way to imitations of grown-up behavior.

Children would more and more frequently be found lending a hand with the less onerous tasks and gradually acquiring practical skills and knowledge from their elders.

By precept and example, parents would instill into them various educational principles, moral attitudes and views of life. Thus from a tender age they would receive their basic education in the bosom of the family. For girls, this was usually all the schooling they would get, but for boys it would be supplemented by proper training in whatever line they chose, or was chosen for them.

Education, of course, covers both the general upbringing of a child and its training for a particular vocation. The upbringing of boys was left largely in the hands of their fathers, that of girls was entrusted to their mothers. Parents familiarized their children with their ideas about the world, with their religious outlook, with their ethical principles, with correct behavior toward others and toward the super-natural beings in whom everyone believed. They taught them about folk rituals and so forth.

Educational principles are summarized in a number of ancient Egyptian treatises now commonly called the Books of Instruction. The advice given in them was designed to ensure personal success consonant with the needs of the state and the moral norms of the day.

Truth-telling and fair dealing were enjoined not on any absolute grounds, but as socially desirable and at the same time more advantageous to the individual than lying and injustice, whose consequences would rebound against their perpetrator. The Books of Instruction contain rules for the well-ordered life and elements of morality that include justice, wisdom, obedience, humanity and restraint____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

They mostly took the form of verses addressed by a father to his son as he stepped into his shoes or started to help his aging parent. Similar admonitions were delivered by a king to his heir. Most of these books were compiled by senior officials: humbler scribes, like Ant, only played a part in later times.

Many copies were made of these Books of Instruction, since they also served as teaching texts in the schools for scribes. Seven complete and five partial texts have survived, while the existence of others is known from fragments. The one which appears to be the oldest is by the celebrated, vizier, architect and physician to the 3rd-dynasty pharaoh Djoser.

This text has not survived, but is mentioned in the Harper's Song in the tomb of King lnyotef. Another is the Instruction Compiled by the Noble and Royal Prince Hordjedef for His Son. The two authors of these very ancient books were held in such esteem as to be deified. Of other educational treatises perhaps 3 the most important is the Instruction of Ptahhotep, City Administrator and First Minister during the reign of His Majesty Djedkare Isesi, Ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt during the 5th dynasty. The following passages deal with the art of 'elegant and effective speech'.

You should only talk when you are sure you know your subject. He who would speak in council must he a word-smith. Speaking is harder than any other task and only does credit to the man with perfect mastery ...

Be prudent whenever you open your mouth. Your every utterance should be outstanding, so that the mighty men who listen to you will say: "How beautiful are the words that fly from his lips"

Nevertheless Ptahhotep rates fair dealing higher than learning: You may tell a wise man from the extent of his knowledge, a noble man by his good deeds.

In contrast to the hierarchic structure of Egyptian society in those days, this injunction to respect the opinions and knowledge of simple folk has quite a democratic ring:

Do not boast of your knowledge, but seek the advice of the untutored as much as the well-educated.

Wise words are rarer than precious stones and may come even from slave-girls grinding the corn.

Ptahhotep urges his readers to exercise justice and warns against intriguing for self-aggrandizement, bribery, extortion of debts from those unable to pay and insatiable accumulation of property. His manual abounds in concrete advice on how to behave in various situations - at banquets, in the exercise of high office, towards friends, wives, petitioners, paupers and so on.

The spiritual high-point in this genre is reached in the Instruction of Amenemope at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, some of which is closely comparable with passages in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs. It includes, for example, this call for justice and forbearance toward the poor and widows:

Do not move the boundary-stone in the field nor shift the surveyor's rope; do not covet a cubit of your neighbor's land nor tamper with the widow's land-bounds.

Covet not the poor farmer's property nor hunger after his bread; the peasant's morsel will surely gag in the throat and revolt the gullet

If the poor man is found to owe you a great debt, divide it three ways; remit two parts and let the third stand. That, you will see, is the best way in this life; thereafter you will sleep sound and in the morning it will seem like good tidings; for it is better to be praised for neighborly love than to have riches in your storeroom; better to enjoy your bread with a good conscience than to have wealth weighed down by reproaches.

