Quality Education
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© UNICEF Egypt/Whitehill/2007 |
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Community schools rely heavily on peer learning and community participation |
Even though Egypt is taking great strides in providing access to primary education for all children, socio-economic and geographic factors, coupled with gender disparities, continue to affect access to education, notably in poorer, Upper Egypt.
Projects:-
Early Childhood Development
Only 20 percent of children between 4 - 6 years in Egypt are enrolled in pre-primary schools, where children are prepared physically, socially and cognitively for a smooth transition towards primary school. To increase enrollment at the pre-primary stage, UNICEF is working at both the community level; strengthening the capacity of source providers to establish kindergartens, and at the policy level to set national standards and tools to assess school readiness. In 2008, UNICEF, in cooperation with the Ministries of Education and Social Solidarity, the private sector and non-governmental organizations established 276 kindergartens targeting more than 7500 children. Additionally, UNICEF has been supporting a parenting education programme at the community level for more than ten years, reaching 30,000 parents.
Strengthening Access and Reducing Disparities
The net enrollment rate is estimated at 86.7 percent in primary education in EgyptGender gaps in enrolment specially in rural Upper Egypt governorates remain an important challenge to achieve universal primary education. In order to reach out to the marginalised populations, particularly girls, UNICEF is supporting 3 community based initiatives: 227 community schools serving more than 5,000 children (75 % of whom are girls); the Girls Education Initiative in 7 governorates across Egypt, reaching almost 28,000 children in 2009; and combating the worst forms of child labour in 3 governorates, targeting 5000 children who have either dropped out of school or are at a risk of doing so.
Quality of Learning and Primary School Environment
The Government of Egypt has recently established a «National Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation» as part of its strategy to improve quality education in schools. To support this programme, UNICEF is implementing school improvement projects in 2 governorates in Upper Egypt, reaching 195 primary schools, to improve the quality of teaching and learning in preparation for accreditation.
UNICEF is also supporting the national initiative to mainstream child-centred learning techniques in one-classroom schools and primary schools nationwide by providing training of trainers courses to the supervisors and teachers. To date, almost 500 active learning specialists have been trained to train primary school teachers nationwide.
Better sanitation and hygiene action in schools is helping create a more child-friendly school environment.
