The panic and anxiety of students and their parents associated with the examinations of the final year of secondary school (known in Arabic as thanawiya amma) are unique to Egypt. Millions around the world graduate from high schools, and yet final exams do not become the focal point of interest for the entire society. In other countries, high school is considered merely a stage in a teenager's life, where he or she decides whether to pursue university education, to build a career, or to develop their life experiences by travelling, taking courses or whatever else they deem useful. Such an approach promotes the individuality of young people and enhances their ability to make decisions and to choose their own path in life. Here in Egypt, these exams are rich fodder for the media, where each question paper is scrutinised and analysed by the press, men of education, and parents, not to mention the students themselves. A tug-of-war between Ministry of Education officials on the one hand and the entirety of society on the other usually begins at the start of the exams, and does not end until the results are announced a month or two later. The Ministry is usually on the defensive, trying to convince the other party that the questions were within the capabilities of average students. This whole fanfare, which has actually reached the level of farce, is caused by a flawed exam-orientated educational system, which simply tests students' ability to memorise what they have been taught for long exhausting months. Moreover, the General Secondary School Certificate that qualifies a student to enter the university is considered in the minds of Egyptians as the "be all and end all", and a university education is considered a mandate, which every student should automatically pursue. Here, university education becomes a collective choice, giving little space for a student's individual choice. Egypt's approach to education and the educational system itself clearly need to be changed, but so does society's outlook on GSSC holders. There is actually so much more to life than just passing the high school exams.
