By Ramadan A. Kader CAIRO - "We all haven't done enough for you," Governor of Alexandria Abdul Aziz Qonswa was quoted as saying while on a visit to a classroom crammed with schoolchildren in the coastal city last week. The recently-appointed governor captured local headlines and became the focus of nighttime talk shows after tears reportedly welled to his eyes over the sight of the children. Some of them were seen sitting in the laps of other mates due to lack of space. Pictures carried by the media showed the classroom virtually bursting at the seams with the large numbers of children, who numbered more than 100, according to some reports. The pictures and the governor's tears have thrust into focus the vexed question of king-size classrooms mainly in government-run schools. Self-styled reformist Education Minister Tarek Shawki has acknowledged the problem, which poses a major obstacle to his ambitious plans to upgrade the national education. He, however, criticised what he sees as excessive attention to pupils' density in classrooms, arguing that it is not a problem plaguing all public schools in the country. Since the nation's schools reopened their gates in late September, there have been many pictures on the social media purportedly showing pupils packed inside classrooms like sardines. According to Shawki, it takes 100 billion Egyptian pounds (5.6 billion dollars) and 10 years to eliminate the problem. Given the current economic hardships, the state coffers cannot afford the bill. "Egypt needs to construct 200,000 classrooms annually, but the current capacity stands at 20,000 classes only," he said in a TV interview last week. The classroom costs LE500,000 to 1 million depending on its fittings, Shawki added. Worsening the situation are Egypt's high birth rates, reaching 2.5 million babies every year. The minister said he would seek help from civil society groups in building more classes in order to cope with the mushrooming numbers of schoolchildren. In recent years, many Egyptian parents, mostly from the middle class, have shifted their sights from government-run schools to fee-paying private institutions in quest of better education for their children. This costs their families a fortune. One reason for this switch is high density inside the governmental classrooms. The overcrowding provides no favourable learning environment. It is also blamed for prompting parents, who cannot afford the high fees charged by private schools, to stop their children from going to school. There are growing complaints from education experts that this dismal situation has resulted in churning out students, who cannot even write their names right. As things are standing, the gap is widening between the quality of education provided by the governmental schools and others, giving rise to what is regarded as learning class barriers. In the bygone days, state-run schools used to deliver a good service to the majority of Egyptians. Many of Egypt's big-name professionals in different walks of life attended the public schools. As part of their corporate responsibilities, civil society groups and business people can give a helping hand in bridging this gap by contributing to the construction of more schools, mainly in underprivileged areas. All the same, delivering quality education remains a crucial job for the state to do for taxpayers of different strata. Allowing the situation to drag on unchecked makes a mockery of talk about introducing "revolutionary" education reforms. Members of the public have every right to expect more from the government than shedding tears, playing down the shortage or blaming it on its predecessors.
