EGYPT: Higher entry grades deter science students

Nermeen Hafez, an Egyptian pupil who will sit for school-leaving examinations next year, is no longer interested in becoming a medical doctor. She is one of thousands of pupils who have been discouraged by a sharp increase in minimum admission grades set by schools such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacology and veterinary science - fields of study that are traditionally in high demand among secondary school graduates.

Hafez is not sure she will obtain high enough scores in the crucial exams to attend medical school. She has changed her mind and will turn from studying science to arts before taking her secondary school certificate exams.

"My life's dream was to be a doctor. My parents and friends used to call me Dr Nermeen," said Hafez, and continued:

"This was until last month when I was surprised that medical schools in Egypt raised their minimum admission grades to soar above 98% of the total grades. This is sheer madness. Who will guarantee for me that after studying hard for long months and spending a lot of money on after-school classes, I will accrue enough grades to enter medical school?

"The safest way now is to shift my attention to arts studies at the secondary school," Hafez concluded.

Officials at the Ministry of Higher Education have said they have decided to increase places at government-run higher education institutions by 6% for the new academic year, in order to accept as many entrants as possible who succeeded in secondary school exams.

But due to high scores obtained by many secondary school-leavers this year, several of the so-called top colleges, such as those of medicine, dentistry, engineering and political science, have hiked their entry grades.

"All places in schools of medicine, dentistry, pharmacology, veterinary [science] and engineering were completed in the first phase of the university admission process," said Abdel Hameed Salama, a supervisor in the university admission department at the Ministry of Higher Education.

Experts say that Egypt, a country of 80 million people, does not have enough public universities to cope with the steady increase in secondary school graduates. But with around 40% of the country believed to be living below the poverty line, many Egyptians cannot afford the tuition fees of private universities, according to experts.

Officials in secondary schools have meanwhile reported an "exodus" of pupils, who are due to take final-year exams in 2012, from science to arts and humanities or mathematics.

Apparently alarmed, the ministry has unveiled a series of measures to reverse the trend.

Question-and-answer sessions are planned with secondary school pupils to encourage them to opt for science studies "because this is what a new Egypt badly needs", local newspapers quoted an education official as saying.

And the ministry has promised to develop science textbooks and teaching methods to make them attractive to students, according to the official.

Minister of Education Dr Ahmed Gamal Eddin recently said that the Egyptian government had increased allocations for education in the new public budget from LE1 billion to LE3 billion (US$500 million).