exams

The Egyptian school year focuses on exams. Exams seem to drive education. There are exams set by the Ministry (“O Level”) and those set by the school for graduates who intend to enrol in university (“A Level”).  There are monthly exams, mid-year exams, and end of year exams. The curriculum is provided by the Ministry of Education, and teachers must follow it closely. Their subject matter supervisors review each of their lessons and closely watch students’ grades as an indicator of teaching proficiency. Entrance to universities depends on which school you attend, exam results, and SAT scores. Grades in Egyptian schools are generated solely through exams in the senior grades. So, no surprise: exam results mean everything to Egyptians. 

How did this situation come about? Since the revolution in 1952, ending control by the British and marking the beginning of Egyptian sovereignty, there has been growth in all things western; private sector businesses, a national education system, an economically comfortable middle class, and capitalist aspirations.  Central to this change has been the growth of an educated, professional Egyptian population.

Personal note: I found a book at the American University Bookstore, "Whatever Happened to the Egyptians?" which I incorporated into the Grade 12 English course. It is a book of essays about the changes in Egypt since the revolution. Each Grade 12 student was given one chapter to read, summarize, present to the class, and write up as an essay.  It has been a wonderful learning experience for me, but also for the students as both this content and approach are new to them. We have heard how transportation, the role of women, the Arabic language, growth of the private sector, the role of masters and servants (most students have servants living with them in their villas), migration, summer vacations, and even weddings have all undergone vast changes over the short span of 50 years.

Egypt has had three presidents since the revolution and education has been a focal goal of each, with the intent of changing the economic direction of their country. 

Nassar - "Father" of the revolution

Sadat - economic expansion

Mubarak - current president for 30 + years

With over 80 million Egyptians to educate, the result has been the adoption of the “streaming through exam results” system, no doubt heavily influenced by the British. On a daily basis, this has had the same effect in Egypt that it did in England; encouraging competition amongst students, teachers, and parents. 

Needless to say, exam time is stressful for everyone and it lasts for weeks in a school the size of Malakaya International Languages School with an enrolment of over 1,000 students. As mid-year exams approach, teachers hunker down to cover the entire curriculum and to “revise” (review) with each class, which means providing practice exam questions. Teaching stops. Extra classes are given to those revising for exams the following days. Parents focus on study at home and worry ( and worry!) 

To ensure good grades, parents who can afford it, hire private tutors. Thus, the teachers at the school work by day at the school, and by night and on weekends delivering these more lucrative lessons to students of other schools. In fact, they earn more from their private tutoring than they do through their full-time employment. Egyptian teachers work unbelievably hard and are one exhausted group! On top of this, they are stressed because all eyes are on the success of their students. 

And most are parents as well, so they also worry endlessly about their own kids’ success. In the English teachers’ staff room the question, “What are you doing this weekend?” will be met with rolling eyes and, the answer, “What do you think? Exams are next week. We will be studying all weekend!”

Signatures ensure accountability.

Everything about the school changes for exams. The photocopy room is locked while exams are prepared, sealed in brown envelopes (dreaded by students), and delivered safely to the Control Room.

Every subject is tested, so exams go on over a 3 week period. Students huddle together studying until the last minute.

Corridors are sealed off.  Teachers provide additional security along with the hall matrons. Students are given a desk number, so their identity is not known by the markers.

It rained one day during exam week!
For obvious reasons, Egyptians love the rain. The women English teachers ran to the window and told me that Egyptian Muslims feel that their prayers will be answered in rain. I could almost hear the prayers of those teachers whose own children were old enough to be taking exams.

Here is what we saw from the staff room window:

The Principal and English Supervisor enforce strict exam rules.

Vigilant proctors watch every student>

Backpacks are left in piles outside exam rooms.

Once the exams are collected, they are delivered to the subject matter staff rooms where collective energy swings into full gear. Subject supervisors assign teachers to mark specific questions and they work their way through the stacks of hundreds of exams, placing their mark and signature next to their questions. Sometimes teachers will read outrageous answers for comic relief, or check on a fine point of grammar or punctuation. There is an air of collegiality, but the work is intense, exhausting and seems endless. 

My English teacher buddies hard at work.

Calculations and reports are written and rewitten by hand.

Each exam is rechecked - “revised” – to make sure there has been no error in marking or addition.

The Arabic tells students to keep out.

Entrance into the Control Room is always, well, “controlled”. In the Control Room, there are people hired solely to recheck these marks, connecting the desk numbers with student names, and creating reports for parents, and the Ministry.

No wonder our Canadian emphasis on assessing skills and skill development seems so foreign.