Sharif Omar, head of the People's Assembly (PA) Committee on Education, said the PA Speaker Ahmed Fathi Sorour asked him to study the educational process in Turkey and to deeply focus on its background, especially as Turkey is like Egypt in terms of the number of population, heritage and religious background. Turkey has recently made a noticeable technological progress. These remarks were made by Omar last Friday in a seminar organized by the Egyptian Exporters Association, in cooperation with Mubarak Public Library within the framework of "Take Part" program. Sorour's request came within the framework of searching for the best models that could be imitated in Egypt to develop the educational process, especially after the disagreement over the new secondary education system. Omar stressed the need to focus on education to contribute to development plans.
Sorour added that the Turkish universities turned to production units generating a significant income for the Turks, despite the fact that 30% of the Turkish universities are nonprofitable. In addition, there are no private universities in Turkey. Terminal three at Cairo International Airport, for example, was established by a company affiliated to a Turkish university.
Omar criticized some teachers of Arabic language, saying: "It is shameful that teachers of the Arabic language do not speak the classic Arabic, which is part of the nation's identity." He accused the Academy of the Arabic Language of being behind this problem because it has no impact on teachers or the development of the language, although the academy has efficient researchers.
Hussein Khaled, Vice-President of Cairo University, said Egypt has suffered many problems in education, such as the increasing number of students in a small number of colleges. The problem does not lie in the overpopulation only, as the number of the university certificate holders also increased by 40% worldwide. This means more pressure on the university educational process.
Khaled stressed the importance of finding a solution to pupils sitting on the ground in classes. In addition, there should be a cure for the Egyptian teachers' bad psychological condition.
