If teenagers set out to bring change to their schools and the educational curriculum, what chances do they have of success, asks Abeya El-Bakry Young people in Egypt are sometimes seen as being hard to please, or as not knowing what they want, or not being aware that they have it easier than their parents' generation. But one group of students in their first secondary stage is bucking the trend and is well on the way towards developing their own educational system. "The Education Development System is a project that aims at developing student activities at schools, especially governmental ones," explains Mustafa Ashraf, student team leader at the Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak School in Cairo. "After the departure of our teacher, Mohamed Taha, some of our classmates who had entered university last year decided to continue the project and train us in human resources courses," says Mohamed Zaki, student external relations team leader. The students, aged from 14 to 16, have found that such courses can stimulate their thinking and motivate them to study harder. The project was started in 2011 by Ashraf's then teacher, Mohamed Taha. His idea was to give students time-management courses and to train them in presentation and problem-solving skills for scientific enquiry. However, last year Taha was transferred to Qatar, leaving his former students to continue their activities alone. According to Zaki, it was not easy at first, and the students had to get permission for their activities. "Not all students believed in what we were doing. Some thought that only swots would be invited to join, but then they discovered that in reality it was a do-able activity for all," he said. The students' main activity is scientific research, and they have divided themselves into five committees in order to handle organisational needs. The students define scientific research as something they can explore in a systematic, logical manner, and they have undertaken projects on street children, recycling, the Arab Spring, and other topics. They have also carried out student-led research on stem cells and electro-magnetic fields, and some students are even trying to patent their ideas. Each April, they present a show to the public in which they demonstrate their research, which is then evaluated by university lecturers Ahmed Nabih and Ibtihal Mohamed. "The students' performance is evaluated according to the quality of their research and their presentation abilities," said Zaki. This year, students from two other governmental schools, the Aziz Abaza and Future Schools, have joined those from Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak in the project. "The whole project grinds against traditional school norms," Zaki says. Very often school students are expected to do little more than memorise questions and answers, and there is no time for research or extra-curricular activities. Many parents and teachers share this way of doing things, with the result that students are reprimanded for the time they spend not studying their textbooks, he added. However, the project has shown parents that perhaps there is an alternative to this traditional way of studying, and that such activities can contribute to their children's development. At the start of the project, Zaki's mother was worried that the project would waste his time and would not be useful. "However, when we attended the science show, listened to their presentations, and saw their projects, we became convinced that they were doing something really valuable," she said. "I could see that Zaki had changed as a person as well, becoming the leader of the project and more entrepreneurial," she added proudly. The students succeeded in getting permission from the educational administration for the presenters and lecturers, recruiting other schools to join their project in order to expand among other schools and organising trips to visit them. "We are planning on organising a student conference in summer to which university students will be invited, and we are expanding our outreach to more schools in Nasr City," Zaki said. Ashraf's mother was also worried about her son's progress at the beginning, but when she attended the presentation she became quite happy. "It might be a small project at the moment, but they're trying to develop it," she said. Because the project started soon after last year's 25 January Revolution, some parents were worried about their children's safety and were afraid of letting them attend lectures and presentations themselves. However, things went off quite safely, setting minds at rest. "Ashraf has learnt to take the initiative, and now he has taken on the responsibility of managing the team," his mother said. This year's show was a huge success, due to the variety and high quality of the research presented. This success has also left the students less daunted by the obstacles they face. "Funding was one of the main difficulties we had in our work," said Randa Alaa, student supervisor for scientific research. "We needed materials to conduct our experiments. We usually relied on ourselves for that, using our own pocket money, or digging into our parents' pockets. But we definitely need financial support to expand to other schools and to increase our student enrolment," Zaki stated. Though his school donated LE800 for the science show, that was just a token amount, he said, adding that he personally has learnt a lot about resource management, saving money and allocating resources for specific tasks from the project. For example, he set aside ten pounds for his phone card to be able to call lecturers, or to complete administrative tasks. "The project has taught us to set priorities for task completion," he said. Yet, financing remains a problem. As a result of their limited resources, the students were unable to set up the show in a bigger auditorium, even though there is one at the educational administration. However, this venue is costly to rent, and is impossible to use because of their limited resources. Despite the efforts made to invite parents and educational administrators, the students also discovered that not everyone attended the show. The students also have to spend time organising their schedules to co-ordinate with other schools, develop their skills and do their research. "After every lecture, we used to divide the work to find out which tasks had been completed and what needed to be prepared for other lectures," said Sara Sami, student coordinator. However, such an effort required co-ordination at a higher administrative level to manage the students' time in school and to manage the curriculum and undertake extra-curricular activities. "Until the second preparatory stage, school students have activity lessons in their weekly schedules. However, starting at the third preparatory stage, and then following into the secondary stage, students do not take activity time to study for their exams and they need the time to complete their modules," said Amal Gomaa, social worker at the school. "What they need is co-ordination at the educational zone level, in order to organise several school schedules together." Education is the key to social, economic, cultural and political change, yet a number of factors have historically been obstacles in its development in Egypt. Putting students at the centre of change will perhaps lead the country onto the path of change that it has been looking for for decades.