Never let a powerful man bribe you to oppress a weak one for his own benefit. There is a similar foretaste of Christian morality where Amenemope urges consideration toward the afflicted:

Mock not the blind nor deride the dwarf nor block the cripple's path; don't tease a man made ill by a god nor make outcry when he blunders.

In the surprisingly developed moral code revealed by these excerpts, virtue will be rewarded for reasons that can be summarized as follows: behave justly toward your god, your king, your superiors and your inferiors too; in return you will enjoy health, long life and respect.

When judging the dead, god will deal with you in accordance with your past conduct. Those you leave behind, too, will be glad to acknowledge your good deeds by reciting life-giving words and by bringing gifts to ensure you life eternal ... The supreme aim of the Egyptian moral system was to help maintain harmony and order in the world created by god and maintained by the king.

Alongside the inculcation of general rules of morality there was, of course, formal vocational training. Young men did not usually choose their own careers. Herodotus and Diodorus refer explicitly to hereditary callings in ancient Egypt.

This was not in fact a system of rigid inheritance but an endeavor, as one Middle Kingdom stele puts it, to pass on a father's function to his children. Several other sources confirm that this happened with the consent of the king or his plenipotentiaries. Thus we find throughout Egyptian history a tendency for even the highest offices to remain in the same families.

Towards the end of the Middle Kingdom, for example, there was a virtually dynastic line
of viziers, and in the Ramessid period the offices of the supreme priests of Amun were
passed on from father to son. It was in any case common practice for an official to take on
his son as an assistant. so that the succession became more or less automatic. This was
also the implication of joint rule at the royal level. A son was commonly referred to as 'the
staff of his father's old age', designed to assist him in the performance of his duties and
finally to succeed him. Even if the Instructions of Ant declare that 'offices have no offspring.

From an early age they would be going out to the fields, boys and girls alike, to lend a hand in simple tasks like gathering and winnowing the corn, tending poultry and in time cattle, and so forth. Fishermen, boatmen and others would also take their young folk along with them for practical experience.

Pictures of craftsmen at work, on the other hand, rarely show children present. There is one of a boy handing a leg of meat to a butcher; other examples show a lad helping an older man to smooth down a ceramic vessel, and a boy playing in a row of musicians. In the army youngsters were used as grooms and batmen.

Writings of the Roman Period contain some interesting data about the training of weavers and spinning-girls. A test was probably given at the end of the apprenticeship. At this time weavers usually sent their children to be taught by colleagues in the same trade. The master undertook, if he failed to get his pupil through the whole course, to return whatever payment the father had advanced for the apprenticeship.

Kingdom each scribe taught his successor - usually his son - individually. From the First Intermediate Period onwards there is evidence of whole classes run for trainees in this field. In the New Kingdom they existed in the capital city of Thebes (there was one in the Ramesseum, for example, and a second purportedly at Deir el-Medina) and in later times such institutions were run at other centers too. These were not of course true schools in the sense of independent bodies with full-time teachers. All major offices such as the royal chancelleries, military headquarters and the

The ancient Egyptians nevertheless held education in high regard and saw it as a privilege. A few talented individuals without formal schooling still managed to acquire sufficient knowledge to shine in their own field. And there were of course plenty who tried, as everywhere, to compensate for their lack of education by intriguing or currying favor in high places - sometimes as Just as in modern times, children in ancient Egypt imitated adult behavior. The vast difference lies in the fact that in Egypt, more often than not, the children were learning their eventual trade or occupation by that very imitation. As they grew older, children took on more of the tasks on the farms, the workshops, the vineyards, and acquired practical skills and knowledge from their elders.

Along with the skills also came moral attitudes and views of life. Parents instilled their ideas about the world, about folk rituals, their religious outlook, their viewpoints on correct behavior toward others, and toward the deities.

Some of these ethical principles can be found in the so-called Books of Instruction, or Wisdom Literature. The advice given in these texts may have been addressed by elders of Education in Ancient Egyptthe royal, noble and scribal classes to younger men of those same classes, but surely their concepts were familiar to all levels of Egyptian society. Truth-telling and fair-dealing were offered as social desirable and more advantageous than lying and injustice. Justice, wisdom, obedience, humanity and restraint were offered as components of the well-ordered life.

