While calls have been voiced for years for upgrading technical schools such that their school-leavers would fill in a gap in the labour market, the fact on the ground is that these schools are still suffering from a bundle of problems. Having low budget and poor equipment not to mention the indifference of the students themselves for various reasons, these schools are stumbling as educationalists say. This kind of education has been perceived by experts as a possible alternative to the highly demanding general secondary education, if more attention is paid to offering quality vocational education. A field study conducted by an expert at the National Council for Social and Criminal Research (NCSCR) has however unveiled a surprising finding: 35 per cent of a polled sample of principles of industrial educational institutes say these schools should be closed down. They described the students as ‘losers'. They complain that enrolled students are indifferent to school, and are mostly of low mental ability. According to the local educational system, these schools accept students with very low grades who have been usually rejected in preparatory and secondary schools that administer general, rather than technical curricula. Hala Ramadan chose a sample of 2,000 students from l7 industrial schools mostly governmental ones where study course vary between three to five years. The questionnaire she made covered the opinion of teachers and school principles in students and work prospects after graduation. According to one polled teacher, the mental abilities of students accepted in technical education are not up to the standard because, as he says, they are mostly students who repeatedly failed courses of the general secondary school. The answer the researcher obtained about the chances for technical school- leavers of getting jobs was that they were minimal because of their low qualifications and the absence of co-ordination between schools and production facilities. Teachers say that students do not take school seriously because of poor administration, and because many of the students work part-time to earn a living. According to the teachers questioned, about 85 per cent of industrial students work in workshops to help their families earn a living. The study showed that in a society that looks down upon technical school-leavers, the enrolled students are mostly of a modest social background. The researcher explained in a conference held last week by the NCSCR that there is an apparent correlation between the low socio-economic status of most technical education students and their wish to join the labour market at any expense. This includes even if just by getting an end of study certificate, while they have not actually learned anything. Some 37 per cent of the students' sample said that their absence from school is attributed to their need to make a living, often in jobs that have nothing to do with their main school studies.
