Essay by Abdullah Mohammed

 According to studies, 65% of Egyptian girls and women over the age of 9 are illiterate.  "Two million women in Egypt have never attended school; furthermore, the number of girls  outside the educational system is twice that of boys," says Malak Zaalouk, director of the Middle  East Institute at the American University in Cairo. To put it another way illiteracy represents one  of the most significant challenges that Egyptian women face. 

Girls in Egypt are not pursuing or completing higher education at the same rate as their boys’ equivalents. Untold Research conducted in-depth interviews with teachers, mothers of primary  school-age girls, and secondary school girls to understand their thoughts, feelings, experiences,  and opinions on Egypt's education system and the future of girls to identify drivers of this and  discover major differences in the educational experiences of boys and girls in Egypt. Following  these interviews, a survey of low-income mothers was conducted (earning 5,000 LE ($260.95) or  less each month). 

Only 38% of Upper Egyptian females are literate, according to estimates. Egypt is one of nine  countries targeted for special attention in implementing the global effort to provide "Education for  All." As a result, many international organizations studied female education in this region.  According to UNICEF, the literacy rate for women in villages such as Mallawi and Al Minya can  be as low as 10%. They also estimated that each year, 250,000 girls drop out of school. According  to USAID, 800,000 girls between the ages of 6 and 15 are not in school. 

The following factors are responsible for the high literacy rate among females: 

∙ Parents and teachers discourage girls from continuing their education by overloading them  with homework and responsibilities at home. One of the teachers in a village in Upper Egypt  stated that it is pointless to educate girls because they will not work anyway. Girls are expected  to marry and be good housewives. 

∙ The families have many children, the younger ones make a lot of noise, which prevents the  older ones from concentrating while studying.  

∙ Mothers do not allow their daughters to study unless they complete their household chores.  They not only have very little time to study after they finish their responsibilities at home, but  they also make no effort. They put in so much effort with housework that they are exhausted  and unable to study. 

∙ Girls are aware that their parents cannot afford school fees, so they occasionally drop out.  

A girl named Noura, who lives in the Abnud district of Asyut, is an example of a girl who  drops out of school to relieve financial pressure on her family. Noura once expressed her  feelings toward her school and her family by saying, "Next year, whether I pass or fail, I shall  stay at home; baking; working, learning, and kneading." My father claims that the money spent  on me at school is a waste of money. My teachers claim that I am unsuitable for school and  that I despise studying. I want to stay at home because it will allow me to learn and work.

From these various reasons we can conclude that poverty is the primary cause of illiteracy. Many  illiterate mothers have a difficult time encouraging their children to attend school because they do  not understand its value. While education is obligatory, parents are only fined $1.80 for  withdrawing a child from school. Girls are far more likely to be taken out of school to perform  household duties, and parents see little reason to invest in education because they will marry and  leave the household. 

Girls are often the first to be pushed off the path of valuable opportunities. If a society only views  women as domestic workers, it is difficult to communicate the value of freedom that an education  would provide. If they are not seen in higher-paying jobs, they may not understand the value of an  education.  

In the book "Upper Egypt: Identity and Change," Dr. Nicholas Hopkins highlighted another point.  He explained that, while education is sometimes important for families and their children in Upper  Egypt, it is not because of the qualifications they obtain. They are confident that their children will  grow up to be polite, well-mannered, and intelligent. Other families believe that their sons should  be educated to obtain better jobs and, as a result, higher pay. However, almost no family sees the  value in educating their daughters. Girls attend schools to avoid fines or to become well-mannered  and literate, literate in the sense of reading and writing.