These texts also served as teaching texts for the schools of scribes.

Formal vocational training also existed along with scribal and at-home teaching. An official took on his son as an assistant, so that the son would have "on the job" training and the succession become almost automatic.

Young men did not usually choose their own careers, instead, they very often followed in the family trade or profession, even up to the highest offices in the land, with the blessing of the king, of course. Towards the end of the Middle Kingdom, for example, there was a virtually dynastic line of viziers, and in the Ramesside period of the 20th Dynasty, the offices of the high priests of Amun were passed on from father to son. By the end of the New Kingdom, officials began openly claiming their right to take over their fathers’ jobs, and this led to the sale of offices.

Education in Ancient EgyptThere were exceptions to the profession by heredity, as for example when a man had no son to follow after him. But adoption was often used to ensure property inheritance and funerary provisioning, as well as succession in the profession.

The king was the only one who did not personally tutor his children. Senenmut, the vizier and royal architect for Hatshepsut, and a man named Idu at Abusir, were such royal tutors. The princes and princesses learned literature, mathematics, writing, and grammar.

Girls from less lofty families learned how to manage a household, and how to sing, dance and play musical instruments. These last would be important if the girl took on temple service as a singer or musician.

Education in Ancient EgyptThe children of farmers and fishermen had even less formal education. They learned how to sow, glean, and harvest, tending poultry and cattle, make nets and catch and prepare fish. Children were often included in scenes of harvesting, fishing, or caring for cattle.

Craftsmen must have taken on children to learn the skills needed for ceramic, faience, and metalworking, or of sculpture and painting, but of all the paintings that depict the craftsmen in their workshops, it is rare that children are shown. There is documentary evidence, however, about the schooling of sculptors and painters. The inscription of Irtisen initiated his eldest son into his art. An artist had to be familiar with the conventions of representation, proportion, posture, and symbolism. Sherds from Deir el-Medina and other places back to the 3rd Dynasty have survived which show evidence of a learning artist attempting to carve a human face and features, and the deities.

Artists, draftsmen, sculptors, all had to be literate. They had to convert texts written on papyri and ostraca into hieroglyphs on temple and tomb walls, and inscribe them on statues, requiring knowledge of both scripts. So craftsmen and scribes had to master reading and writing, in hieratic and in hieroglyphic. A 19th Dynasty textbook, now called Papyrus Anastasi I, was used for teaching the geography of Asia and arithmetic sums in a military context. Foreign languages were not taught as a rule, nor were religious texts and rituals. Physical education may only have been taught to princes, since references are made to the physically weaker scribe. Yet in the story of Truth and Falsehood, the boy was "sent to school and learnt to write well, He practiced all the arts of war and surpassed his older companions who were at school with him." These arts of war might include riding a horse, guiding a chariot, the use of weapons

Students did their arithmetic silently, but they recited their texts aloud until they knew the texts by heart. Then they attempted to write it down, either from a teacher’s model or from memory. Students most often used pottery sherds or limestone fragments called ostraca to practice their writing skills, though they did on occasion use and re-use papyrus sheets that had already been used before them.

There is evidence that at least on one occasion, a girl had been taught reading and writing. A 20th Dynasty letter from a man to his son says, "You shall see that daughter of Khonsumose and let her make a letter and send it to me." More evidence from Deir el-Medina indicates female literacy. Several letters on ostraca were addressed to, or sent by, women. Since the content of some of these letters regarded feminine matters, it is unlikely the sender or recipient sought out a scribe to read or write the letter. Tomb paintings of women occasionally show scribal artifacts under their chairs: the palette, the scribal kit and a papyrus roll.

There was no set length for schooling One high priest named Bekehnkhonsu recalls that he started school at age five and attended for 11 years, the last few of which he was in charge of the King’s breeding stable. At age 16 he was then appointed a wab priest. Four years later he began to progress up the temple hierarchy until after 39 years he was appointed High Priest, retaining that office for another 27 years.

