* Education in Egypt *
(Although this CNN clip is from 2008, its content is still relevant and valid today specially after 25th January, 2011 Egyptian revolution.)
On the 17th of October 2011, Salma Khaled Shalaby and Hend Abd El
Hakim, two Egyptian girls living in Liverpool, UK decided to form a
group on the social network site, Facebook to start a project called
"Help the Children of Egypt Foundation".
The purpose of
this group is to gather all forces in UK and in Egypt to establish a
charity foundation to send a group of students from all over England to
rural areas in Egypt to offer their help and support in any way
possible. The project is still in its early stages but the idea seem to
have so far attracted 253 members so far. The help and support needed
can be from medicine students who would be placed in local hospitals,
pharmacies and primary and/or secondary teachers to teach in local
schools various subjects.
"Illiteracy is one of the worst scourges of Egyptian society," said
Hussam Fathi, a social sciences professor at Ain Shams University. "It
hinders development, limits the nation's ability to compete with other
countries and is the main cause of unemployment."
There will be a trial run of 6 people sent to Egypt by June 2012.
This of course depends entirely on fundraising, planning and
establishing strong connections with partners in Egypt and the UK. It is
hoped that members will be able to help fundraise as much money as
possible to cover the costs of 6 weeks accomedation, food, travel and visas,
medical/educational supplies and any other extra expenses.
To reward those who would take part in such a project for their dedication and exerting effort in helping the children of Egypt, the charity hopes to be able to provide the opportunity of visiting various tourist areas of Egypt to give participants a taste of the culture.
To read more about illiteracyin Egypt, go to:
- http://english.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=345393
- http://thedailynewsegypt.com/education/education-key-to-development-say-literacy-initiative-founders.html
- http://www.economist.com/node/16564142
- http://al-shorfa.com/cocoon/meii/xhtml/en_GB/features/meii/features/main/2011/08/05/feature-01
