CAIRO - When Fatma Mahmoud, a mother of two children at a private school in the Heliopolis suburb of Cairo, was told that the school bus would pick up her sons of eight and six years old on the first day of the school's second term, she was extremely worried. Although Fatma was pleased that schools have finally opened their doors, she nevertheless had fears about the safety of her children, considering the poor security on the streets. She decided that she would personally drive them to school, at least on the first day, to see how matters stood on the ground. The start of the second term in the scholastic year in Egypt had been postponed for two weeks because of the revolution and ensuing developments. Actually, the revolution started on January 25, which was three days before the beginning of the annual mid-year holiday of two weeks. It was impossible to begin the second term as scheduled owing to several reasons, such as the education portfolio left vacant in a minor cabinet reshuffle, proposed by ex-President Mubarak before his toppling February 11. When the caretaker Government led by Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq took over, it was still risky to bring children back to school. The security gap created by the withdrawal of the police from the streets on January 28 following violent clashes with demonstrators caused unprecedented anarchy. Their withdrawal was a crucially flawed decision, the consequences of which people are still suffering to date. Looting, plundering and the, so far, inexplicable opening of prisons for inmates to escape in the early few days of the revolution have wreaked havoc and posed a threat to people's lives and their property. People believe that distrust in the fidelity and efficiency of the police force is the main reason why chaos is still prevalent in society. Moreover, the spread of protests staged by different society categories claiming financial rights and better working conditions has rubbed salt into the wound. However, the incumbent Government has compromised in authorising governors to decide whether to resume schooling or not, according to the security status in each governorate. While nine governorates including October 6, Alexandria, Suez and Assiut have found it wise to postpone the second term for yet another week, schools of the Egyptian capital were ready to receive students. According to official reports, the absentee rate on the first day was extremely high. Many parents refrained from sending their children to school especially in populous areas where thugs and runaway outlaws are dwelling in the streets. Parents also feared that fights, which often erupt among preparatory and secondary school students, would get out of hand in the absence of sufficient security in the vicinity of schools and given the abundance of weapons within the hands of those troublemakers. Some school administrations have refused to operate their fleets of buses, refusing to be responsible for the safety of students on the way to and from school. They have asked parents to shoulder this responsibility. Magdi Atta, a principal of a private school in the southwestern Cairene district of Manial says that attendance was no more than l4 per cent. He pointed out that the first period in most schools was dedicated to a discussion on the pros and cons of the revolution. However, figures released on Helwan's educational zone give an attendance rate of 80 per cent at primary and preparatory schools across the governorate, although the reopening of the secondary schools was postponed by another week. A few stories from here and there have been reported about school buses being intercepted by thugs. The fear experienced by those children caused their parents to prevent them from going to school the following day. People are today perplexed, not knowing how matters will proceed. They are raising relevant questions, notably how would these students catch up if the prevailing chaos is prolonged and the reopening of schools is postponed for one week after another?