Another high official named Ikhernofret states that he became a courtier when he was twenty-six, after being educated as a foster-child of the king.

During the Old Kingdom, there is no evidence that any formal schools existed, except perhaps at court. Princes taught younger princes, and favored youths were tutored with the king’s own children.

In the Middle Kingdom the first indication of a house of instruction appears, on the tomb of Kheti, a nomarch at Asyut. He urges every scribe and every scholar who has been to school to behave properly when passing his monument ad to speak an offering formula for the deceased. The writer of the so-called Satire of the Trades in the 12th Dynasty brought his son to the school for scribes at "the Residence" of the King near el-Lisht. The author, named Khety, gives himself no rank. Perhaps he was a common man who found a place for his son at this elite school.

During the New Kingdom there were at least two schools in Thebes, one in the Mut Temple, the other at the back of the Ramesseum. There may have been a third near the Valley of Deir el-Medina, where Prior to the nineteenth century, the ulama and Coptic clergy controlled Egypt's traditional education. The country's most important institutes were theological seminaries, but most mosques and churches--even in villages--operated basic schools where boys could learn to read and write Arabic, to do simple arithmetic, and to memorize passages from the Quran or Bible. Muhammad Ali established the system of modern secular education in the early nineteenth century to provide technically trained cadres for his civil administration and military. His grandson, Ismail, greatly expanded the system by creating a network of public schools at the primary, secondary, and higher levels. Ismail's wife set up the first school for girls in 1873. Between 1882 and 1922, when the country was under British administration, state education did not expand. However, numerous private schools, including Egypt's first secular university, were established. After direct British rule ended, Egypt adopted a new constitution that proclaimed the state's responsibility to ensure adequate primary schools for all Egyptians. Nevertheless, education generally remained accessible only to the elite. At the time of the 1952 Revolution, fewer than 50 percent of all primary-school-age children attended school, and the majority of the children who were enrolled were boys. Nearly 75 percent of the population over ten years of age was illiterate. More than 90 percent of the females in this age group were illiterate.

The Free Officers dramatically expanded educational opportunities. They pledged to provide free education for all citizens and abolished all fees for public schools. They doubled the Ministry of Education's budget in one decade; government spending on education grew from less than 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1952-53 to more than 5 percent by 1978. Expenditures on school construction increased 1,000 percent between 1952 and 1976, and the total number of primary schools doubled to 10,000. By the mid-1970s, the educational budget represented more than 25 percent of the government's total current budget expenses. Since the mid-1970s, however, the government has virtually abandoned the country's earlier educational goals. Consequently, public investment in new educational infrastructure has declined in relation to total educational expenditures; about 85 percent of the Ministry of Education's budget has been designated for salaries.

From academic year 1953-54 through 1965-66, overall enrollments more than doubled. They almost doubled again from 1965-66 through 1975-76. Since 1975 primary-school enrollments have continued to grow at an average of 4.1 percent annually, and intermediate school (grades seven through nine) at an average of 6.9 percent annually. The proportion of the population with some secondary education more than doubled between 1960 and 1976; the number of people with some university education nearly tripled. Women made great educational gains: the percentage of women with preuniversity education grew more than 300 percent while women with university education grew more than 600 percent. By academic year 1985-86, about 84 percent of the primary- school-age population (more than 6 million of the 7.2 million children between the ages of seven and twelve) were enrolled in primary school. Less than 30 percent of eligible youth, however, attended intermediate and secondary schools. Because as many as 16 percent of Egyptian children were receiving no education in the 1980s, the literacy rate lagged behind the expansion in enrollments; in 1990 only 45 percent of the population could read and write.

Law Number 139 of 1981, which defined the structure of preuniversity public education, made the nine-year basic cycle compulsory. Regardless of this law, most parents removed their children from school before they completed ninth grade. The basic cycle included six years of primary school and three years of intermediate school. Promotion from primary to intermediate school was contingent upon obtaining passing scores on special examinations. Admission to the three-year secondary cycle (grades ten through twelve) also was determined by examination scores. Secondary students chose between a general (college preparatory) curriculum and a technical curriculum. During the eleventh and twelfth grades, students in the general curriculum concentrated their studies on the humanities, mathematics, or the sciences. Students in the technical curriculum studied agriculture, communications, or industry. Students could advance between grades only after they received satisfactory scores on standardized tests. The Ministry of Education, however, strictly limited the number of times a student could retake an examination.

