Egypt : Inequality of Opportunity in Education

The paper examines the levels and trends in access to education and educational outcomes across generations of Egyptian youth. Examination of three cohorts of individuals aged 21 to 24 (born between 1964 and 1967, 1974 and 1977, and 1982 and 1985) shows that access to education has substantially improved during the last three decades. Completion rates increased by more than 60 percent at the preparatory level and 70 percent at the secondary level and the college completion rate more than doubled. However, significant inequities remain in access to education and educational outcomes. The fraction of never enrolled among the cohorts is still large, affecting more girls than boys, more rural than urban areas, and more children of parents with lower level of education and in elementary occupations, such as subsistence agriculture. The analysis of test-scores from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and national examinations shows that more than a quarter of learning outcome inequality is attributable to circumstances beyond the control of a student, such as parental education, socioeconomic background and place of birth. In Egypt, inequality of opportunity in learning outcomes emerges early and builds up progressively throughout the education levels. Access to higher education continues to remain significantly lower for children from rural areas and for those whose parents have a low level of education or are engaged in elementary occupations. Tracking into vocational and general secondary schools, which depends on a high-stakes national examination, and high and unequal levels of household expenditures in private tutoring substantially contribute to unequal learning outcomes.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Ersado, Lire, Gignoux, Jeremie
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2014-08
Subjects:	ACCESS TO EDUCATION, ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION, ACHIEVEMENT TESTS, ADMISSION CRITERIA, ATTITUDES TOWARD GIRLS, AVAILABILITY OF SCHOOLS, AVERAGE SCORE, BASIC EDUCATION, BIRTH CERTIFICATE, BOOKS AT HOME, COGNITIVE TEST, COLLEGE DEGREE, COLLEGE EDUCATION, COLLEGE LEVEL, COMPARATIVE EDUCATION, COMPLETE BASIC EDUCATION, COMPLETION RATE, COMPLETION RATES, DELIVERY OF EDUCATION, DELIVERY OF EDUCATION SERVICES, DEMAND FOR SKILLS, DEMOCRATIZATION, DISPARITIES IN ACCESS, DROP-OUTS, EARLY GRADES, EARLY LEARNING, ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION, EDUCATION LEVEL, EDUCATION LEVELS, EDUCATION POLICY, EDUCATION SECTOR, EDUCATION SERVICES, EDUCATION SYSTEM, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTS, EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATIONAL LEVELS, EDUCATIONAL MEASUREMENT, EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES, EDUCATIONAL POLICIES, EDUCATIONAL QUALITY, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS, EIGHTH-GRADERS, ELEMENTS, EXAM, EXAM SCORE, EXPERIMENTAL SCHOOLS, GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION, GENERAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS, HIGHER EDUCATION, HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY, HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INDEXES, INVESTMENTS IN EDUCATION, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKETS, LEARNING, LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT, LEARNING ACHIEVEMENTS, LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, LEARNING OUTCOMES, LET, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LOW LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT, LOWER LEVEL OF EDUCATION, LOWER SECONDARY, LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLING, MATH TEST, MATHEMATICS, MOBILITY, NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS, NATIONAL EXAMS, NUMBER OF PUPILS, OCCUPATIONS, OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN, PAPERS, PARENTAL EDUCATION, PREPARATORY SCHOOLS, PRIMARY COMPLETION, PRIMARY LEVEL, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIMARY SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOL, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS, PRIVATE TUTORING, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES ON EDUCATION, PUBLIC SCHOOL, PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS, QUALITY EDUCATION, QUALITY OF EDUCATION, RURAL AREAS, SCHOOL AGE, SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN, SCHOOL CHILDREN, SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, SCHOOL GRADUATES, SCHOOL LOCATION, SCHOOL MANAGEMENT, SCHOOL MATERIALS, SCHOOL QUALITY, SCHOOL STUDENTS, SCHOOL SUPPLY, SCHOOL SYSTEM, SCHOOL SYSTEMS, SCHOOLING, SCIENCE STUDY, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY GRADUATES, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOL AGE, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SENIOR SECONDARY, SENIOR SECONDARY LEVEL, STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS, TEACHERS, TEACHING, TEST SCORES, TUTORIALS, UNIVERSITIES, UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS, VOCATIONAL SECONDARY, VOCATIONAL SECONDARY EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS, YOUNG PEOPLE, YOUTH,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/08/19910408/egypt-inequality-opportunity-education https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19391
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