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Apr 17th, 2012 - 05:48:45 |
Gihan Sami Soliman
Science Revolution in Egypt
Educational Reform By People !
ICEA[www.icea-egy.org] which is an Egyptian NGO, has been named as the organisation with the most entrepreneurial approach to education in Egypt in the Educating Africa Pan-African Awards for Entrepreneurship in Education in for its success to make a effective change in relating education to sustainable development in Egypt.
The Science Across Egypt© initiative[, is one of the mean reasons ICEA was selected for this award[www.icea-egy.org/SAE.html].
Governmental Initiatives, funded projects and individual attempts sometimes were good and sometimes desasterous! In all cases they did not provide a clear vision of problems and solutions in regards of educational reform in Egypt that should lead to sustainable development .
The project claims to have privided a vision for educational reform in Egypt for the first time.
Competitions, dispersed projects, science and technology establishments are providing hope but not a vision . Donations, funds and finally “zakat” are being collected in support of many of such projects but yet the overall vision does not exist. No one has pointed out exactly what is the problem and how the transformation should happen ! scarcity of knowledge, lack of accessibility to scientific research and years of corruption have led to the lack of coordination and integration required for linking education of natural science to sustainable development and the Egyptian environment and subsequently to a missing vision.
Why and how is the educational system is defective in Egypt! Is a first question then! Where to start and where to head in quest of science education for sustainable development! The answers were provided in the Egypt: another Nation at Risk article( that can be downloaded on the Science Across Egypt Page www.icea-egy.org/SAE.html), “Education in Egypt is Still awaiting Revolution”, Al Ahram Scientific, by author(in Arabic), and tens of other media articles English and Arabic as well as several international conference papers and media reported activities.
The initiatives vision in its simplest form is :
Integrated Sciences + Community Participation = Sustainable Development IN EGYPT!
In its detailed version it includes the questions and answers in relation to getting this formula attainable in Egypt.
The United States has seen and applied this vision decades ago and is now looking to get it applied even in scientific research (i.e. CBPR approach) .
The program is self sustainable, which means that it has not received any fund or donations so far and is depending thoroughly on voluntary work of prominent college professors and educators who believed in the vision and mission of the project and on self financing not-for- profit consultancy services.
It has also depended networking with other interested NGOs with a history of struggle for the Egyptian environment such as Balady Port Said , St. Katharine for Social and environmental Services and Red Sea Research resulting also in a new partnership for establishing the International Foundation for Environment Protection and Sustainability(IFEPS) and affiliation with universities such as Suez Canal University through the work f Dr. Ahmed Abdel Azeem and Mansoura University, Damietta bra
Its a qualified “pure Egyptian” community-based reform initiative that has gained an international recognition :
Decades ago in the United States, the Nation at Risk Report flared the flame of the American educational system and took the whole nation into a new phase of progress in a few years due to the community awareness and consensus on the urgent need for change. ICEA was established 2008 with the hope ignite such flame of reform. The educational crisis in Egypt is threatening of an unmitigated disaster and educational reform is becoming a compelling need; a first - priority project which all the powers of the nation need to bolster.
This reform needs to originate from general consensus of the community itself that a cardial change must find its way to the system that its product/graduates qualify for employment, globalization, social life and citizenship, for a better future to Egypt and to the world of which Egypt is part.
• Curricula irrelevance ( in relation to science):
Emphasis on quantity versus quality, translated and "exported" textbooks, neglect of the Egyptian environment, missing integrating with social sciences and therefore a totally defective curriculum design and mapping process whether on the national or international level of education.
• The “white elephant” characteristic of the offered Teacher Training programs (Public & Private education) being too expensive and irrelevant to the Egyptian environment, leading to poor teaching methodology, poor classroom management, poor time management and therefore to poor content delivery (given that curricula content had some value).
• Shortage in facilities and class inflation (Public and specially technical education)
• Commercialized vision of education (educating basically towards certification not academic competence and success in life.
• Defetive examination and testing system: capitalization on memorization at the expense of comprehension, unfair standardized testing uselessly consuming the time(i.e., SAT scores form 60% of the qualifying grades for college with a minimum score of 1440 requirement!).
• Defective accreditation-of-education process(es) leading to losing resources that should originally have been allocated to enhancing the quality of education in regards of teaching science(i.e., accreditation process which is designed after the American model is used to accredit public and private schools teaching national curriculum! Accreditation of international schools is obligatory and is a requirement for licensing the school to operate[tell that to an American educator to make him/her laugh]!
Therefore the problem is not with the resources but with managing those resources by having the proper vision!
The program has been carried out through several projects in part of the initiative to relate science with the Egyptian environment such as :
Biodiversity and Fungal conservation in Egypt
Science to save the Egyptian natural and cultural heritage( including SAE Biodiversity Corner –Science Across Egypt© Library)
Science Across Egypt Teacher Training.
Egypt's Waters Warriors
Egypt: Another Nation at Risk
Education for restoration of Marine Ecosystems.
Innovative Science Teacher, best scientific Illustration and modelling competition.
Establishing the International Foundation of Environmental Protection and Sustainability
It was exquisitely represented Egypt in the 16th conference of European Mycologist and we were the only Egyptian ( presentation and a poster)[http://ahramag.com/modules/publisher/item.php?itemid=812
] and is represented in Macedonia BALWIOS conference in June ( Egypt’s Water Warriors) and in the BioVision Alex as well.
The program aslo is in affiliation to the World Heritage Centre of the UNESCO as a “ practitioner “ for activities in relation of saving the world natural and cultural heritage.
With the help of the honest individuals in position of responsibility, responsible media and proper networking we hope to be able to keep make the difference and to get our country as beautiful and progressive as of our dreams.
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