Various government ministries also operated training institutes that accepted students who had completed the basic cycle. Training- institute programs, which incorporated both secondary and postsecondary vocational education, varied in length and provided certificates to students who successfully completed the prescribed curricula. Teacher-training institutes, for example, offered a five-year program. In the academic year 1985-86, approximately 85,000 students were enrolled in all training programs; 60 percent of the enrollees were women.

As of 1990, problems persisted in Egypt's education system. For example, the government did not enforce laws requiring primary- school-age children to attend school. In some areas, as many as 50 percent of the formally enrolled children did not regularly attend classes. There were also significant regional differences in the primary-school enrollment rate. In urban areas, nearly 90 percent of the school-age children attended. In some rural areas of Upper Egypt, only 50 percent attended. Overall, only half of the students enrolled in primary school completed all six grades.

The enrollment rate for girls continued to be significantly lower than for boys. Although increases in the number of girls enrolled in school were greater than they were for boys in the 1960s and 1970s, boys still outnumbered girls at every educational level. In 1985-86, for example, only 45 percent of all primary students were girls. An estimated 75 percent of girls between the ages of six and twelve were enrolled in primary school compared with 94 percent of boys in the same age-group. Girls' primary- school enrollment was lowest in Upper Egypt, where less than 30 percent of all students were girls. Girls also dropped out of primary school more frequently than boys. About 66 percent of the boys beginning primary school completed the primary cycle, while only 57 percent of the girls completed all six grades. Girls accounted for about 41 percent of total intermediate school enrollment and 39 percent of secondary school enrollment. Among all girls aged twelve to eighteen in 1985-86, only 46 percent were enrolled in school.

The shortage of teachers was a chronic problem, especially in rural primary schools. Under British rule, educated Egyptians had perceived teaching as a career that lacked prestige. Young people chose this career only when there was no other option or when it would serve as a stepping-stone to a more lucrative career in law. Despite improvements in training and salaries, teaching--especially at the primary level--remained a low-status career. In 1985-86, Egypt's primary and secondary schools employed only 155,000 teachers to serve 9.6 million pupils--a ratio of about 62 students per teacher. Some city schools were so crowded that they operated two shifts daily. Many Egyptian teachers preferred to go abroad, where salaries were higher and classroom conditions better. During the 1980s, the government granted 30,000 exit visas a year to teachers who had contracts to teach in Arab countries.

Higher education expanded even more dramatically than the preuniversity system. In the first ten years following the 1952 Revolution, spending on higher education increased 400 percent. Between academic years 1951-52 and 1978-79, student enrollment in public universities grew nearly 1,400 percent. In 1989-90 there were fourteen public universities with a total enrollment of 700,000. More than half of these institutions were established as autonomous universities after 1952, four in the 1970s and five in the 1980s. The total number of female college students had doubled; by 1985-86 women accounted for 32 percent of all students. In the 1980s, public universities--accounting for roughly 7 percent of total student enrollment--received more than one-fourth of all current education-budget spending.
Since the late 1970s, government policies have attempted to reorient postsecondary education. The state expanded technical training programs in agriculture, commerce, and a variety of other fields. Student subsidies were partially responsible for a 15 percent annual increase in enrollments in the country's five-year technical institutes. The technical institutes were set up to provide the growing private sector with trained personnel and to alleviate the shortage of skilled labor. Universities, however, permitted graduates of secondary schools and technical institutes to enroll as "external students," which meant they could not attend classes but were allowed to sit for examinations and to earn degrees. The policy resulted in a flourishing clandestine trade in class notes and overburdened professors with additional examinations. Further, widespread desire for a university degree led many students in technical institutes to view their curricula as simply a stepping-stone to a university degree.the children of workmen were taught.high as royalty. educational policy