CAIRO - Because he wants to be a driver, he has decided to attend literacy classes. Mohamed Awwad is by no means the only person to have decided to learn how to read and write, but at the same time many other people aren't motivated to overcome their illiteracy. Illiteracy is a critical problem in Egypt, especially as 42 per cent of males and 53 per cent of females over the age of 15 are illiterate, according to UNESCO statistics for 2003. This is having a serious effect on the development of the country and its economy. "I want to get a driving licence," Awwad says. "I need a certificate to say that I can read and write to get the licence. This is why I'm taking the classes.” The ‘Sona'a el-Haya' (Life Makers) campaign has launched an initiative called 'Education is Power', in partnership with telecom giant Vodafone. With a budget of LE22 million, the campaign plans to eliminate illiteracy in five years. The money will be spent on training courses for the volunteer teachers, and buying the desks and boards used in the classes. "We began preparing this initiative when the revolution erupted last year and now everything is almost ready," said Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid, the operation rooms manager of the 'Education is Power' initiative. "Our aim is to educate all Egyptians and eliminate illiteracy in Egypt by 2017," he told the Egyptian Mail. “Life Makers gives us the confidence and experience to go looking for volunteers in universities, schools and clubs; at the same time, we're trying to reach the illiterate by visiting popular districts, factories, companies, churches and mosques,” Abdel-Meguid said. "We are also trying to find classrooms in schools, and rooms in associations and even companies, that we can use for holding the lessons. In fact, we already have 9,000 volunteers, 4,000 classes and 50,000 illiterate students between the ages of 15 and 65," he added. Life Makers, the brainchild of famous Islamic televangelist Amr Khaled, was launched in 2004. The idea of the campaign was to focus on young people, as they have the energy and time to do things to benefit society, without having to wait for the Government to do so. "This is the first such initiative in Egypt to rely solely on volunteers. We have discovered that it is easy to get illiterate people to go to the classes to be educated, but it's very hard to make them complete the six-month course. The biggest problem we face is lack of motivation," Abdel-Meguid continued. Nevertheless, Awwad has a motivation. He says that, if he can get a job as a driver, he'll be better off financially. "If I can learn to read and write, I'll also be able to help my children with their homework," he adds with a hopeful look. According to Abdel-Meguid, many people who do the literacy classes want to read and write to improve their job prospects. But there are also others who already have jobs, but can't attend the classes, because, if they do, their employers will cut their salaries and they desperately need every piastre. "We are trying to solve this problem, and there is a businessman who plans to offer jobs to people who do the course," he explained. According to the census of 2006, there were 17.014 million illiterate Egyptians: 6.546 million males (38.5 per cent) and 10.468 million females (61.5 per cent). “The media must help us, as these are national projects, designed to develop our country and create a better future,” he added. Life Makers is also involved in four fields: the economy, health, education and technology. In the field of the economy, Life Makers has launched a small project called ‘Insan' (Human Being), for helping poor families whose children have dropped out of school – under one condition: the child or children must go back to school. This project is helping 3,000 poor families, raising their economic level and ensuring their children get educated. In reality it is two projects in one: microfinance and fighting illiteracy. Meanwhile, in the field of health, Life Makers has launched a campaign called ‘Homat el-Mostaqbal' (Securing the Future), whose purposes is to warn people that drugs destroy their health and future. As for the field of technology, Life Makers has plans for an ambitious project, which it has yet to reveal, after the projects in the projects in the first three fields have been completed. Abdel-Meguid said that they are working with the General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education, affiliated to the Ministry of Education, in order to upgrade the curricula and examinations. "We have been looking at the experiences of several other countries with similar problems, such as Brazil and India. In India, 5 million illiterate people are taught to read and write every year," he added. The Ministry of Education estimates that Egypt has 17.5 million illiterate people. "But the number is really far greater than this, because there are also many children in primary school who can't read or write owing to the poor quality of education," Abdel-Meguid pointed out. ($1 = LE6)
