Lawsuit demanding cancellation of Arabized curriculum postponed on 3 June

CAIRO – 5 May 2018: A lawsuit filed by several parents demanding the cancellation of the Ministry of Education’s decision to Arabize the curriculum of the experimental language schools has been postponed by the Administrative Court until June 3.

The parents filed the lawsuit against the Ministry of Education’s decision announced by Minister of Education Tarek Shawky on April 30 that the experimental language school curriculum will be Arabized, as the cost of translating the governmental curriculums from Arabic to English is very high and the government cannot afford it anymore.

“Whoever wishes to study foreign languages has the choice to travel and study wherever he wants abroad,” Shawky said during the conference.

The decision caused anger, especially among the middle class, who believe that a step like this could deepen social stratification.

“We recognize that the country has a new vision for developing the education system; however, we don’t think that Arabizing the curriculum of the experimental language schools is the right choice for its development. Frankly, we felt anger shortly after knowing the government’s new intentions regarding the governmental language schools, which will turn into other ordinary governmental Arabic schools,” Abeer Ahmed, founder of Egypt’s Mothers Association for Education Development, said in statement issued Tuesday, May 1.

Ahmed explained that according to the ministry’s new decision, the students will study everything in Arabic only, until they finish their basic education, which she and other members of the association consider unfair. “When students start their secondary education at the experimental language schools, they will start studying other subjects, such as mathematics and science, in the English language instead of Arabic for the first time,” Ahmed added in her statement.

She believes it would be difficult for students to start studying new subjects in English after six years of using only Arabic in schools.

“Nothing we can do by then will help them to develop their language skills; it would be too late,” Ahmed asserted.

Another problem for the founder of Egypt’s Mothers Association for Education Development was the fees that they will still be obliged to pay for the experimental language schools, even though they will not be studying anything different from the ordinary Arabic schools. “Both of the schools will be exactly the same; so why would we bother paying any additional money for it,” she said.

The government announced that the basic education levels should remain only in Arabic, which is the students’ first language. The decision was praised by several social media users; however others expressed their complete opposition, wondering how canceling the experimental language schools could be considered a right move for the sake of educational development.

According to the minister, all the students who are currently studying at the experimental language schools will finish their education, but starting from 2019, the current English curriculum of the experimental language schools will be canceled and replaced with another Arabic-advanced curriculum.

Egypt has a large number of experimental language schools throughout the country, including 221 in Cairo, 59 in Giza and 79 in Alexandria.

Additional Report by Aya Samir