Protests and demonstrations have spread across the country in the wake of the January revolution, now reaching Egypt's schools, writes Abeer Anwar After the country's schools went back on 6 March following the January revolution, pupils across the country organised protest marches and presented lists of demands in a similar way to workers in any other of the country's industries that have been affected by strikes or industrial action. Such demands have differed from school to school, but among the first to start were pupils taking the thanawiya amma secondary school certificate, who did not wait for the schools to re-open before presenting their demands. Many pupils went directly to the Ministry of Education building in the Lazoghly district of Cairo, demanding that the schedule for the exam, decided by previous minister of education Zaki Badr, be changed. One pupil, Yasmine Sameh, explained that the "exam schedule is horrible. We want to go back to the old schedule when we had intervals between one subject and another. We are not asking to finish early. What we want is to get the marks that will allow us to join the faculties we want and fulfil our dreams." Under the Badr schedule, she said, schools finished the exams two weeks early. "But what's the point of that, if we are unable to achieve our goals? Isn't it enough that we already have such a paralysed thanawiya amma system in the first place," she asked. Thanawiya amma students also protested through the Ministry of Education website, saying that they were an open- minded generation that merely wanted a different exam schedule. "We are democrats, and we are trying to be active in society after the revolution. We were accused of being uninterested in anything beforehand, but now we are showing ourselves to be the opposite," said Tamer Hassan, a thanawiya amma student. As a result of the protests, the newly appointed minister of education changed the exam schedule to suit the needs of students and their parents. However, the exam schedule has not been the only thing that students want changed. At Ramses College in Cairo, for example, grade one pupils marched for their rights, demanding shorter hours and lower prices in the school canteen. Older students asked for other things, but almost all demanded lower canteen prices. One pupil, Nada Hisham, said that "we also want them to change the school uniform to make it more fashionable and up-to-date." Fadia Makram Ebeid, the school's headmistress, had said she would look into it, Hisham said. Gihan Anwar, Nada's mother, commented that she was "very happy with my daughter and her classmates, as it shows that they are becoming more aware and grown up in their ideas, leaving their shyness aside." Meanwhile at the Sakkara School in Maadi outside Cairo, pupils have other demands to make. School fees should be reduced, bathrooms should be cleaner, and pupils should be allowed to bring their cell phones to school, especially as parents need to bet in touch with them. School terms should be reduced or cancelled, allowing them to study at home, the pupils said. For its part, the school administration said that canceling any part of the curriculum or reducing terms was a matter for the Ministry of Education. Pupils at the Egypt Dream School submitted their demands in a document sent directly to the Ministry of Education, asking for less homework, especially at weekends. Ali Ghoneim, a fifth-grader, said that "all over the world, the weekend is a time for students to relax and have fun, but in Egypt it is the opposite. Homework sheets and studying loads are even greater at the weekend, and I have to study a lot, meaning that I can't play my favourite sport of basketball. Sometimes, I have to go back to school with the homework unfinished as a result," he said. Other pupils asked for more trips and activities, and they wanted to choose their own trips and not have them imposed on them. One pupil, Salma Tarek, asked "why should we pay for a trip we don't want to go on? Students from each grade should be able to choose where they want to go. We should give the school administration three options, and then they can choose one. We should be more democratic about this." Commenting on the demands, Gihan Abul-Nasr, headmistress of Egypt Dream School, said, "I am happy that the students are becoming more aware and independent. They are able to express their opinions freely and in a civilised way. It is very important that we hear them and provide them with outlets to express themselves. I am very optimistic about Egypt's future, as it is safe in the hands of such young people." Mona Essam, a sociologist, commented on the young school protesters by saying that these demands "are positive indicators that our younger generations are on the right path. They now have the chance to express their opinions openly, and this will help them to achieve mature and independent characters." "The demands prepare a whole generation that is trained to choose between what is right and what is wrong, without fearing the consequences." This was a generation with exploring and questioning minds, she said, and these young minds would not allow themselves to be manipulated or oppressed.
