Bloggers surveyed, tycoons castigated, but it was the education question that interested the pundits the most, write Gamal Nkrumah and Mohamed El-Sayed Pundits have once again shot many arrows into the heart of the educational system in Egypt today. The consensus is that it is a deplorable system and that the government should do more to tackle the situation. In particular, the disputed results of the thanawiya aama, or national secondary school certificate, in the Minya governorate generated much curiosity and outrage. The nature and quality of education came under scrutiny with many commentators warning of the dire consequences of the crumbling educational system. "The real problem which we [Egyptians] are suffering from is that what we considered exceptions to the rule have become the norm," wrote columnist Salah Montasser in the official daily Al-Ahram. "Before a new law is promulgated, people try to find out how to break it, how to circumscribe or ignore it," Montasser explained in his weekly column. "A prime example is the manner in which the exam samples were leaked. In bygone days, the very notion of buying exam samples was not even entertained," he concluded. The popular independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom ran a feature about the thanawiya aama certificate and its examinations. The paper quoted many a student as saying that they learn the curricula by heart because their teachers instruct them to do so. The paper quoted many other students as complaining that they only benefit from Arabic and English language classes. Meanwhile, teachers defended their point of view, maintaining that those who put the exams are the reason behind the current crisis. The paper also quoted Mahmoud Kamel El-Naqa, head of the Egyptian Association for Curricula and Teaching Methods as saying: "Students complain about the difficulty of exams because teachers didn't train them on thinking skills." Opposition papers, too, tackled the prickly question of educational standards in contemporary Egypt. The daily opposition Al-Wafd ran a feature about the thanawiya aama exams. "The examination system and intervention from influential people in the process are significant of the deteriorating prestige of the state," the paper quoted Kamal Moghith, from the Education Research Centre. In much the same vein, Al-Ahram also focussed on the exams issue as well as education conditions in general. "Complicated exams and backward curricula", ran the headline of the feature. "Students are victims of curricula that have not changed in 28 years. Education is mainly focussing on studying textbooks by heart", ran another headline. Indeed, it appears that the educational conundrum dominated the headlines. Even specialised papers such as the daily business-oriented Al-Mal were keen to give ample space to the vexing question. Writing in Al-Mal, Hazem Sherif is of the opinion that there is no shadow of a doubt that "introducing reforms to the educational process is the key to making a real breakthrough in the course of a sustainable development process in Egypt." However, he stressed that the educational problem cannot be viewed in the abstract, and should be tackled as part and parcel of the wider socio-economic and political malaise that engulfs the country. "The main obstacle to achieving any kind of reform is corruption which has been reigning supreme in all political, economic, social and cultural spheres, including the educational system," Sherif concluded. Economic matters are inseparable from political intrigues. A case in point was the passing last week of a controversial anti-monopoly law by the People's Assembly. Commenting on the parliamentary decision, the former editor-in-chief of the official daily Al-Akhbar Galal Dweidar strongly criticised the amendment made in the law by a group of businessmen, headed by steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz, the head of parliament's Planning and Budget Committee. Ezz has come under intense fire from various pundits because he is widely seen as personifying the corruption endemic in the political system. Dweidar stressed that lawmakers who have business interests like Ezz should not use their position to advance their own personal business interests. The new law deprives a person who informs the authorities about monopoly practices from being exempted from punishment. "Those [business tycoons in parliament] resorted to amending the law to include a punishment for the individual who informs the authorities about monopoly practices in order to frighten people from reporting any monopoly practice," Dweidar wrote. "This kind of amendment casts doubt on the possibility that these tycoons might be practising monopolistic practices," he added. There have been rumours that Minister of Trade Rachid Mohamed Rachid, whose ministry submitted the draft law to the parliament for passage, resigned because of the controversial amendment introduced by Ezz. However, Rachid held a press conference denying he had resigned. Still, as Dweidar highlights in his column, there is growing public criticism of the dubious mixing of politics and business. The government once again came under meticulous scrutiny and the press did not favourably review its record. Writing in Al-Masry Al-Yom, Nasr El-Qaffas harshly criticised the current government. El-Qaffas did not mince his words. "The record of crises during the tenure of the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif is heavy enough to be nominated the Oscar for 'the worst government in Egypt's history'". Indeed, many pundits painted a grim picture of the political future of Egypt. In Al-Masry Al-Yom, professor Hassan Nafaa of Cairo University's Faculty of Political Science, was exceptionally brusque. "In my estimation, the main question now is not whether the state of affairs in Egypt will explode. Rather, when will this explosion take place." Nafaa was particularly pessimistic about the state of affairs in the country today. He added, "there are many indications that the explosion will occur at the same time as the transfer of power from President Mubarak to his son Gamal, in light of the consensus among observers that the only chance for Mubarak the son to take over will be during his father's lifetime." Nafaa's pessimism was tempered by other writers. According to Al-Masry Al-Yom, a survey conducted by the Ministers' Council's Decision-Making Support Centre said that the most popular personalities among Egyptian bloggers was President Hosni Mubarak, followed somewhat surprisingly by the Prophet Mohamed, with Gamal Mubarak in third place. The survey comprised 2,600 Egyptian blogs. Veteran writer Sekina Fouad sarcastically commented on the survey, saying she did not understand on what basis the survey was conducted and how it reached such a conclusion. She also denied that youth bloggers sully Egypt's good reputation.
